General tech question about sr20det engine swap please look

[nassin31spr]

I bought a sr20det s13 swap off an advertiser on zilvia who will at this time will not be named. I asked for a low mileage unmolested swap. When I got it it was dirty and not complete. I immediately noticed it had the head replaced and a metal headgasket installed. I asked the seller and he said the shop did it and it was good to go. I completed the swap and went to start it and the cas timing was off. No big deal. So I went to reset the timing took off the valve cover and they had used a comedic headgasket and reused the stock headstuds. I thought you could not do this cause it would not seal properly. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[nassin31spr]

Bump anyone with any info please add some imput.

[fufanu180]

Most of the time it isn't safe practice to use stock head studs. Most guys go with the ARP studs when doing head work. If a shop did it then they probably thought he would never notice and just used the stock ones. I could be completely wrong but you can reuse the stock head studs, they just need to be torqued to yeild. But most of the time it's unreliable and quite stupid.

[nassin31spr]

Yeah I pretty much new you couldn't reuse stock headstuds with a metal headgasket. The place where I purchased the motor is shady and I want as much info as I can get before I go after them.

[harrypotter]

.....I asked for a low mileage unmolested swap....

On a engine that is about 15 years old these are two things that the shop selling and the shop exporting from Japan will never know. These engines come from crashed cars or cars that will not pass GOJ inspection.

With above said it is highly unlikely that the shop you purchased the engine from actually did the head gasket. Best bet is to take apart the engine and inspect everything and then put back together prior to putting in car.

[nassin31spr]

No they did the headgasket and admitted after I Received it and called them on it. Problem is they tried to pull a fast one and not replace the headstuds. I honestly wasnt that mad they had did it until I noticed the studs. The seller admitted it to me that their shop did the headgasket and that I had nothing to worry about.

I also didn't pay good money for a turn key swap. If I have to take it apart. Not gonna happen. Thanks for the input into my problem. Greatly appreciated.

[codyace]

No they did the headgasket and admitted after I Received it and called them on it. Problem is they tried to pull a fast one and not replace the headstuds. I honestly wasnt that mad they had did it until I noticed the studs. The seller admitted it to me that their shop did the headgasket and that I had nothing to worry about.

I also didn't pay good money for a turn key swap. If I have to take it apart. Not gonna happen. Thanks for the input into my problem. Greatly appreciated.


Aside from Cam timing, why not not set it up and see how it works? I know what may have been done may not have been right, if it ends up having no issues, consider it decent work.

FWIW: NEver take ANY milage claims from japanese engine places, as they all have NO clue what the engines have on them, this side of someone buying an entire clip.

While the 'cover' may seem stinky, see ho it works out. Sure reusing the OEM head studs is not correct, but it's not to say it will not work or cause immediate failure either.

[Def]

First of all, OEM fasteners are head BOLTS. You can buy new bolts for pretty cheap from the dealer or even OE aftermarket stuff which is perfectly fine - maybe they did that?

Secondly, you don't have to have ARP head studs on a metal head gasket. In fact, ARP's part number for SR20DETs totally sucks and uses an undercut shank with incomplete thread engagement. Sure they can hold sometimes, but so can stock head bolts. Stock head bolts probably shouldn't be reused, but they usually can be with no ill effects. If I'm doing a HG job I'll replace them with at least OE bolts (cost about $25 for the set), but I wouldn't really care as long as everything held together whether they were "new" or not.

I've pushed probably close to 400 rwhp or maybe a little more with E85 fun on a bone stock SR head gasket and head bolts with no ill effects except making my clutch slip from the torque.

Run the engine then complain if something is really off. Otherwise they gave you a new HG - what's the problem?

[nassin31spr]

But Im worried about the seal if a metal cometic headgsket and used oem studs. The head was fresh and never ran before it got to me. The studs had a little red like rust but it's from being used. I've seen em many times. I'm not going to trouble shoot the timing. This is why I just wanted a turn key swap. Plus if those are the old studs then they must have been stretched and that's why the headgasket had to be replaced. I just don't trust it or feel comfortable and that's why I'm going to ask for a refund.

[codyace]

But Im worried about the seal if a metal cometic headgsket and used oem studs. The head was fresh and never ran before it got to me. The studs had a little red like rust but it's from being used. I've seen em many times. I'm not going to trouble shoot the timing. This is why I just wanted a turn key swap. Plus if those are the old studs then they must have been stretched and that's why the headgasket had to be replaced. I just don't trust it or feel comfortable and that's why I'm going to ask for a refund.

I can understand the frustration of being under the impression that your swap was 'turn key' but lets assume they gave you a 'turn key' POS JDM engine that sucked? No different. You're buying a used engine...it's not like you're going down to the Nissan Dealer and ordering one up.


A headgasket failure does not mean the studs were shit at all; it could be a numerous amount of issues.

