I would like to hear everyone's likes and dislikes of the LD9 motor.
I have owned one for about a year now and spun the number 3 main bearing twice in a 7000 mile period. But when the car isn't in the shop getting a new 2.4 motor in it, it's actually a very peppy motor stock. I'm quite impressed with the low end power. Top end needs work, but that is what turbos are for...
I haven't had any major problems ( knock on wood ) with the 3 i've owned ( all in 3 different cars, 98 Z, 01 Z, and 97 Z )...
The only problem I've had is the high idle problem on the 97...
So I can't say much bad about them...
no big probs with my mine has always been reliabile....
8 psi with m62 and IAT under 100
never a problem with either of mine both are holding up perfect. my daily driver has 115,000 with no problems and my race cavy has been beat for three years straight at the track and still no problems. only down side is there its as much performance mods as the eco's do
Regular maintenance is your friend.
Mine has 104K and has been trouble free. I know of several others with well over that mileage that have been fine too. What I dislike most is that it doesn't have two more cylinders. That, and GM' support is on the wane since it's a discontinued engine.
Oiling system,Hg sucks,other than that....
15.2@89mph 2.171 60ft. 9.830 1/8 R.I.P. "LULU"
ECO swap is a better friend
So, what year did they solve the oiling issue? I have an 01 with the 2.4l and everybody tells me I have the "good" LD9.
I believe the oil system issue is the same for all years of the LD9 because they all have balance shafts and the oil pump and pan changes they brought with them. (Same as the '95 2.3.) The last significant changes I know of to the LD9 occurred for late-'99 when the injectors were changed and the EGR was eliminated. Don't know why the '01 would be any "good"-er as I think all the late-'99 and up are essentially the same.
my ld9 has never had any issues until i decided to turbo it and not tune it properly. but as long as you do oil changes and maintence regularly they are great engines
-- MyZcar
Mine was great for the 3 or so years that i daily drove it. It stood up to being force fed 15psi for a summer completely stock, not sure what more i could ask for
The gf has owned LD9 powered cars for the last 6 or so years and never had any issues either.
A friend of mine abuse and neglects his and it just keeps on running.
I have nothing but good things to say about them.
_
Now with northstar V8, IRS, 20's n 22's
Expensive, noisy, leaks oil, gas mileage is poor for a 4 cylinder, has some power, spins rod bearings (had two a 97 and bought an 02 with spun bearing)
I loves mine...No problems with it besides the Tranny, but that was MY fault..Will never go over a hill so fast again..
Does sound a bit whiny though :p
Ive had several with no real issues. I have bought two different cars with spun rods. Funny thing was both were mexico built. lol
I have a 2000 supercharged with no issues- 57k miles
I have a 2002 stock no issues- just over 114k miles
Had a 1998 vert stock no issues-around 138k when I sold it
Had a 1996 stock no issues-around 182k when I sold it
Had to 97's-mexico built- one had 97k and the other 85k-both spun rod bearings. Both recieved used engines and were sold.
What is with the bad gas mileage talk everytime one of these threads comes up. Mine gets somewhere between 28-32 depending on how I drive it, and that's after 140,000 miles. That seems pretty reasonable considering its quickness, and that the car it has to lug around isn't the lightest one.
(Tom) S/C Fire wrote:Expensive, noisy, leaks oil, gas mileage is poor for a 4 cylinder, has some power, spins rod bearings (had two a 97 and bought an 02 with spun bearing)
expensive?? from where i come from they are a dime a dozen. a friend got one out of a yard last year for under 200 bucks. noisy? wtf?? i dont know where you get this from but its no louder than an ecotec ive ever heard. leaks oil... well yea its not an ld9 unless it does :p. 33mpg is poor for a 1996 era designed engine? i dont think so.
and yes... the great rod bearing failure issue. its the worthless oiling system. it blows. swap to a 2.3 system and problem solved.
personally... i love my ld9's. easy to work on and if you keep up with the maintenance they are just fine.
Needing 2.3 oil pump stuff? PM me...
