ok guys so i am kinda new to cavaliers but not new to cars in general i am in school for automotive and work for a BMW dealership as a tech. ok so a few months ago i traded a old beat up civic for my current car a 1998 Z24 cavalier with the 2.4L. the car has about 164xxx miles on the original motor and the body of the car is kinda beat up, but i got to say out of all the 4 cylinder cars i have owned this is my favorite by far.
here is a pic of the car as it sits right now
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh212/ChevyCaprice9C1/0625001849.jpg
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh212/ChevyCaprice9C1/59832_1444495113918_1279348698_31116504_5679652_n.jpg
as you can see the car has seen better days it news two quarter panels, a side shirt and painted and recently the car has been running on its last legs i fear. i am pretty sure that the head gasket is starting to seep and i am throwing dag codes for something new everything i fix one
so here is where i need help i was looking on craigslist the other day and found this
http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/cto/1958476050.html
i am thinking about buying this car (because its in much better shape body wise) and replacing the headgasket on the car. i have heard that the 2.4L is a pain is the ass to do a head gasket on its this true?
i have done a few headgaskets on 3800's, 305's, 350s and a few inline 6 cylinder BMW motors and i have a good set of hand tools in my home garage right now.
so do you guys think this car is worth buying and fixing up or should i just keep driving my current cavalier till it drops?
also what headgaskets to you guys recommend? i have always used felpro gaskets also i have pushed the idea around of maybe boosting the motor after its fixed
also what also should i replace while the motor is apart, i figured the water pump and the timing set anything else
thanks for all the help guys hoping to get into the j bodies more\
-alex
i belive the book on a ld9 head gaskets like six hours. it def not easy as a pushrod motor
ray gardner wrote:i belive the book on a ld9 head gaskets like six hours. it def not easy as a pushrod motor
yeah i hear ya there but i have done like 6 DOHC motors so far is the LD9 any harder than say a new eco tech head or i have done lots of DOHC BMW heads
It's not going to be that hard..
I would drain the oil and look for coolant in it. If it has it you might want to do some more work.
- Your not-so-local, untrained, uncertified, backyard mechanic. But my @!#$ runs
Depending how lazy a person is, you can get the whole HG job done in about a day. Yes it is a pain in the ass because of all the timing componants. While your in there, replace all the timing stuff, seals, gaskets, and most def the water pump. A 2.4 with that many miles on it watch the oil level carefully every once in a while. The #3 bearing likes to go boom if the oil level gets low.
~2014 New Z under the knife, same heart different body~
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WHITECAVY no more
2012 numbers - 4SPD AUTOMATIC!!
328 HP
306 TQ
