Hey Guys, I spotted an 02 LW200 on a local car lot today and tried to check it out. Unfortunately, the car lot was closed and the car was locked. I'd really like to check it out and see about maybe trading my 05 Neon on it. It's a silver car and the body and paint looked really good. It has a trailer hitch on it with a 1 and 7/8" ball too. Sweet! Anyway, the interior looks to be in very good condition too. The headlights need a good cleaning as they're cloudy, but not as bad as some I've seen. Without knowing the mileage or driving it, what do you guys recommend I look for when I go check it out next week? I'm not familiar with the 2.2 engine and would like to know if it's timing chain or belt and if it has any quirks like the 1.9 with the ECTS. Any advice is much appreciated as I'd love to have this wagon for my new business. Thanks

 

2.2's are very stout. Timing chain, not belt.

 

Thanks Joe, that's what I was hoping to hear. I do appreciate it.

 

Hasn't there been some hub bub over timing chain failures with some of the L cars? Don't know the details nor which engine and not trying to be an alarmist. Come to think of it it couldn't be the ecotec or all hell would have broken lose at GM.


O wait....it did anyway

 

#teamrecall

 

There is known issues with the L series 2.2 timing chains. There was a recall on a small window of vehicles around 99 or 2000 I think. The issue is the timing chain oiler orifice was designed too small and would not oil the chain properly especially when the oil didnt get changed enough. GM blamed it on customers not changing their oil enough. That is a crock. Mine broke at 106k miles. It wrecked the head from valve interference. cost me $750 to do it myself. I put in the new upgraded oiler / tensioner that GM came up with. Unfortunately, my car was not included in the recall for some reason. I actually had lawyers from Chicago trying to get me to go in on a lawsuit on this issue. I declined due to the time requirements of pursuing this case.