engin swap tips or tricks?

i bought my nav about 10 days ago from ebay for $1200 i got a roady no probs but found it was really under powered, a compression test revealed 50,50,50 & 25 so I’m gona put a new donk in.

i know my way around a bonnet but never having worked specifically on a Z24 i thought id ask the veterans if there is anything i should watch out for or any tricks to make the swap quicker.

all comments and thoughts are greatly appreciated

Dion is the man to talk to there mate.I cant see it being any different to anything else though.

Where are you getting the new motor from? Serviceable Z24s are rare and overpriced. Rebuilt ones are like Telstra shares - they're overpriced and you're still just buying a piece of shit. Just curious.

My biggest tip:
How to get the transmission out without taking the torsion bars out.
You don't actually need to remove the transmission, but have a bloody good read and pay special attention to the steps required to get the engine out with the transmission still in. Info like this wasn't around when I did it first.

Enjoy the journey, nothing beats the feeling of finishing the job.

I'll backup what Dion says, having removed a Z24 myself. The sump sits inbetween the front axle and the transmission, so its a bitch to get out with moving the transmission back first.

Also, look for a KA24E (Single cam) or KA24DE (twin cam) instead of Z24 - newer, fuel injected, more powerful and less fuel than a Z24, but same bellhousing bolts and same engine mounts. It just slots in. Even the air box already has bolts in the engine bay for it. Just have to watch out for sump issues if the KA isn't from a 4WD. Even then you can mod the Z24 sump to fit the KA pretty easily and away she goes. The only extra work is 6 wires for the ecu and adding an inline high pressure fuel pump. I did it easily enough - my first engine swap, and it turned over first time. Beautiful.

I've got a post here too detailing but I'm lazier than Dion, so don't have the link at my fingertips. If I can find it I will post it later.

Ah, yes, it was on another forum, here it is:
To update an old thread for anyone else who might try this: '99 KA24e engine now in engine bay of old 86 Navara, and it's pretty much a straight bolt in replacement. Starter motor bolts on, alternator bolts on (need to shave a couple of mm off bracket), a/c bolts on (but you need bolts about 5mm shorter than on the Z), air box brackets line up with unused bolt holes in engine bay(!), throttle cable from '99 fits in perfectly in same space as existing throttle cable, heater hoses from KA fit in perfectly, engine mounts the same, gearbox bolts the same. Used existing drivers side engine loom for starter, alternator, temp guage etc, passenger side engine loom from the KA for injectors and sensors. Also used existing exhaust manifold. Same bolt pattern, but may still change this as the head has square ports and the manifold round

The mods were really minor and pretty straight forward. Used sump and oil pickup tube from Z24, and needed to weld a small extra section on the front, otherwise all bolt holes lined up. This was only because the engine was from a 2WD. I'm sure that if I'd gotten a 4WD engine, it wouldn't have been an issue Had to use the '99 power steering pump, but the existing hoses lined up fine. The bottom radiator hose was about 7cm too short, but the right shape, so just added a bit to extend it. Added an inline efi fuel pump. That's about it, mechanically speaking.

The only part that really needed any thought was the wiring, and even that was pretty trivial in the end; one 6 wire loom from the drivers side to the ecu, and a relay and line to the fuel pump in the engine bay. (Edit note - moved fuel pump to sit above chassis under car, and also added in 1L surge tank.)

Now, haven't actually driven it yet, but the engine started up and ran first time, so any other issues I'm thinking come down to general engine condition, not swap issues.

<snip>

There was one more mod that had to be done that I haven't listed yet. The temperature sensor for the dash gauge in the KA24E and Z24 look identical, but their resistances are quite different. With the KA24E temp sender in, the gauge didn't move. Swapped it out for the original Z24 engine sensor, and bingo, works a charm.

Also swapped out the Z extractors for a set of KA24E extractors, as there were some gasket leakage issues, and a lot of noise. Much better.

Power is a significant improvement of the old Z motor, and even had the unique experience (in this car) of overtaking someone up a hill!

Not as good a swap as a V6, but certainly cheaper and easier, cheaper and better results than a Z engine rebuild, and no rego or insurance hassles to boot. A good way to keep an old ute going for a few more years.

Brilliant, I did want to up grade engine but didn’t wanted a quick and easy fix more so. However cold coast wrecking want $900 for a short block! So I may as well put in the KA24E. or ka24de. Any specific places I sould be looking besides calling all the big and 4x4 wreckers (im in Brisbane). Do you think a KA24DE out of a bluebird will be the same as a 2wd Navara? So only the sump will need to be changed.

Pinelli that info is a exactly what I need, thanks! Just wanted to clarify U mentioned u got new extractors. Was that because they wouldn’t fit or u wanted a upgrade?

Guys thanks for your input,

84RDY said:

Do you think a KA24DE out of a bluebird will be the same as a 2wd Navara? So only the sump will need to be changed.

Click to expand...

Wrong config. The engine doesn't fit. The short block fits but the distributor clashes with the firewall.

