After my timing belt snapped a few weeks ago, I was in need of either engine work or a new engine. With 150,000 on the old engine and needing my car back ASAP, hey, why not be the guinea pig and go with the JDM?
I did a lot of homework before I bought it. I searched and read virtually every thread containing "jdm" or "cyclone" on this site. The biggest problem was that there was good info, but it was scattered. I called Turbotrix for some answers too. Well, here's my take on the swap, and a big list of places to get it online. I've tried to make it as complete as possible.
Got the engine from Lucky Star in Toronto for like $1,320 American Dollars, shipped. That includes $200 (Canadian if I remember correctly) for the turbo. If you have a working 14B or better and order from Lucky Star, get the 4G63T turbo motor without the turbo, since they are billed individually. Not too bad I guess, since my mechanic found a US engine for like $1,200, with unknown mileage and abuse. At least the Japanese engines are thought to have 30,000 to 50,000 miles. When it arrived, it seemed to be in pretty good shape, except for a few minor scratches on my pretty red valve cover
and a dent in my oil pan. Oh well, we used the old oil pan.
All this info is for my '91, so 2G info, I have no clue.
As far as other parts that were swapped (I'm not a mechanic, but I saw most of the swapping going on):
- Old intake manifold and throttle assembly
You CAN use the "Cyclone Turbo Intercooler" manifold, but it does take some work. My mechanic already had it taken off when I got to the shop. The coil pack is in a different location in relation to the engine, so you will need custom plug wires or the ones that came with the new engine. And, you'll need to mess with the A/C bracket if you want to make it physically fit. I will work on making the Cyclone fit some other day.
- Cam Angle Sensor
The new sensor had a different connector on it. Just pop the old one off and toss it on.
- Thermostat Housing
I believe that the filler for radiator fluid was on the JDM radiator itself, so you need to use your old thermostat housing. Which leads to...
- Water pipe
The water pipe below and behind the exhaust manifold needed to be changed because I believe the new pipe didn't have an outlet that the old pipe had.
- Power steering pump
- Compressor outlet elbow
Not sure if this is because I used to have a 13G, but this elbow was different and wouldn't match up to my existing intercooler piping.
- Fuel rail hose?
I don't quite know what to call it, but its the fuel feed line on the inlet side of the fuel rail. Mine was either cut or shorter than my old one, don't remember exactly.
- Oxygen Sensor
The new engine's sensor had 2 wires I think (1990?), my old setup had 4 . Besides, why not put a new one in anyway?
- General maintenance
Spark plugs, new belts, timing, oil, etc....
Other mods and parts that I swapped for the heck of it:
- Oil pump
Why not? The two were different, so we threw the old one on.
- Valve cover breather hack
The valve cover breather comes out at a 90 degree angle. I just cut the elbow off.
Some other info to try to answer some questions I've had and seen on here:
The engine came with a 14B and 450cc/min injectors. Interestingly, it came with NGK BP6ES spark plugs. Hmm… It looked real clean inside and out, even though they steam clean them I think. The Cyclone intake is actually 2 pieces, strange. It comes apart about halfway through. I believe its deal is that at low RPM, it keeps 4 runners open and closes 4 to increase intake velocity, then opens the other 4 at higher RPM for more flow. It uses this wastegate-actuator-looking-thing to do this. BTW, If you have a Haynes manual, look around for intake related stuff. Guess what diagrams you'll find sometimes American writing, diagrams in American books, makes me believe this was once available here. Probably not though... What else, mine was a 6-bolt, ASK FOR IT, I did. It works fine with the stock ECU. It also works fine with the stock tranny. It's because it's basically the same motor as US 4G63s. Hence you won't see me bragging that I have this super imported motor, it's pretty much the same thing, except, I will go out of my way to let you know that my valve cover is RED
After I got my few kinks worked out (vacuum leak, etc), it seemed to run good. My first 3 tanks were 19, 21, and 22 MPG. I’ll let you know how it’s going in the future.
As for a list of vendors, everyone points to the list on the Road/Race site. While this is a good list, it lacks both websites and vendors outside of California. And, since the kiddies like to use the Internet these days, I figured I'd do some research. I called every one of these vendors, some had the engine in stock, some charged more than others. I don't work for any of them, and I don't know anything about any of them. They're just a list of sites I found online, and I think I'll email RRE with it since everyone refers people there...
http://www.soko.com
http://www.a1jdmengines.com
http://www.jemco.com
http://www.streetimports.com
http://www.jspecauto.com
http://www.risingsunengines.com
http://www.kwcengine.com
http://www.soshinusa.com
http://www.japaneseusedengines.com
http://www.midwest-engine.com
http://www.tpautomotive.com
http://www.progressiveracing.com
http://www.infinitemotorsports.net
(I wasn’t sure if I could put phone numbers on here, maybe a moderator could clear that up. I was gonna post the phone numbers beside the addresses. I read the rules about vendors, but I wasn’t sure if posting commercial phone numbers only applied to users who are vendors. If I can put them up, I’ll repost them to make it easier for someone trying to make some phone calls real quick.)
That's about all I could think of. I felt I owed some sort of contribution. If you have any questions, ask me. I won't know anything about 2G though, just questions about my particular swap.
Oh, and if I had to do it again? Sure, why not. An engine is an engine. But, only if it's an inexpensive one. Some of these people want $2000 though. It all comes down to your personal situation. If you can get a good price on a US engine or you can do engine work yourself, by all means, do it. If you don't have tools to pull an engine, have a shop do it. If you need an engine ASAP and can't wait for a rebuild, hey, all the questions have to be answered by you. You can't ask someone if you should get a JDM motor or not, because everyone is in a different situation than you. It all depends on your budget and needs. Just don't pull your perfect motor for a Japanese motor, because I'll have to slap you I hope this all helps some people in some sort of way. Good luck!
