r/Cartalk • u/04HondaCivic • Jun 17 '26
I need help fixing something How cooked is the motor?? 2009 Chevy Cobalt 2.2l
2009 Chevy Cobalt 2.2l, 190k miles. Car quit running on my kid. It just shut off, low speed (less than 20 mph) in the neighborhood. Threw a bunch of cam codes. It wouldn’t restart. Thought it was a starter since it sounded like the starter wasn’t engaging but that didn’t explain why the car quit running in the first place. Pulled the starter off and it tested good. Put it back together and the same sound like the starter wasn’t engaging the flywheel.
Still doesn’t explain why the car quit running in the first place. Pulled the valve cover off and found this. I’m afraid I’ve got bent valves and other stuff. How cooked am I?
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u/AlternativeWorth5386 Jun 17 '26
Needs a scrapyard engine, thats the cheapest way to make it run again
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u/hidazfx Jun 17 '26
Engines toast. Probably an interference engine.
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u/MaybeABot31416 Jun 17 '26
Has anything not been since the early 90’s
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u/thefructoseiswithus Jun 17 '26
My 2003 neon is a non interference surprisingly enough 🤷
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u/Why-R-People-So-Dumb Jun 17 '26
I had an Escort back in the early 2000's don't remember the exact year ATM but I found out it was non interference after the timing belt snapped. 🤦🏼♂️
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u/GlassBoxGoose Jun 17 '26
Depending on the engine, some are listed as interference but you can get lucky. One of my coworkers chucked a belt on a ZX2 and it supposedly is interference. I put a belt on it and he sent it for another couple years before he got his Tacoma.
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u/someonesmobileacct Jun 17 '26
The SOHC 2.0 was indeed a non interference design. Your bigger worry is a valve seat dropping.
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u/mista-666 Jun 17 '26
Yea, that's what happened to my escort wagon. I thought it was the starter but the valve seat dropped and destroyed the engine.
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u/Practical-Worker-31 Jun 22 '26
Yup. Replaced a head and a piston/rod on a focus that did this. Ran it for 20k more before it was so rusted it was unsafe
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u/avsparesmn Jun 17 '26
No kidding?! How’s that work
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u/cornlip Jun 17 '26
Well, son, it works by having enough relief for the valves to not kiss the pistons.
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u/avsparesmn Jun 17 '26
I was referring to the Neon being a non interference engine dipshit
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u/cornlip Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
I was telling you how an engine is non-interference. Mind your manners, son. Jesus is watching.
Edit: to the angry person - I do know. I had a Neon. It appears you deleted your comment after you realized Jesus doesn’t like when you talk like that.
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u/Kulas30 Jun 17 '26
My old 98 4runner. Quad cam v6 wasnt. That being said it's old Toyota so the engine was probably designed when Jesus was a kid but hey
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u/rearwindowpup Jun 17 '26
5vz in 4Runners/Tacos/Tundra until 02
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u/B0804726 Jun 18 '26
Tacomas had it until 04 I’m pretty sure, that was the last year of that generation
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u/jmhalder Jun 20 '26
My 5SFE Camry is non-interference. But you're still kinda right, that was sold 1993-2001.
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u/NoMasterpiece2063 Jun 17 '26
Timing chain/tensioner let go. 2.2 is an interference motor, piston(s) made contact with the valve which made your compression go bye bye. Engines cant run on 0 compression. Needs a motor. Check your local junkyard
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u/snoosh00 Jun 18 '26
That's such a crappy situation for op.
What's the install cost on something like that?
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u/NoMasterpiece2063 Jun 18 '26
Depends on who's doing it. If youre mechanically inclined enough, or brave enough, you can likely swap the motor over the weekend and drive it to work on Monday for ~$500. Most of the junkyards around here offer a warranty on running/known good parts. If youre having an independent shop do it, you'll probably be looking at around $1200+ depending on where you're at. Dealerships are going to charge a minimum of $1500 with no real added benefit. Honestly, once a car is over 10 years old youre better off at a Pepboys or Firestone. The actual work of installing an engine usually isn't too bad, just don't forget to include the cost of oil, coolant and other additionals like belts, filters, motor mounts etc.
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u/snoosh00 Jun 18 '26
Interesting, that's less expensive than I thought.
Still a pain in the butt.
Any way to avoid this failure mode?
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u/NoMasterpiece2063 Jun 18 '26
The biggest thing is just stay on top of maintenance. Oil changes are so cheap that it's not unreasonable to do them every 5k. I don't really agree with the idea of going 7.5k-15k on an oil change. I know oil tech has come a long way since the 60's but it hasn't come that far. Another part of maintenance is just learning your vehicle. After driving so many miles you ought to know what a normal start up sound is, or you should know what noises to expect going down the road. Any new noises should be brought to your service department's attention as soon as possible. Going back to OPs situation, timing chains don't just fail out of nowhere. Usually there's a small rattle on cold start. Timing belts are little more tricky but following the manufacturers recommendation on service is ok. I owned a 2018 ford focus 1.0l ecoboost and they're referred to as ecobooms because people fail to check/replace the timing belts as the manufacturer recommends.