Mate the KA24E and DE are heaps better motors then the Z24.

What Dion said about 2WD jobbies. If its RWD like the 2WD Navaras, then you're fine, FWD you'll have issues, probably with the intake manifold too.

Extractors - exactly the same bolt pattern, but the Z24 has got square ports, and the KA24E has round ports. My Z24 extractors physically bolted on to the KA24E, but were pretty noisy and inefficient. Could have been my dodgy work in bolting it up, but you're better off putting on the KA24E manifold or extractors. KA24DE is different again. If you put in a KA24E, you can put the old exhaust on and it will work enough to drive it around to the exhaust place if you're not going to do the work yourself. I think I drove it for a few days that way.

What Dave said too. There is so little extra work involved

Have a look at some of my earlier photos - I've got a couple of photos of the 2WD and 4WD sumps from the Z24 & KA24. The 4WD had a much narrower and deeper sump in order to fit behind the front axle.

the pics make is look simple, its so good being able to chat to someone who has done it b4.
oright lets get cooking
ingredents: ka24de block, head, inlet manafold, dissy, ecu, loom, exorst, Alternator, z24 sump, z24 oil pick up,
better fule pump?
powerstering pump? use z24 or ka ?
ac prob ka? but did the lines reach? should i try get the ac system from a nav with a ka in it?
what am i forgetting to add to the mix ?

My a/c stayed where it was. Tied it up out of the way while I did the engine swap and bolted it back on to the ka afterwards.
Fuel pump will need to be added. The Z had a low pressure lift pump in the tank. You'll have to add a high pressure in line fuel pump and a surge tank. I'll try and get some pics and a diagram. Prob about $200 for the pump, $50-100 for the surge tank. I've got mine abive the chassis rail underneath the rear seat. Give mea day or two.

What Pinelli said.

Leave the current A/C pump in the engine bay so you dont have to drain the gas.

Shouldn't need much modding to make it fit the KA24.

Read my post - shorten the bolts by 5mm

Hey

was this a 4wd or 2wd model?

I just did an engine swap on a 4wd td27 diesel.

With the 4wd model you need to move the gearbox backward, or remove the front diff so you can move the engine forward (sump is very close to diff).

I had to replace the diff anyway, so i dropped the front diff and left the gearbox. Overall the engine change was pretty standard.

Undo bolts, unplug everything, drain everything, remove radiator, pull out engine... etc.

Removing the front diff on a D21 can be a PITA or it can be very easy, depending how you go about it.

The first time we did it the manual advised to remove rear brace, undo bolts, lift engine up and mounever diff out. This is possible, but there was a crap load of swearing etc and much time spent getting everything into the exact position so the diff would come out (oh and lots of hitting things).

I don't do it that way anymore. The main reason the manual says to do it this way is there is 2 (top) bolts that cant be undone on the main diff cross member without removing the torsion bars (d22 is different, these are easily undone on a d22, just d21 has suspension components in the way)

So what you do, is get a small handsaw or die grinder or whatever you have and cut the head of the bolts. This way you can drop the main diff cross member and not worry about lifting engine or any other headaches. Then you simply replace these bolts with shorter versions and put the Nut on the side the old bolt head was on. This makes for easy future removal to.

so the general instructions for removing the front diff would be :

Undo Cv's, then cable tie them up out of the way. (6 12mm bolts either side)
Undo front drive shaft, cable tie out of way. (4 14mm nuts/bolts i think)
Undo 3 nuts on top of diff housing. The bolts go through the rear cross member and hold the diff in-place.

Undo breather line
undo two bolts holding metal breather line to main cross member
bend metal line out of the way

On the main crossmember there is 4 bolts.
Undo the lower two, and remove nuts and push bolts flat so they are still holding the cross member in place.
remove the top bolts / cut them off.

Undo the two side bolts holding in the rear cross member.
Lift diff up (using hands, its still held in place in) mounever rear cross member out.

support main cross member with a jack or something.
Remove the last two bolts you left just sitting in main cross member.
now nothing is holding it in.
I find the diff will hold itself there, so i remove jack, put a spare tyre underneath it and hit it from the top with a crowbar or something till it falls into the Tyre.

Of cause you may wish to do it another way, but this is just what works best for me.

there is a couple of pictures here

http://www.navara.asia/showthread.php?t=7258&page=3

christian

re ka24

a good conversion..
anyone have one for sale....
i have a z24 i was ging to rebuild but will go a ka24 now.

navara4x4 said:

a good conversion..
anyone have one for sale....
i have a z24 i was ging to rebuild but will go a ka24 now.

Click to expand...

Ha! Depends how urgent it is. I've been working on converting my KA24 to a TD27t for 6 months now. Will be another 6 at this stage as well
The KA is fine, but the gearbox is on the way out, and I picked up a wrecked Terrano with the TD and a decent gearbox for less than the price of a swap petrol gearbox. The KA is already converted for a 4WD D21, with modifications to the main loom and so on.

Postage on a 300kg pallet from Proserpine to WA...