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Remanufactured Buick 2.4L L4 Engine - LaCrosse, Regal, Verano; Chevrolet Captiva Sport, Equinox, Impala, Malibu, Orlando; GMC Terrain
2.4L · L4 · Part DCEW
Call for availability
4-year no-fault nationwide warranty — includedOn gas engines in non-commercial use, at no extra charge. The builder’s standard cover is 3 years, parts only. Every gas engine we sell includes the 4-year no-fault warranty with labour, at no extra charge.
- “No fault” means we do not investigate why it failed — if a covered engine fails inside the term, it is covered.
- Labour is paid up to CAD $95.00 per hour — a cap on the rate, not a flat payout — and only for the remove-and-replace hours in the Mitchell labour guide. Diagnostic time is covered up to 2 hours, and fluids up to CAD $200.00. Towing and a rental car are not covered. Anything not listed here needs to be agreed with us before the work starts.
- The 4 years start the day the engine is installed, and a claim needs proof that a professional shop installed it.
- Unlimited kilometres, and no deductible.
- Call us before any warranty work starts, so we can authorise it. Labour paid on a repair we were not asked about first is not covered.
- A claim starts with a call to us. We file it with the manufacturer, and the manufacturer pays it.
Diesel engines, and engines put into commercial service, are not covered by this 4-year warranty — the terms vary by engine, so call us for the terms on the unit you’re pricing.
Add an install kit. Thermostat, water pump, belts, hoses, filters, plugs and leads — the parts that should not go back on a new engine. Ask for one with this engine and we quote it on the same order. What a proper install replaces
Warranty included — terms above
Core deposit refunded on return
Call us to confirm availability before you count on a date.
Shipping is freight-quoted after purchase, or pick up free in Edmonton.
Fits
- Buick LaCrosse, Regal, Verano 2011–2016 · 2.4L L4
Not sure it fits? Call (780) 473-2424 with your VIN and we'll confirm.
4-year warranty included
Refundable core
Ships Canada-wide
Engine guide
GM 2.2/2.4 Ecotec & 2.2 OHV (122) Four-Cylinder
Also known as: Ecotec L850, L61, LE5, LE9, LAF, LEA, Vortec 2200, GM 122 OHV, 2200
Overview & history
This family covers two related chapters of GM four-cylinder history. The first is the 122-series OHV engine, a simple Chevrolet-designed pushrod four introduced in 1982 for the J-platform and S-series trucks and built at GM's Tonawanda, New York plant. It grew to 2.2 litres in 1990, gained multi-port injection as the LN2 in 1992, and served in trucks as the Vortec 2200 (L43) until production ended in 2003. It earned a reputation as a plain, durable workhorse that was cheap to fix. Its replacement was anything but plain: the Ecotec, codenamed L850, was developed starting in 1994 by an international team from Opel in Ruesselsheim, GM Powertrain in Pontiac, Michigan, and Saab in Soedertaelje, Sweden, with substantial help from Lotus Engineering. Launched in May 1999 in the 2000 Saturn L-Series, the Ecotec is an all-aluminum DOHC 16-valve design cast using the lost-foam process. The 2.2 L61 powered Cavaliers, Ions, Cobalts and Malibus through the 2000s, while the 2.4 (LE5, then direct-injected LAF/LEA) carried the Equinox, LaCrosse and Verano into the mid-2010s. The Ecotec became GM's global four-cylinder architecture, built in New York, Tennessee and Germany.
Specs & engineering
- •122 OHV: cast-iron block with an aluminum cylinder head (from 1987), overhead-valve 2-valve-per-cylinder layout, 89 mm bore x 88 mm stroke for the 2.2, 9.0:1 compression - valued for simplicity and easy service.
- •The LN2 (1992-2002) added multi-port/sequential fuel injection, moving from 110 hp up to 120 hp; the truck-tuned Vortec 2200 (L43) made 120 hp and 140 lb-ft.
- •Ecotec: lost-foam cast aluminum block AND head with cast-iron cylinder liners, DOHC 16 valves, chain-driven cams, twin counter-rotating balance shafts for smoothness.
- •L61 2.2 (2,198 cc): 86 mm bore x 94.6 mm stroke, 9.5:1 or 10.0:1 compression, and a light ~306 lb (139 kg) dressed weight.
- •2007 update moved the L61 to the stronger Gen II block with coil-on-plug ignition, larger exhaust ports and revised cam timing.
- •LE5 2.4 (2,384 cc): 88 mm bore x 98 mm stroke, variable valve timing on both intake and exhaust cams, 164-177 hp with port injection.
- •LAF/LEA 2.4: direct injection and 11.2:1 compression for 182 hp; LEA adds E85 flex-fuel capability, LUK pairs with GM's eAssist mild hybrid.
- •The Ecotec was designed as a clean-sheet global architecture - no distributor, no timing belt to replace, and the same basic block served everything from economy sedans to 260 hp factory turbos.