As Def pointed out, and I pointed out...fix the obvious stuff, and run it. If you've got an issue then, so be it...but it is what it is. You could drive that car for the next 50k and never have an issue...it could go 5 miles and push coolant...but what engine isn't under that same 'what if' assumption?


Lastly, while you may not feel comfortable about it atll, why is that? Is it from what you've read online or from experience. Heaven help me if I couldn't count on both hands the amount of junkyard engines we have swapped, that are still in cars now, years later...it is what it is sometimes..

[nassin31spr]

My hesitation is from lots of experience. I'll take it how I can. I'm gonna take some of your advice and give running it a shot. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

[nassin31spr]

Well I went ahead and took codyace's advice and did the timing and it turned over the first time. Smokes on idle not from turbo, it's new. I warmed it up drove it around tge neighborhood a couple if times. It does not overheat but runs rough. Brought it back and did a compression test. 125 psi across the board. I contacted the seller asking to return it. I'm still waiting on a reply.

[fliprayzin240sx]

125 across the board? Thats low as fuck. Drop a cap full of oil in each cylinder and see if the compression jumps up. If it does, the piston rings are done.

As far as head bolts, you can reuse the headbolts as long as they are not stretched. FSM will tell you what are the stretching tolerance are.

[Kingtal0n]

If its been sitting for years then low compression might be normal.
In fact, most of the time recently started engines that have been sitting for years will run rough or odd, and smoke, sometimes for twenty miles, but eventually straighten out. If the compression is EVEN across the board, I would not immidiately suspect toasted piston rings. that would imply that they are ALL evenly shot, which would indicate an extremely high mileage engine. That should show up in the oil- it should get quite dirty, immediately after an oil change.

How does the oil look under the valvecover? Did you pull the valvecover and inspect? Look at the wear pattern on the cams, and look for any black sludge that might indicate poor care or high miles.

Look for:
1. Clean oil, everywhere. No sign of anyone tampering with the cleanliness, look for signs that its been wiped or "doctored up". Change the oil and turn it over and see if it gets dirty right away.
2. crank the engine and ensure oil squirts evenly out of every tiny orifice above the cams. If one of those holes is clogged the cam lobe will wipe. If they squirt funny or sideways then debris is lodged in one of the holes.
3. black sludge that may indicate poor care or high miles.
4. Dented oil pan, a slight dent is common and may have damaged the oil pickup. Remove the pan and inspect and possibly replace with a later model oil pickup.
5. Inspect the clutch. Is it OEM? Look for signs the engine has been raced. A brand new OEM clutch indicates that they removed a high performance clutch and installed an OEM one to give the impression the engine was not used to race. Does the flywheel look overheated? gouged?
6. I like to see it come with an OEM bypass valve and boost selenoid. I also like to see the OEM wiring intact, with no splices by the ECU that might indicate a piggyback was used.

7. A leakdown test will ensure that at least, for the moment, the cylinders are sealing correctly. If a leakdown test comes back good, low even numbers on all cylinders, then it is likely the engine will at least start and idle normally.
it should be done again after the engine has been run at full throttle to ensure that nothing "came loose" such as an improperly installed head gasket. You may also want to double check that all of the headBOLTS are tight.

[nassin31spr]

This motor was dirty as heck when I got it. I've done nothing but complane to the advertiser I bought it from. I drove it for a couple of miles and it seems like the rings are seating better. Compression went up to a little over 140 a cylinder. But the idle is aweful. It jumps around 1k and never drops. Anyone have any advice on that. Regardless of if I keep the motor I'm very dissatisfied and the seller really dosent seem to care. So I will be writing a very long detailed review of this engine swap and honestly hope some of the mods read It and decide to take them off zilvia as an advertiser. But we will see.

[codyace]

Ideling rough and or high idle can be a multitude of issues really, vacuum leaks etc etc.

Also, read over what Kingtalon has posted, those are some easy troubleshooting procedures to check over.

To be honest if the compression is close across the board (as in all cylinders are nearly the same) and leakdown is good, and it doesn't use oil, I'd just drive it.

Again, I know you are upset with who you got it from, and what you had to to, but there is no such thing as a turnkey swap when it comes to used engines, in any chassis and with any motor...the likelyhood of getting an engine perfect, putting it in, and having no issues is very low if you're not changing anythign on it.

[EsChassisLove]

I'm running oem studs with my APEXI gasket and higher than stock compression.

I should probably change that soon.

[nassin31spr]

I understand what your saying. If the compression goes up and I get a good leakdown result I'll drive it. But when I do my review and you see the emails and pictures and multiple issues with the motor set. I think you'll change your mind about Tgis perticular vendor.

[nassin31spr]

Double post

[r33nota240]

depending on the thickness of the cometic gasket will adjust compression also.
they make them in a number of thickness