[Hooter]

Looking for a decent 4 cylinder car with gas being so high. A girl I work with has a '01 Alero she bought new. Has 78,000 miles and runs great with no problems. I've done most of the maintenance on the car for her. Has new tires too. Overall, in pretty good shape with leather interior, sunroof, and all the bells and whistles. Since I keep most of my vehicles for 200,000 miles plus, wondering if there is anything to be worried about on this? I can pick it up for $3,200 which seems to me a great price since the car really needs nothing. Also wondering if it has a timing belt or chain?

[Tin Injun Tom]

Not trying to scare you, but you should to read this thread:
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...51#post3185251

The car you are looking at may be just fine. But it makes one wonder why a block with only 56K should develope a crack in the water jacket. Could have been just an isolated incident. I don't know if this engine was ever run low on coolant. I suspect probably not, based on the head gasket was intact and not blown or leaking, upon close inspection. But that is my theory. I have heard about and seen lots of head gasket failures on the 2.4 engines, but this was my only experience with the 2.2.
When we had the head off, etc, it was brought to our attention that the block and head of the 2.2 was of a very cheap (looking) casting. The outer texture looked just like styerofoam (sp).

When we got the engine back together, with the milled head, and everything, it ran great. We were breathing a sigh of relief though. Have not heard back from the owners, so I guess that engine is going to be OK, knock on wood.
Initially, that engine lost time somehow. I still do not know how the engine still ran somewhat OK after we first reinstalled the chain. Just had a noticable miss at idle. I suspect there might have been a couple valves that where bent ever so slightly. just enough to cause the miss at idle.
I would be more concerned about the potential of cracking the block than a timing chain failure.
The latter is not a huge deal to repair, as long as the valves don't get bent. And I would think the life expectency (of the chain) would be decent, compared to a belt.

All in all, I would opt for a Japanese car, if looking for a late model four cyl.

[Tin Injun Tom]

Just to add some additional thoughts.
If you've done most of the maintenance, and the fact that this girl bought the car new, so you know the complete history of this car,,, That is a big plus.
It's possible the Alero I worked on was just a LEMON from day one. Your co-worker's car has twenty thousand more miles than the one I delt with, and no problems. It may only be due for a coolant flush, if it is still on the original, and it's good to go.

The coolant recoverey system seemed to be well designed. I didn't have any problem with air-lock when refilling the system.
I also liked the easy access to the sparkplugs on that engine. Very nice. And no plugwires to replace, or wonder about.

To clear up confussion, I didn't mention that the engine with the crack in the cylinder block, along with the entire head, was replaced in that car. The engine we used was out of a newer car with around 10K miles. It had blown a head gasket and was replaced outright. The garage that had it sold us the head and short block as seperate pieces, because we initially just wanted the head. Then we had to get a gasket and head bolts, etc. and reassemble the engine.

[Hooter]

This car has the 2.4 in it. Went and looked it over some more this afternoon. Did hear some noise coming from the front and sounds like the front wheel bearing is going bad. The car now does have the following idiot lights on: check engine, abs, and trac off. According to my friend, these just came on in the last week when she started hearing the noise coming from the front. Hoping this is from the sensor in the front hub and the wheel bearing going out? Seems to be a common problem on these after googling it. $100 for the hub assy. Other than that, brakes I've put on once, and a new belt the car has been trouble free.

I've been looking for a cheapie little car for around $2,000, but they are hard to find. This is a little more than I wanted to spend, but it's loaded with all options and is less miles than the other pieces of junk I've looked at.

[mnepitjr]

I worked as a mechanic/tech at a GM/Olds/Buick/Chevy dealership. Those engines did that regardless of the mileage. When they first came out with that engine, it was prone to crack the head or block. It was part of it. I made a lot of money changing out engines and heads per GM. GM built throw away cars during that time period. They didn't care how many years that they lasted. I would just make sure that she had changed the antifreeze(probably hadn't) and put GM antifreeze back in it. It seemed to help those cars some. GM put something in the coolant that aftermarket suppliers didn't.

I know I am going to get some crap for the throw away cars comment but it's the truth.

The reluctor ring for the ABS was on the inside of the front hub. I don't think that would make the light come on just because the bearing is bad. But I have CRS and can't remember from then. The trac light is on because the ABS light is on.

[mnepitjr]

They actually used styrofoam to cast those heads in. Saturn cast the entire block and heads that way. It was cheaper than the regular cast method and didn't cost as much to change castings.

[Tin Injun Tom]

Hmmm, I guess I was thinking the Alero I worked on was an '01. Now that I think of it, it was an '02. I believe GM dropped the 2.4 in favor of the 2.2. And the 2.2 from '02 up was different than the late nineties version, which was a single cam, I think.
So Maybe the later 2.2 is actually evolved from the 2.4?
What I have been told about the 2.4 is, they are really prone to head gasket failure if they overheat. Maybe in the last year or two of production, GM possibly tweaked the head gasket design, and bolt torque method, so they are more durable. I would still be very leary.

Could be a problem with the ABS sensor as it is a moving part, very close to the inner hub. Wheel bearings usually don't go bad under 100K on these cars.
Check the underside of the oil fill cap for milky residue. Also look for it on the dipstick, above the area where the level reading is. That's the tip off for head gasket problems.

[Old Blue 66]

IM not a big fan of this car. Ill spare my opinions to just one.

Take the car and have a box plugged into the computer to find out why the CEL is on. Even though you dont hear anything, there could be a major problem. Ive seen it happen quite a few times. Theres a 50/50 chance that it could be nothing, but if its something, Ill bet its expensive.

[Hooter]

Wound up passing on the car as she got antsy wanting to trade it in. After seeing some of the above replys and googling potential problems figured I'll wait for something else to come along. Thanks for all the input guys.