Generations & variants
- •122 OHV 2.2 LM3 (1990-1991) - throttle-body injection, 95 hp; the first 2.2-litre stretch of the old J-car engine.
- •122 OHV 2.2 LN2 (1992-2002) - multi-port injection, 110-120 hp; the high-volume Cavalier/Sunfire engine of the 1990s.
- •Vortec 2200 L43 (1998-2002) - truck version for S-10/Sonoma, 120 hp / 140 lb-ft.
- •Ecotec 2.2 L61 Gen I (2000-2006) - port-injected DOHC, roughly 140-145 hp depending on application.
- •Ecotec 2.2 L42 (2003-2004) - factory compressed-natural-gas variant of the L61, 129 hp, offered in the Cavalier.
- •Ecotec 2.2 L61 Gen II (2007-2011) - stronger block, coil-on-plug, revised head.
- •Ecotec 2.4 LE5 (2006-2010) - port injection with dual VVT, 164-177 hp; LE9 (2009-2011) is the E85-capable version.
- •Ecotec 2.4 LAF/LEA (2010-2016) - direct injection, 182 hp; the Equinox/Terrain, LaCrosse and Verano engine.
Vehicles it powered
- •Chevrolet Cavalier (1990-2005)
- •Pontiac Sunbird/Sunfire (1990-2005)
- •Chevrolet S-10 / GMC Sonoma (1990-2003, 2.2 OHV)
- •Saturn L-Series incl. LW200 (2000-2005)
- •Saturn Ion (2003-2007)
- •Saturn Vue (2002-2007)
- •Chevrolet Cobalt (2005-2010)
- •Pontiac G5 (2007-2009)
- •Pontiac G6 (2006-2009, 2.4)
- •Chevrolet HHR (2006-2011)
- •Chevrolet Malibu (2004-2012)
- •Chevrolet Equinox / GMC Terrain (2010-2017, 2.4)
- •Buick LaCrosse (2010-2013, 2.4)
- •Buick Verano (2012-2016, 2.4)
Casting numbers
| 24575507 ("507") | 2.2 OHV aluminum cylinder head, 1998 - the casting number appears between the valve springs. |
| 24576146 ("146") | 2.2 OHV aluminum cylinder head, 1999-2003 - essentially the 507 head with added long flat bosses between the first two and last two exhaust ports; also sold drilled for EGR as a service replacement for 1998 507 applications. |
Known issues & fixes
Timing chain stretch and tensioner failure (Ecotec 2.2 L61, early 2.4 LE5)
What to watch for: Rattle from the front of the engine at cold start, check-engine light with cam/crank correlation codes. Early 2002-2004 L61 tensioners were starved of oil pressure at idle; GM improved oiling around 2005.
The fix: Replace the chain, guides and tensioner as a complete kit with the updated parts, and stay on top of oil changes - a quality remanufactured engine gets the current-design components from the start.
Oil consumption on 2010-2013 direct-injected 2.4 (LAF/LEA)
What to watch for: Burning a quart every 1,000-2,000 miles with no visible leak - low-tension piston rings lose their seal. This affected enough Equinox/Terrain owners that GM issued special coverage and settled a class action; port-injected LE5/LE9 engines are not affected.
The fix: The real fix is new pistons and rings of the updated design - exactly what happens during remanufacturing. In the meantime, check the dipstick every fill-up and never let it run low.
Intake manifold gasket and general gasket leaks (Ecotec Gen I)
What to watch for: Rough idle, lean codes or vacuum-leak symptoms from the individual round rubber intake gaskets; oil seepage from valve cover and oil pan gaskets is common with age.
The fix: Gasket replacement is straightforward and inexpensive - a good habit is replacing the intake gaskets whenever the manifold comes off.
Head gasket and coolant seepage on aging 2.2 OHV engines
What to watch for: Slow coolant loss, sweet smell, or crusty residue around the head-to-block joint on high-mileage LN2/2200 engines.
The fix: A head gasket job with the head checked for flatness cures it; the engine is famously simple to work on, which keeps the labour reasonable.
Did you know?
- ★GM Racing built turbocharged Ecotec drag engines making over 1,000 hp from just 127 cubic inches - mostly production parts - and the Cavalier-bodied racer won the 2003 NHRA Summit Sport Compact Pro FWD championship while holding the class speed record at 186 mph.
- ★The humble 2.2 OHV powered the Grumman LLV - the boxy USPS mail truck - in 1993-1994, one of the hardest-working duty cycles any engine can pull.
- ★The 2.4 Ecotec found a second life powering the Polaris Slingshot three-wheeler starting in 2014.
- ★The Ecotec was a genuinely international effort: engineers from Opel in Germany, GM Powertrain in Michigan and Saab in Sweden designed it together, with Lotus Engineering in the UK contributing development work - which is why the same basic engine appeared in everything from a Cavalier to a Saab 9-3.