'96+ 2.4L gm engine?

looking for a new beater commuter... pretty low price point... seems with gas prices the cars i'd typical be looking at have jumped in value...

so found a '96+ grand am... has the 2.4L dohc I4... mpg is acceptable and while i'm not crazy about GA's i don't mind em... biggest problem i have is knowing the history of the 2.3 SOHC we owned a few years back...

so big question... is the 2.4 much better then the 2.3 quad i had a few years back? thanks mark

Very, very marginally better. Which means they're still crap, just slightly better crap.

why?

there's gotta be something else, there's just gotta be. Is it free or something?

Depends on what your problems with the 2.3 SOHC were. The 2.3 SOHC was a dog (way down on power), is notorious for head/head gasket issues, and came mated to crappy transmissions. IMO, the 2.4 was a heck of a lot better than the 2.3 SOHC. Comparing to the 2.3 DOHC, it's a little better in that it's more reliable due to resolved head/head gasket issues, but not as powerful so there's a trade off. With the 2.4, you should expect more power, better fuel economy, and better reliability than you had with the 2.3 SOHC.

Bryce

don't care about power... wife will be commuting with it (200 miles a week or so) till she graduates in dec... want something more fuel efficent then the astro van ;-) and want fairly reliable as wife will be a few hrs away on her drive...

our SOHC had head problems... so sounds like my major concern was taken care of?

thanks guys mark

Yeah, the head problems were resolved with the 2.4 redesign, if that's your big hangup you don't have to worry about that one.

Bryce

water pump still requires removing exhaust i assume? lol...and thanks man mark

Not the exhaust but the complete timing chain and guides will need to be redone.

If she drives the Astro why don't we just stick an engine in the Neon this weekend for $350.00?

Call me tonight

Every other car in the small/midsize sedan class is lightyears ahead of the Grand Am in just about every respect. I'm sure the price is right. I can't imagine one of those going for more than $1,500 or so.

Why not an Accord, Civic, Protege, etc..?

$1500??? That'd be a horrible price. We got both of our Achieva SCX (factory racer version of the Grand Am) MI cars for < $400 as running, driving cars. If you're paying more than a touch over scrap prices for a decadeish old GM econobox in Michigan, somebody's taking you for a ride.

Bryce

no joke.

I'm sitting here trying to visualize who bloody MINT a 2.4 grand am would have to be, and simultaneously how amazingly cheap, and I think it would take a lot of both to make me an owner.

let us in on the secret. why this car?

i'm back in panama city... its the right price (under $1k)... seems most other cars in the price range need major work...

john i'll give you a ring... mark

Well, for that cheap even if it sucks it's not likely to depreciate any more...

ya i don't worry about it depreciation... just what it'll cost to operate while i have it... can't have something that brakes down every other day.

the last car we bought for $1000... put new brakes on it... junkyard radiator, and fluids... drove it for over a year and sold it for $400 with a trashed trans (thank you CL)

think i'm going to fix the neon though (thanks for that though john ;-)

mark

I have 2 cars, long term, with that motor. One with 240K, the other one with 160K, 70 of which have been real hard K's. Both have been 100% reliable. You'll hear horror stories about water pump failures, and rod bearing problems. Thats all they are, is stories. I did the water pump on one, and while it was a 4hr job, it wasn't bad. No need for chain, and guides, either. I would not hesitate to do a buildup with one, or use it as a daily driver. I've been driving the 240K car this week, and have put 500 fairly aggressive km on it with a 1/4 tank left on a full tank. Getting in one of these after driving a Neon, they feel like they have double the power.