Is there a visual difference between the 2.2 and 2.4?

 

Depends on the year, 2.2 didn’t get VVT until 2009

 

The eighth position of your VIN identifies which engine the factory installed. They change depending on the year.
The RPO codes on the glove box door say which engine.

 

I see you have a 2008 and a 2011 listed in your profile both showing 2.4, so LE5 or LE9 would be best replacement engines only difference is the flex fuel, but if you just run low octane regular you’ll be fine!
Are you planning an engine swap?

 

The vin on the 11 says 2.2, it had an engine swap at 75k, it now has 135k. The guy I bought it from said it was a 2.4, it looks just like my 08 2.4.

I just bought it, running a tank of e85 now, mileage seems to be 23-24mpg, gonna try unleaded at next fill up and see what my mpg is, just curious which will give me best mpg vs price.

 

Regular will give you better mpg but you have to run a tank through for the system to calibrate to the fuel used.

 

Whether E85 is a better deal depends upon the price, of course. It needs to be substantially cheaper because the mileage will be a little lower. In California, for example, the price difference tends to be large. You will see explanations attributing the lower fuel economy to E85's lower BTU content, but it isn't that simple, because E85 tends to burn more efficiently.

All other things being equall, I would choose E85. It's good stuff. It burns cleaner and the engine should last longer. And you get slightly more power.

A FlexFuel car needs its emissions systems in top shape, or trouble may ensue. You can make a case for avoiding switching back and forth, as these cars are known to get confused about what fuel is in the tank, but that can happen anyway, even if you dont switch. Be sure to shut the engine off when fueling.

 

There is supposed to be a partial VIN etched on the oil filter bowl. That will have the sequence code in it that GM can decode.
If the paper tag is still on the front (passenger side) it also contains the sequence code.
After 2009 the 2 engines look the same on the outside. Before 20=009 the 2.2 was not VVT and all 2,4 were VVT.

 

Thanks I will check that out tomorrow!!