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  Feb. 3, 2009 7:25 p.m. carguy123 Dork

  Anyone familiar with this family of engines? I have a couple of basic questions about the FWD variants.

  Is the engine harness separate or is it part of the whole gosh darned mess?

  Is the ABS a separate wiring harness and controller?

  Can you swap the axles side to side to make the engine move more towards the passenger side? (this will be used in a middie configuration) Or are you just stuck with the engine sitting mostly on the driver's side for poor weight distribution?

  I know they came with a couple of different manual trannies. Is there one or the other I should shy away from?

  How hard is it to find one with an LSD?

  I am sure there will be more very basic stupid questions as I move along on this project. I'm not used to knowing little or nothing about what I'm doing so this is tough for me.

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  Feb. 3, 2009 7:37 p.m. wherethefmi2000 Reader

  cobalt ss had an ecotec, boosted and an lsd on the g85 optioned cars... as per wiki and we all know how reliable wiki is....ummmm yeah

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  Feb. 3, 2009 7:48 p.m. mrdontplay New Reader

  ecotecforum.com

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  Feb. 3, 2009 8:33 p.m. carguy123 Dork

  mrdontplay wrote:

  ecotecforum.com

  Bless you my child. Say nome in nay Pot trees.

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  Feb. 3, 2009 8:40 p.m. carguy123 Dork

  Your exorcism didn't work. You can't get rid of me that easy.

  Very little activity over there on ecotecforum.com And no basic info that I could find.
  

  I knew nothing could be that easy.

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  Feb. 3, 2009 9:40 p.m. patgizz Dork

  if the axles are not swappable in stock form you could swap the cv cups side for side then they will be.

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  Feb. 3, 2009 10:04 p.m. DirtyBird222 HalfDork

  There are also a E36 M3 ton of variations for the ecotec. 1.8L in the Astra, 2.0 supercharged, 2.0L direct injection turbo, 2.2 N/A is most base model cobalts, and the N/A 2.4 found in the base model SS Cobalts.

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  Feb. 3, 2009 10:41 p.m. carguy123 Dork

  The ton of variations and the widespread availability is the reason I'm even trying this with the Ecotec. I'm hoping that the answers to a few basic questions will tell me the feasibility of the Ecotec vs. another engine.
  

  I have found out they have 3 variations of ecms. P = engine & tranny control E= engine control and ?=tranny control (automatic submodule)

  I really would like to be able to move the engine over to the passenger side as much as I can, but since I don't physically have one of these engines yet I don't know how far I'd get with an axle swap (cheap and easy) or if it is limited due to the design of the transmission.

  I haven't found out if the E model is truly an engine only harness or integrated with all kinds of other stuff.

  Presently I have a little 77 280z that I can't figure out what to do with that I thought a middie version would be cool and allow me to try out the engine and packaging issues. I don't think I could get costs down to Challenge numbers, but who knows.

  Ultimately I have a production version of a totally different type of car in mind.

  So the Z would end up being the mule to try things out in.

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  Feb. 4, 2009 9:27 a.m. carguy123 Dork

  Also do the later models have an easily defeatable immobilizer system?

  Getting the right key and ecu can be an issue, or at least it is in the Honda world.

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  Feb. 4, 2009 9:44 a.m. m4ff3w Dork

  Why not just Megasquirt it? Seems like the more pedestrian versions of the Ecotec wouldn't be a problem.

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  Feb. 4, 2009 10:10 a.m. iceracer Reader

  Umm, the engine is already on the passenger side.

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  Feb. 4, 2009 10:16 a.m. wherethefmi2000 Reader

  Dude vq45 that Z, v8 powarrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!! But seriously you'd almost have a rear engine car with the engine in the back.

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  Feb. 4, 2009 10:23 a.m. carguy123 Dork

  iceracer wrote:

  Umm, the engine is already on the passenger side.

  FABULOUS!

