Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

I'm thinking about this Cav in Essex, I don't know what the engine is - is it a 20NE and is this a good engine?



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1994-Vauxhall ... SwbdpWaeBE

Based on the facelift front, yes, it's a C20NE
Doesn't however preclude the owner, previous owner or previous previous owner from dropping bits of 20SEH or just a whole 20SEH in there (outwardly, they don't look that different).

As indicated by the N in C20NE, this model had the lowest compression ratio of the 4 SRi versions. It had milder cams and all the emissions gear that the 20SEH reacted badly with.

Good cars for low-down grunt, mechanically out-performed by their 16v siblings anywhere over 4,000rpm, doesn't make them slow though. My brother had one of these as a company car and it didn't hang around.

Lumpier cams and a proper manifold normally bring noticeable gains.

Thanks Colin, good to know.

Looks like my C20NE.

If it has the oxygen sensor on top of the exhaust down pipe just in between the metal strap from the engine and the front / catalist box flange, then it is the C20NE.

If there is no sensor then it is a 20NE.

I think the timing belt cover is quite rounded on the top where it covers the camshaft sprocket.

A squarer / angular cover should be an NE.
The one in the picture looks like an NE.

The NE engines are quite bullet proof.
Many suffer(ed) from a slightly lumpy idle, for which the usual Vauxhall fix was to slightly increase the idle revs in the ECU software.
Most people including me simply got used to it...

For most people the 113bhp that it delivers is more than adequate to make progress at a fair pace on the motorway and a reasonable acceleration rate.

Not a rocket, but plenty of grunt for most.

All 8 valve engines are pretty robust and reliable assuming that they get regular servicing. (Every 12 months works fine for me - others prefer every 6 months)

I didn't realise that they did a pre-emissions version of the NE

Yes indeed -
Although Cats were meant to be fitted from about 1992 (transition point to facelift).There were still some non-cat models being registered in 1993.

It's a great engine Dave.

You'll find it to be a fair bit more powerful than it's 115bhp label suggests. It's got allot of low down grunt which makes for very easy hill climbing and weight pulling.
It makes for an excellent cruiser and suits a relaxed driving style; great for chewing up the miles on A-roads and motorways. However it does feel just a bit heavy and unresponsive on country lanes at times compared to the plucky C16NZ2. This is mainly due to the gearing and the rather heavy flywheel.

It does have an excellent balance of fuel economy and power though, expect above 35mpg on average and up to 50 on motorways if you are careful.
0-60 takes about 9 to 10 seconds.

Thanks for the replies guys. Seriously mulling over this one.

What gearbox should be mated with the C20ne please?

I believe it should be an F16 wide ratio.

You'd think it would make more sense to fit close-ratio instead, due to the low-down torque of the blocks. Although wide would be better for cruising.

Thanks James/Andrei. To be on the safe side, would a block need rebuilding/HG having done 113k miles?

Not if it doesn't smoke, use coolant/oil or run lumpy. If it's healthy, it won't need doing.

I had a feeling 8v were good to 250+ with regular maintenance.

Should easily manage 200+ thousand miles even with just annual servicing.
Much higher mileages if you do oil changes etc more regularly).

Regarding smoking -
a good engine will still smoke a bit if the breathers gets clogged with congealed oil.

An afternoon cleaning breather pipes and the gauze filter in the cam-cover usually sorts most smokey healthy engines.

And a new cork gasket solves the usual oil dribbling down the front of the cam housing. (Although it is never a permanent fix).

lowrider dave wrote:Thanks James/Andrei. To be on the safe side, would a block need rebuilding/HG having done 113k miles?

Just to echo what Andrei and Rob have already said, you shouldn't really consider a rebuild on this engine until it's at around 200,000 miles unless it's been poorly treated and in bad condition.

My Father's CD manual (C20NE) was at 86,000 miles when I got it in November 2012, it's now done 135,000 miles and feels no different. They have an uncanny ability to chew up the miles with no discernible effects it seems.

As long as it hasn't done those miles on 10 minute drives to the corner shop and back all it's life, it should be sweet as. Ex-company or rep cars are a good bet as it's most likely they've sat on the motorways for most of the time.

Robsey wrote:Said stuff.

Cheers, thanks Robsey.

Cavalier342 wrote:You'd think it would make more sense to fit close-ratio instead, due to the low-down torque of the blocks. Although wide would be better for cruising.

I've got one of each.. F16 WR on a C20NE in the Diplomat, and an F16CR on a 20NE the GTE. The close box certainly makes the NE shift nicely, but for cruising, its a bit frantic. 5th on the CR is same ratio as 4th on the WR from recolection.

Sollution with the CR is to switch 5th's. I've got a space WR (from Pete (DiplomaXE)'s sadly departed blue Dippy. When I get a day and a slim gear puller, the 5th from that will go in the GTE. It'll make the jump from 4th to 5th quite large, but at least the poor old girl wil be able to relax a bit at 70.

To add to James' comment about power.. I roling roaded the GTE at Janspeed a couple of years back, and it was puting out nearly 110 bhp at the wheels!