Swapping out the Engine in the Pontiac Montana for a 4 cylinder engine
Asked by Cody Aug 19, 2019 at 06:39 AM about the 1999 Pontiac Montana 4 Dr STD Passenger Van
Question type: Car Customization
Alright so I have a 1999 Pontiac Montana. I
wanna know what 4 cylinder engine will fit in
it. It has the stock 3.4L engine and I just
wanna go smaller on it. I know all of them
have only V6s in them and was hoping on
going smaller. AKA kids and a lot of driving
lol. I’m a car thinker and I wanna see this
happen. I have a 01 cavalier I’m going to use
as parts and hopefully I can easily drop that
engine in it if it’s possible. If anyone out there
knows anything that would be great.
4 Answers
Whole lotta work for negligible results. Just sell the car and buy something with the engine you want. You would have to swap out entire driveline, exhaust, engine computer and other computer modules, engine/wire harness. engine accessories, and you're also talking about swapping between a Pontiac and Chevrolet motor, all sorts of mating issues.
I’m not worried about that. I have two vehicles that have everything I need. All I need to know can it be done though. I seen a lot of people putting V8s in these vans. So I thought about putting a 4 cylinder in it. I know the 2.2l engines are tanks. I have a 2000 cavalier that has over 300k on it. So that’s y I wanna put a 2.2 in it. But if you know it can be done you have anything that can get me started
If you're doing this for better gas mileage you are going to spend a lot of time and money for negligible results. If your 3.4 is getting bad gas mileage it might just need a tune up, or clean the throttle body, replace worn sensors, plugged catalytic converters, etc. Gas mileage is also affected by tires, worn hub bearings, dragging brakes, or bad wheel alignment. Then there is also the transmission gearing and rear end gear ratio, that 2.2 in your Cavalier when dropped into the Pontiac might not get the same gas mileage due to those factors. You're also talking about a motor with 300K miles on it, that's not something you want to swap into anything without being overhauled.
No it doesn’t get bad gas mileage. On average about 19-20. I haven’t seen it been done and I thought I can do it. And no I’m not putting a engine with 300k in it. That’s my other car I’m talking about. The car I have was a parts car and it runs and drives but I won’t need it no more and the van was a cheap buy and I wanted to see if I can make it into a 4 cylinder van and tune it and possibly put a small turbo on it. But if it can be done I would love to do it. I know the 2200 engines are tanks and I would trust that engine in that vehicle. But if it’s impossible then oh well. Worth a shot.