  But that means the pics I've got are misleading. It looks as if it is mostly on the driver's side. Course the pics I've got show this huge honking supercharger hanging off the front and lots of cladding and stuff that disguise the engine compartment.

  Megasquirt is work, factory ecu is fine for my purposes. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

  I am presuming the newer versions have an immobilizer circuit since everyone else is doing it, but the newer version is also where you'll find the 260 hp version and the new reflash from the factory to get you 290 hp. This means I need to be able to bypass the immobilizer, presuming it exists, to take advantage of the newer ecus.

  I'm used to knowing things but on the Ecotec I don't know some of the most basic information. I feel like a little lost baby in the Ecotec world. I've never had an ecotec and the only GMs I've had recently were Escalades which don't translate to the 4 cylinder world.

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  Feb. 4, 2009 10:23 a.m. carguy123 Dork

  wherethefmi2000 wrote:

  Dude vq45 that Z, v8 powarrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!! But seriously you'd almost have a rear engine car with the engine in the back.

  Mid engined, by just a little, but then, that's the point.

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  Feb. 4, 2009 10:33 a.m. wherethefmi2000 Reader

  Yeah I understand, just v8 swaps are, Awesome and a nissan v8 makes it cooler. Mid engined 240z sounds very interesting. What are you going to do suspension wise?

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  Feb. 4, 2009 10:56 a.m. carguy123 Dork

  Well, that's part of why I want to do this on the "mule". I want to work out a good rear suspension. But probably 4 or 5 link instead of double A arm cause it will make you look better since you can put the power down earlier in a corner and not get all sideways like I seem to do regularly.

  The internet dimensions say this will fit behind the bulkhead behind the seat.

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  Feb. 4, 2009 11:05 a.m. patgizz Dork

  all gm fwd engines are offset to the passenger side - i guess i missed that part and concentrated on the axles.

  the tranny is on the drivers side and sorta behind the engine.
  

  there's a complete 303hp impala SS LS4/trans/pcm/wiring on cleveland craigslist for $1200 - an absolute steal and way more fun than a 4 banger.

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  Feb. 4, 2009 11:19 a.m. carguy123 Dork

  No, I want the 4 banger. As I said this will be the test mule for another project which will use the suspension and engine. And as an added feature I'll have something unique and fun.
  

  I'm not sure I can get this to qualify for a Challenge car cause I've got way too much money into it but that was 7 years ago. This thing has set idle for all that time. Is there any provision for counting what I was trying to sell it for instead of what I've got in it?

  Now is the engine harness completely separate from the car harness?

  Does it have an immobilizer and how do I bypass that?

  How bout that LSD?

  Is one manual tranny inherently better than another? 5 speed is fine.

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  Feb. 4, 2009 12:07 p.m. TJ Reader

  -I would guess that if you are putting a transverse inline 4 in a mid application that packaging the rear suspension will be tough. I'm guessing the rear track on your Z is narrower than the front track of a Cobalt. MacPherson struts may be your best option as far as packaging goes.
  

  Just my $0.02 uneducated guess, but hey, this is the internet right, not a place where actual facts or knowledge are required to have an opinion.

  Sounds like a fun and ambitious project.

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  Feb. 4, 2009 2:31 p.m. carguy123 Dork

  Wide body!

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  Feb. 4, 2009 2:58 p.m. patgizz Dork

  any good tuner can remove the anti theft from the pcm program at the same time they are deleting things like emissions codes and whatnot.

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  Feb. 4, 2009 3:20 p.m. carguy123 Dork

  That's much easier than in the Honda world.

  Any tips for good tuners?

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  Feb. 5, 2009 1:10 p.m. ronbros New Reader

  It is probably the most potential production 4 cyl in the world, you can go down to your local Chevy dealer and ask to get a book/ manual that is for modifieing GM sport compact cars, they have a part number for the book(I have one). they go from stock all the way up to 1200HP, at different levels of mods. a really interesting trans,they have that shifts by toggle switches, ,sure saves on miss shifts. any who order that book! Ron

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