Your experience with ecotec engines

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: salv
Great power plants. Efficient and durable. GM makes a good motor.


Having had 3 of these during those 'raising teens' years I can assure you they are tough motors. Many minor car issues with 2 Cavalier's and a Sunfire, but no engine problems at all across a lot of abusive miles!

 

[Shannow]

Sort of run an ecotec...the L36 was "ecotec" downunder, while the L67 carried no such badge.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Originally Posted By: artificialist
My 2003 ION Ecotec was almost dead at 95,000 miles.


Almost dead?


Then again, early Ions were truly junk....


Cylinders 1,2, and 4 had normal compression of 200 PSI.
Cylinder 3 was down to 140 PSI. That is far mkore tha a 15% difference, meaning the engine should be replaced.

It vibrated badly because of this, but it still ran.

 

[Gabe]

The oil nozzle for the 2.2 timing chain got redesigned in 2004. I guess it wasn't producing enough flow at idle.

They are easy to work on and seem to last.

 

[Nyquist]

My wife has a 2.2L in her Cobalt. It runs like new after 100,000 miles. The Equinox is SIDI, so it's a different ball of wax.

It's had mainly Pennzoil Platinum or Mobil 1 for those miles with OCIs every 4,500 to 5,000.

 

[Hyde244]

Mom has a 2.4L Ecotec on a 2012 Chevy Malibu that uses 5w30 Motorcraft oil. Has owned it for about 10,000 miles so far (24,000 miles total on the odometer) - has been a great engine thus far.

 

[rryam]

I have an 03' Grand Am with the 2.2, 166,000 miles with no issues. Oil has been M1 and SuperTech 5-30 Syn changed approx every 7500 miles which comes to twice a yr. Changed plugs about every 60K that seems to be about all they last, which is no big deal as they are very easy to change. it seems to be a good engine.

 

[Bgallagher]

Originally Posted By: MinamiKotaro
About 130,000 here. I had to replace the coil pack and the catalytic converter (I think the weak coil pack caused its demise).


The weak coil pack caused the demise of the cat? I had just recently replaced my cat on the malibu. Maybe I am confused but how were you able to figure the two out?

 

[WyrTwister]

We bought a 2015 Sonic with 1.8l automatic , latter part of June .

Hope this will be a good engine / tranny combination .

The current plan is to change the timing belt & tranny fluid early .

God bless
Wyr

 

[CELICA_XX]

We had a 2.4 that was a piece of trash.

Noise, vibrations, no-start, stalling at stoplights, check-engine lights, etc...

Plus it burned oil. The dipstick would be dry at 50% of the OLM if I wasn't always adding oil.

Meticulously maintained with PP 5w30 and a Fram Ultra.

 

[stchman]

My girlfriend had an Ecotec 2.2L in her Cobalt never a problem and her new Malibu has the 2.5L Ecotec. Both well built IMO.

 

[Blinker]

My experience with them has been excellent. Mine is a 2008 2.2 L61, which is the Gen 2 block and pre-VVT. 140,000 miles later, the dipstick is always up to the full mark and all I've done is the scheduled maintenance. Seems to be overbuilt IMO.

The 2.0-2.4 liter ecos can be picky with their oil filter causing a startup rattle. Mine rattled from new to 100,000 miles on cold startup. Switched to a Fram Ultra and it hasnt rattled ever again. Just FYI.

I use synthetic 5w-30 and change about 6k-7.5k mile intervals. Some 2.2-2.4 ecos burned the exhaust valves from running too lean. Deposits from poor gasoline formed on the valves causing it to run a little lean and eventually there would be a misfire at idle once the engine is warmed up. GM recommends top tier gasoline and that is what I use. Never had an issue.

Not sure about the new family of ecotec's but I'm sure theyre great. I really recommend using top tier rated gasoline and following the manufacturer maintenance schedule. GM can really build an engine if they put the effort into it!

 

[dishdude]

I've had 5 total
2 2.2's, 2 2.4's and now a 2.5. All great! Wish the 2.5 still had the cartridge filter.

 

[kevjam79]

The Ecotec series engine was a co-designed engine between Opel and Lotus. Once they perfected, GM rolled it out as a global engine series. These engines are very tough if maintained. A few challenges have come up over time... normally on the turbo variations. The NA engines are tough.

I have owned a Pontiac G5 with 2.2NA, a Chevy Cruze with the 1.4T and a Chevy Sonic 1.8NA. I had a few issues with the 1.4T but is was related to the integrated PCV valve in the valve cover. This is a known issue and very fixable. The 1.8NA is well built with trick items normally reserved for performance engines, like under-piston oil cooling jets, hollow cam shafts, etc. These items are employed to protect the engine from the higher running temperatures and free up rotational mass for fuel economy. You can research the LUW engine if you are interested in the 1.8NA.

 

[kevjam79]

Also, I recommend using Mobil 1 Syn EP 5w-30 or Pennzoil UP 5w-30 on the 1.8NA.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: kevjam79
Also, I recommend using Mobil 1 Syn EP 5w-30 or Pennzoil UP 5w-30 on the 1.8NA.




Those are long drain oils. If not extending the interval there is absolutely no gain in using them.
None.

 

[AntsinmyEyes]

I have a 2004 Saturn Ion with the 2.2 ecotec. Runs great and ive had no major issues. The car has 150000 now. Still gets over 30 mpg

 

[gabriel9766]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
I've had 5 total
2 2.2's, 2 2.4's and now a 2.5. All great! Wish the 2.5 still had the cartridge filter.
I have never liked cartridge filters. But im so glad the ecotec (2.5) in my 2015 malibu has a spin on filter. Only 1.3k so far but its a strong motor.

 

[camarokiller]

I had a supercharged 2.0 and it ran flawlessly eating 23psi of hot air. But chainging that filter OMG what a pain. Bet many 2.0 sc's never had the filter changed at the quick lube.

 

[JustinH]

We had a 2003 Saturn Ion 1, and a 2003 Pontiac Sunfire.

Both ran flawlessly. I would put el cheapo supertech dino oil and supertech cartridge filters in both every 4-5k.

It was the rest of the car that fell apart in the case of the pontiac.

The Saturn was a better built car all around.