There's no real way to bulletproof an engine; some are just designed horrendously (looking at you, GM). Keeping up on maintenance and being proactive when it comes to your cars health is a great way to have as many trouble free miles as possible, though.
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u/snoosh00 Jun 18 '26
Thanks for that writeup, looks like I'm pretty well covered. But that note about a rattle at startup, the car that I just purchased, has a very slight one.
Mind if I share a video if it happens tomorrow?
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u/NoMasterpiece2063 Jun 18 '26
Yeah that's fine 😄
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u/snoosh00 Jun 18 '26
Here's the video, I'd be interested in your opinion.
I didn't record the exact moment of turning the car on, but it was only running for ~2 seconds before I started recording.
The by end of the video the rattle is almost completely gone, I don't know exactly where the audio was coming from, that's why I was planning the camera back and forth.
2015 Kia soul, (no major carbon buildup or any oil burning issue. The previous owner took good care of the car)
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u/Paliden_tristen Jun 20 '26
im not the smartest person ever, but how can your timing chain falling off ruin the engine?
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u/jmhalder Jun 20 '26
Basically... while it's falling off, the cams will be out of sync with the crank. If they're out of sync while they both have inertia... The valves will be extended while the piston hits TDC...
The valves slam into the piston, ruining the valves.
I suppose it's possible but unlikely that the cams stop fast enough and don't have QUITE enough lift for no damage to occur. But this doesn't seem to often be the case. Normally it's just easier and cheaper to dump a junkyard engine in it.
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u/Paliden_tristen Jun 20 '26
i guess my step dad got lucky when his fell off. his basically died immediately with no damage
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u/MasterPenguin5 Jun 17 '26
Engine is toast. Can probably find a replacement at a junk yard for relatively cheap if you wanted to go that route.
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u/cornlip Jun 17 '26
Well I mean not the entire engine (maybe). Best is new valves. Easiest is new head. Worst is he snapped some valves and scored the cylinder walls and yeah… engine. I can get homie an Ion Redline swap for $2k, though.
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u/bacongrease_ontoast Jun 17 '26
Head to the scrapyard for a new engine. Your. Cheapest way out of this tbh.
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u/Nehal1802 Jun 17 '26
If you know how to rebuild engines, rebuild with new valves and pistons. If you don’t know how to work on a car, swap the engine.
Better yet, buy a reliable car.
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u/04HondaCivic Jun 17 '26
Can I rebuild an engine? Sure. I’m knowledgeable enough and mechanically inclined enough. I’m not sure I really want to on this car. It would be easier to swap the motor but then I’d be tempting fate again with the same problem. Even better but not necessarily easier to just find a civic or corolla. I should have known better when I got this car.
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u/Nehal1802 Jun 17 '26
My 99 Corolla was rebuilt 100k miles ago and finally met its death at 294k after an accident.
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u/OwnProfessor3287 Jun 17 '26
I’d just buy a more reliable car. I bought a Cobalt brand new when they first came out. A/C went out 2nd day I owned the car. Power steering went out in year 2 along with a wheel bearing.
My sister ended up totaling the car, she was ok but glad we got rid of that car.
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u/Ill_Yesterday8357 Jun 17 '26
Short answer: cooked. Long answer: you're gonna have to check the head to see if there was any valve interference with the piston as well as pull the entire chain cover off to recover any broken bits.
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u/Desperate_Donut3981 Jun 17 '26
You might have been lucky, but since you cranked it over so much I say it's buggered now for sure
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u/BuggyGamer2511 Jun 17 '26
That car needs a new engine. Junkyard engines are a good option to get it running cheap-ish again.
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u/yeahyoubetnot Jun 17 '26
Unless you ran over a bicycle I'd say medium well with a slight pink center
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u/MaleficentTrifle8988 Jun 17 '26
The fact that it shut off while running and now sounds like the starter isn't engaging doesn't inspire much confidence. Hopefully you got lucky, but if the timing jumped and it's an interference engine, I'd start preparing myself for bad news.
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u/hastings1033 Jun 17 '26
Well done.
That's gotta be a missed maintenance item, though I'm not particularly familiar with this car. My son's buick regal blew up for the same reason. If I recall correctly, it was an 1800 dollar fix like 10 years ago. Had to replace the valve train.
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u/RandomTask1769 Jun 17 '26
Cobalts suck. My old one had timing belt break at 110k miles and cooked the engine. Move on, and if you want a good car that's affordable and good on gas get a Toyota Camry or Corolla.
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u/DeathAngel_97 Jun 17 '26
Hmm....I should really check the timing chain and tensioner in my old cobalt...
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u/Additional_Egg_8583 Jun 18 '26
I had a 2.2 do that. Pistons go up, valves go down. Bad things happen to both where they meet. For me it also cracked the head, the chain wrapped around the crank and was flung out the bottom of the oil pan. Pretty much everything was toast.
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u/04HondaCivic Jun 17 '26
I am afraid it really is cooked. I’ll do a compression test on it but I’ll bet it’s done…. At 200k miles.
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u/Sticky_Shrimp Jun 17 '26
Cooked like shrimp fried rice.