Hey guys I have a serious couple of questions. First off, before u say it, I have read over and over the eco swap how too but these answers aren't really there. Now, in the how to, it says I can reuse my radiator as it may not be necessary to change it. Now if that's the case, I ordered two brand new hoses from napa and they won't work. My radiators inlet is at the bottom passenger side, as the ecos radiator inlet is 3/4's the way to the top. Now my question, for the people who swapped there ld9 to the eco and used the ld9 radiator, what radiator hoses did you use???? And if u can give detail about it. I really don't want to swap the radiator out since the one in the car is litereally a month old so if I can reuse it that would be great, if not ill have to go to a junkyard and grab on there.
2. What heater core to engine hoses did u use. Did u just get them off a parts/JY car?? If u made your own, could you elaborate, thanks.
3. Final question. I pulled this motor from a 05 malibu classic with low miles. Everything is the same except the nutral safety switch was diffrent so I took that off my ld9 so no issues. I also got the wiring harness from a 03 or 04 cavalier in the junkyard. But I'm having a issue with one connector. It seems to be the crank position sensor. The sensor, if I'm calling it right, is located on the front of the block, directly underneath the oil filer housing, to the right of the oil pressure sensor/switch right next to where the engine and trans bolt up. The problem I'm having is the connector that's there won't fit into the damn sensor. Now I have checked, since I work for napa, and all the crank sensors are the exact same. Rather is be a 03-05 J eco or the 05 malibu classic, there the same, but this sensor won't go into it. So is there maybe something I'm missing. Its a grey connector and with everything pluged in that's the only connector that sits there and the only sensor that has nothing going to it. So any help would be great, maybe a picture??
Other then that everything is going good. Oh one more question, where is the fill plug on the side of the trans, some fluid came out when I pulled it from the other car so I know ill need some more in there, I just can't find it, or at least it isn't obvious to me, its a automatic btw. Thanks again guys, and I cannot wait to be eco powered soon!!!
1: I used an eco rad from a J
2: I used the eco heater core lines from a J
3: There is a short adapter harness that may measure about 3" long. I will get a picture for you
1. Damn lol
2. I figured as much, I just wanted to see what was out there if anyone made something to work.
3. Please do, bc without it, I'm screwed. Thanks!
I swapped the eco rad in since i got a killer deal on a new one. i herd the 2.4 will work if u rout the hose diff. some say slight cooling issues.
The heater hose i used ecos on mine and weve used 2.4s on some others. u can get hose from advance and trim to fit.
The sensor has a pigtail thats like 3-4inchs long. my motor had diff pin widths vs the harness. no biggie to change the pigtail. maybe ur missing the pigtail id grab from a eco cav just make sure the pin widths match. they look close but are diff widths apart inside.
Well the harness I got, I pulled myself, and didn't see the extension, then again I was hot tired and just wanted to be done so I could have missed it. It does say our CPS is the same as the LD9's so I'm gonna look at that tonight. I know I am not missing it since there is one there but idk. Ill go to the yard this weekend and grab a rad out of the car, and the heater hoses so no worries there. I'm also going to check into that damn sensor. The one I had broke so I got a new one for a 04 cavalier eco but its the same I had so I have no idea. If the conector for the ld9 works in that one, ill just cut the connector off one and splice it to the other. If anyone has any pics of this said extension piece it would be great. Thanks guys.
the 2.4 should have the extention on it also, i think.
Thanks for the info guys. The 2.4 does not have the extension on it but it did have the same sensor and connector. So I clipped the connector off and spliced it onto the eco harness so that's done. I'm going either tmo or Friday afternoon depending on weather to the junkyard to get the heater hoses and a radiator. But thanks again guys, least now I know I did miss something and wasn't going nuts lol.
i used the 2.4 heater hoses that go to the fire wall. other one should be different. make sure you get the metal cross over pipe.
The engine I got was pulled complete from a malibu classic ( I actually pulled it from a parts car so I know its complete). So, I'm not sure about the metal pipe. Both of these pipes that are suppose to go to the heater core, afre pointed straight up. I tried to use the ld9 hoses but I couldn't figure how to get them to work. But ill get the heater hoses tmo when I head to the JY.
The metal pipe I am talking about runs across the front of the motor to the coolant resivour. On the ecotec the passenger side radiator hose goes from the engine to the radiator nothing else. The hose on the passenger side has a t in it. It comes from the engine to the radiator with a t in it. From the t it runs across the engine to the coolant bottle. It is made up a peice of hose off the coolant bottle then a metal line across/between the engine and radiator to the t on the drivers side. If you need I can try to get pics or see if I can dig them up.
the way the eco heater hoes go your better off just buying eco heater core hoses don''t try and make LD9 ones work
MR hes not talking about the coolant crossover pipe hes talking about the pipes that bend up at the back of the motor where your heater core goes
JBO since July 30, 2001
yeah i know which ones he is talking about. the ones in the the back of my motor are the 2.4 ones. and i have had no problems with them there. i just was let him know he needs that cross over pipe.