I thought about doing the 2.3 oil pump swap if you can just pull the pan and do it with the car on ramps....but if not..... it will happen later on.
I've never had a problem with mine other than going through 3 sets of coils..... but there cheap to replace and If I ever get around to doing a MSD swap.... the problem will be gone.
The engine seems to take whatever I give it..... although I use Mobil 1 full synthetic 5w40 with K&N oil filters and change the oil every 2k miles. (sometimes every 1500 miles) I go by the way the oil looks before it hits 2k.
Regular maintenance is what makes engines last. (well that and not beating the crap out of them all the time)
The Izuzu trannys that are bolted to them kinda suck though (if you have a manual)
I love LD9's even if they have there quirks.
There not a 427 big block for christs sakes LOL.
I got my 96 with 2.4 in 06 with 95,000ish on the clock, and since then it has been through 45,000 miles of hard daily driving by me. The only things I don't like about it is now matter what I do it loses oil, about a quart every 1,000 miles and was the coils constantly going out on me. After swapping coils out to a different style and putting in a new timing set and water pump I feel their still is alot of life left in this motor even with 140,000 miles. I think their was some good ones and some bad ones but along in that is how you maintain it. Mine sees new oil every 2,500 and new plugs every 6 months. I also clean the air filter at the same time I do the plugs and check oil level and top off every week.
I love my 97 Z. Very reliable and pretty quick. Have a bunch of mods waiting to be put on too.
my 1st LD9 was great. until i burned a hole in the piston. too much nitrous. the 2nd LD9 is doing great
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
People complain about the 2.3 like I have in my 95, but with 65,000 miles, I think it will last a while . Sometimes I think it is the driver. The company I work for changes brands of vans they get us for work every few years. There was a guy that used to work for us that always seemed to have a transmission going bad. This was also true of his personal vehicles too !
My original 2000 Z24 the "bottle fed zed" was awesome... threw tons of nitrous at it, and it never had a problem... til some junkie decided to torch it on Halloween night 2003. Its replacement, the white 99 Z24 'vert was ok too.. the new owner hasn't had any problems with it.
The original 2.4L in this red 'vert was a POS... blew the piston ring land after I put the GM supercharger on it. Swapped it out for a 3.8L supercharged V6 instead
My other Cavalier.. the 98 Z24.. the Isuzu trans went, so I sold the 2.4L for $500, to help fund my $800 Ecotec & Getrag swap. The 2.4L was ok, but I figure it probably had 220,000 kms on it... who knows how long it would have lasted beyond that.
I have no issues with the 2.4L per se... but when it comes to finding them with low miles for cheap... it's just so much easier finding an Eco.
...j
My daily driver was supercharged at 91k miles and saw a 75 shot of nitrous a few times as well. Drove it to Ohio for the bash where I dynoed and beat the hell out of it a bit driving, then drove it home fine. Then turboed Id say at around 95k and still turbo'd at over 97k now. The car saw many WOT passes untuned with the afr well into 13's and maxing out injectors and still runs like a champ.
Jordan you know Ive had problems and all, but all of the problems Ive had have not been motor related. With the sc, I messed up the bearings from spraying wet nitrous but the motor was fine; I think I was using the wrong fuel jet too for that kit soo was even more lean lol. And when I first turbocharged it was great, until I blew my turbo from using too strong of a bov spring causing compressor surge,and using 2 oil restrictors in my feed line which I didnt realize. Now Im just having tune issues from swapping some pcm's around instead of actualy getting the car tuned properly which Im working on. Ive thought about an eco swap honestly just cause I think they are a better looking motor, Id like to have an actual valve cover haha. Plus I could pick one up with very low miles for like $200 and just boost the @!#$ out of it.Anyways, I know it seems like Ive had problems with my car and all but as you can see none of them have been motor related. The ccar has seen as much as 13psi on this motor too hah.
All in all, I think if you were to do a 2.3 oil pump swap and something with the pcv system, a stock bottom end ld9 could handle quite a bit over 300whp as long as maintained properly, no matter what the mileage. Ive got some motor build parts sitting around so I guess that means Im staying ld9 haha.