I did a lot of homework before I bought it. I searched and read virtually every thread containing "jdm" or "cyclone" on this site. The biggest problem was that there was good info, but it was scattered. I called Turbotrix for some answers too. Well, here's my take on the swap, and a big list of places to get it online. I've tried to make it as complete as possible.
Got the engine from Lucky Star in Toronto for like $1,320 American Dollars, shipped. That includes $200 (Canadian if I remember correctly) for the turbo. If you have a working 14B or better and order from Lucky Star, get the 4G63T turbo motor without the turbo, since they are billed individually. Not too bad I guess, since my mechanic found a US engine for like $1,200, with unknown mileage and abuse. At least the Japanese engines are thought to have 30,000 to 50,000 miles. When it arrived, it seemed to be in pretty good shape, except for a few minor scratches on my pretty red valve cover
and a dent in my oil pan. Oh well, we used the old oil pan.All this info is for my '91, so 2G info, I have no clue.
As far as other parts that were swapped (I'm not a mechanic, but I saw most of the swapping going on):
- Old intake manifold and throttle assembly
You CAN use the "Cyclone Turbo Intercooler" manifold, but it does take some work. My mechanic already had it taken off when I got to the shop. The coil pack is in a different location in relation to the engine, so you will need custom plug wires or the ones that came with the new engine. And, you'll need to mess with the A/C bracket if you want to make it physically fit. I will work on making the Cyclone fit some other day.
- Cam Angle Sensor
The new sensor had a different connector on it. Just pop the old one off and toss it on.
- Thermostat Housing
I believe that the filler for radiator fluid was on the JDM radiator itself, so you need to use your old thermostat housing. Which leads to...
- Water pipe
The water pipe below and behind the exhaust manifold needed to be changed because I believe the new pipe didn't have an outlet that the old pipe had.
- Power steering pump
- Compressor outlet elbow
Not sure if this is because I used to have a 13G, but this elbow was different and wouldn't match up to my existing intercooler piping.
- Fuel rail hose?
I don't quite know what to call it, but its the fuel feed line on the inlet side of the fuel rail. Mine was either cut or shorter than my old one, don't remember exactly.
- Oxygen Sensor
The new engine's sensor had 2 wires I think (1990?), my old setup had 4 . Besides, why not put a new one in anyway?
- General maintenance
Spark plugs, new belts, timing, oil, etc....
Other mods and parts that I swapped for the heck of it:
- Oil pump
Why not? The two were different, so we threw the old one on.
- Valve cover breather hack
The valve cover breather comes out at a 90 degree angle. I just cut the elbow off.
Some other info to try to answer some questions I've had and seen on here:
The engine came with a 14B and 450cc/min injectors. Interestingly, it came with NGK BP6ES spark plugs. Hmm… It looked real clean inside and out, even though they steam clean them I think. The Cyclone intake is actually 2 pieces, strange. It comes apart about halfway through. I believe its deal is that at low RPM, it keeps 4 runners open and closes 4 to increase intake velocity, then opens the other 4 at higher RPM for more flow. It uses this wastegate-actuator-looking-thing to do this. BTW, If you have a Haynes manual, look around for intake related stuff. Guess what diagrams you'll find sometimes
American writing, diagrams in American books, makes me believe this was once available here. Probably not though... What else, mine was a 6-bolt, ASK FOR IT, I did. It works fine with the stock ECU. It also works fine with the stock tranny. It's because it's basically the same motor as US 4G63s. Hence you won't see me bragging that I have this super imported motor, it's pretty much the same thing, except, I will go out of my way to let you know that my valve cover is RED After I got my few kinks worked out (vacuum leak, etc), it seemed to run good. My first 3 tanks were 19, 21, and 22 MPG. I’ll let you know how it’s going in the future.
As for a list of vendors, everyone points to the list on the Road/Race site. While this is a good list, it lacks both websites and vendors outside of California. And, since the kiddies like to use the Internet these days, I figured I'd do some research. I called every one of these vendors, some had the engine in stock, some charged more than others. I don't work for any of them, and I don't know anything about any of them. They're just a list of sites I found online, and I think I'll email RRE with it since everyone refers people there...
http://www.soko.com
http://www.a1jdmengines.com
http://www.jemco.com
http://www.streetimports.com
http://www.jspecauto.com
http://www.risingsunengines.com
http://www.kwcengine.com
http://www.soshinusa.com
http://www.japaneseusedengines.com
http://www.midwest-engine.com
http://www.tpautomotive.com
http://www.progressiveracing.com
http://www.infinitemotorsports.net
(I wasn’t sure if I could put phone numbers on here, maybe a moderator could clear that up. I was gonna post the phone numbers beside the addresses. I read the rules about vendors, but I wasn’t sure if posting commercial phone numbers only applied to users who are vendors. If I can put them up, I’ll repost them to make it easier for someone trying to make some phone calls real quick.)
That's about all I could think of. I felt I owed some sort of contribution. If you have any questions, ask me. I won't know anything about 2G though, just questions about my particular swap.
Oh, and if I had to do it again? Sure, why not. An engine is an engine. But, only if it's an inexpensive one. Some of these people want $2000 though. It all comes down to your personal situation. If you can get a good price on a US engine or you can do engine work yourself, by all means, do it. If you don't have tools to pull an engine, have a shop do it. If you need an engine ASAP and can't wait for a rebuild, hey, all the questions have to be answered by you. You can't ask someone if you should get a JDM motor or not, because everyone is in a different situation than you. It all depends on your budget and needs. Just don't pull your perfect motor for a Japanese motor, because I'll have to slap you
I hope this all helps some people in some sort of way. Good luck!