9Thanks guys. Yeah I had the metal pipe already and didn't notice I took it off and sat it behind the car. So I was good there. I'm not going to doubt u can use the ld9 hoses for the heater core, but TBO I could not figure it out for the life of me. So I grabbed the heater hoses from a jy.
I have also noticed that there are quite a few things wrong with the eco swap thread. Here is what I found:
You MUST have the eco radiator, the ld9 will not work as the hoses aren't long enough from either motor, the heater core hoses are just easier to get from the jy, as making them won't work, and I have no clue how MRThompson got them to work but if he did, sweet, I grabbed them from the jy and called it a day, you will need the accelerator cable bracket as the ld9 will not work in any way shape or form, you will need the eco upper motor mount, you will need the harness from the eco (engine), you also will need O2 sensors made to work with the eco as the Ld9's O2 sensors have diffrent connectors on the front by the header, you will also need the intake setup from the eco since obviously the ld9 is diffrent.
Other then that, its in and running. And pretty smooth I might add. It was nice to have a jy down the street from me that had two 03+'s in them so I found almost everything I needed. I only had to buy the rad brand new and the 02 sensors new and since I work at napa it wasn't too bad. All in all I have about 900 into the engine trans, another 450 in misc parts, then another 333 into upgrades (WAI weapon r intake, and Tsudo header) so not too bad, and the engine and trans had 19K on it so it was still very low mileage. A little more on the expensive side but well worth it.
Thanks again guys for all your help. And this is just for anyone who may search this: this engine and trans came out of a 2005 malibu classic, and it will work, 100%, you just cannot use its engine harness, but you can use its pcm. U will still also need all the stuff listed above, but the classic's motor is still a direct (damn near it anyway) copy of the ('s. Everything will bolt directly to it no problem. on some of the ecos like from a ion u will need things like a oil pan and such, but from the classic you won't. And if you pull it from the car yourself do not pay attention to the mounting points from the malibu to the J as teven tho they do mount in diffrent spots, they will bolt into each other so don't stress it. Other then that, thanks again guys you have been a great help! Ill maybe start a new thread in P&M about a build so far kinda thing, but I wanna get it set to run good right now then ill make a post.
Good to hear its up and going.
This thread has answered a few questions I had about the eco swap, but I have a few more. The eco radiator, is it a direct swap or do I need a radiator mount or something from the eco car too? I see that you had to use the eco upper motor but what about the lower and tranny mount? Also, do you have to use the eco power steering line going to the rack or will the LD9 line work?
Thanks, Dan
You can use the LD9 lower mount, They are the same on all J cars.
rad is a direct swap given you have the eco hoses. the lower n auto trans mounts are both the same n can be reused. id asume the five speed could be too. i know auto yes since i have one already lol. the ps yes you can use the ld9 ps pump lines n all. unbolt from the 2.4 n lay aside then when eco in just bolt up n go. given ur eco is from a cav or firethos way the propper cam is in pkace for the pump to run. example our one swap used a ion motor n we needed to swap the one cam out cause it prior ran electric ps. simple n easy swap.
I still don't know how u guys got the ld9 rad to work with the eco. I tried using both sets of hoses and it never worked. Since the drivers side outlet on the rad is higher then the ld9 spot and the passenger side rad inlet is on the bottom of the rad and the ecos is in the middle. I just got a new rad and called it a day. And bluedriftcavi is right tho about the mounts, and the ps lines. Those are all 100% swappable. Goodluck on ur swap!
my guess is they got universal hoses n cut to fit. i liked my 2.4rad but shes bubble wrapped now infavor of a brand new eco rad diring the swaps. i just cut.to.the.chase lol eaisier. i also herd some had cooling issues when.running the.2.4 rad.
no idea why these questions are getting asked this is a bolt in swap theres nothing tricky about it
EVERY MOUNT 2200 or 2.4 can be used EVERYONE EXCEPT the upper engine thats its plain and simple
hoses get the hoses for the engine your putting in rad get the rad for the engine your putting in
pwr steering line do you honestly think GM would make a different rack just for the eco hell i have 3800 lines hooked up to my rack no modification needed
JBO since July 30, 2001
NOTa2_4 wrote:no idea why these questions are getting asked this is a bolt in swap theres nothing tricky about it
EVERY MOUNT 2200 or 2.4 can be used EVERYONE EXCEPT the upper engine thats its plain and simple
hoses get the hoses for the engine your putting in rad get the rad for the engine your putting in
pwr steering line do you honestly think GM would make a different rack just for the eco hell i have 3800 lines hooked up to my rack no modification needed
Gotcha, The How To was kinda vague in stating that some of the 2.4 stuff MAY be reusable, I just wanted to make sure.
note the MAY be reuseable its just much easier to use the stuff for that engine
JBO since July 30, 2001
