How to Find a Chevrolet Motor Size

You can find the Chevrolet's motor size on the engine under the hood.

There are several reasons that you might need to know how to find a Chevrolet motor size. Two typical reasons are for ordering replacement parts or while finding replacement parts for your engine on another same-sized engine on a wrecked vehicle in a junkyard. In general, motor sizes are referenced by their cylinders, like 4 cylinder (V4), 6 cylinder (V6), or 8 cylinder (V8). There is another measurement referring to engine size that is important when replacing engines, the cubic inches (ci) displaced by the cylinders. A 3.6 Chevy engine displaces 3.6 liters or approximately 219ci.

Things You'll Need

• Chevrolet owner's manual

Instructions

1. Open your glove box and remove the owner's manual. In the index or glossary, look up engine and these pages will tell you all the specs (specifications) of your Chevrolet motor size.

2. Pull the lever under your dashboard to pop the hood. Run your hand under the hood to find the latch that is present on some models of Chevy hoods that allow you to unlock and lift the hood.

3. Look at the engine case. Some motors have the engine size, cylinders, and ci (cubic inches) or liters (1 liter is 1,000 cubic centimeters). For example, you might see V8 for an 8 cylinder or 3.6L for a 3.6-liter engine.

4. Remove the valve cover and write down the code on the underside for the head numbers. Replace the valve cover securely. Use the code to find the matching motor size or compare the code to an engine chart like the Chevy big block engine charts found in the "references" below.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not remove the valves on a hot motor or touch a hot engine.

References

• YearOne.com: Chevrolet Engine Codes
• Roadsters.com: Big Block Chevy Engines Head Casting Numbers Charts

Resources

• ChevyHighPerformance.Automotive.com: Small Block Chevy Engine - Build Your First Engine
• PopularHotRodding.com: Chevrolet Small Block Engines