New engine?

[Jules 0]

Right, here is the problem I have..... :roll:

 

I have the opportunity of another engine for my 1.8 16v which has a 50mm inlet manifold rather than the 42mm(i thnk) which is on it just now.

 

There are no real issues with the present engine, as far as I am concerned, but according to my husband it is f*****! lol. I have to admit it is quite sluggish, but it has kind of always been like that, even although it has been tuned, serviced and had the head redone not long ago.

It hasnt helped either that it only ever goes short journeys and never really gets a good drive.

 

Anyway......should I go for this other engine and what difference should I see with it having the 50mm inlet rather than the 42mm?

[Stan 24v 0]

Do it, fit it, see if its better. If it is, bargain, if not, put your old one back in and sell it on. Also, you could sell your current engine anyway, or keep for spares, or to play about with ;)

[PhilThePitcher 0]

i'm assuming were talking about throttle bodies. if so, you won't feel any difference between the two. but on the other hand the newer engine may feel better due too less wear or mileage. especially since you say yours feels sluggish.

[jimmy83 0]

The 5omm manifold will make the engine rev slightly better at the top end, i.e, get to the limiter quicker, but it will lose a bit of low-down torque. What would be great was if shrick did a variable manifold for the 16v! best of both worlds!

[Dan_NI 0]

Are you sure the other engine is in good condition. Be a pain in the arse if you swapped them to find out it was buggered too!

[Critical_Mass 10]

Are you sure the other engine is in good condition. Be a pain in the arse if you swapped them to find out it was buggered too!

 

 

Best not to jump in with both feet. Is there any history with the newer engine?

[Jules 0]

Bit disappointed to hear that the 50mm means I will lose a bit of low down torque, but then again the engine that it is in it just now isnt that great anyway!

 

The engine on offer is at present in a well looked after mk2 Golf and is being replaced with a 20V turbo engine. It has been heard running etc and I am pretty confident it will be ok.

 

Then again I will always have the old one for spares!

[jonnyboyo 0]

I personally don't like the sound of the 50mm inlets losing low end torque. The 1.8 valvers have a woeful enough amount as it is without reducing it further. I think the top end is good as it is, its lower down where we early valvers need more oomph.

[steveo29 0]

the 50mm is interchangable on all 16v engines....so you could always swap it back n forth to see what you like best

 

imo its not going to transform the car into a firbreathing beast or anything..more of a subtle differance

[stevef182 0]

i did exactly what your enquiring about..my old 16v engine seemed fine but very sluggish and was burning oil so i got hold of a 16v KR engine in good condition and wacked that in and is 1000 times better..although, it was out of a mk1 track car and had been really well looked after and tuned but there is no reason why your new one wouldnt be looked after! got hold of a 50mm inlet too which i quite like, but both are easily interchangeable so just see which one u like best!

 

just out of interest how much do they want for the new engine??

[Jules 0]

stevef182, £250 for it. I thought that was not bad??

 

Picking it up tomorrow :D

[samg60 0]

got to be worth a try, some 16v engines are like slugs and some are belters, so provided you can always swap back if the engine turns out to be a complete lemon then I reckon your quids in.

[stevef182 0]

250 isnt too bad, but i will say that that is pretty much the maximum you want to spend on any KR engine as there are so many about that you can pick them up real cheap...is it just the block or the complete engine?? good luck either way, let me know what its like!!

[Jules 0]

Yeah its the complete engine. Thats it in the garage waiting on the car going off the road to get the work done. So might be a few weeks away yet before its done. Fingers crossed!

[Jules 0]

Just had a quick look at the new engine and wondered what the number 23E means which is on the block? Its not on the engine thats in the car just now.

[stevef182 0]

im not sure what that is???? sure its fine!

 

hopefully it shouldnt take that long..a straight swop takes only the best part of a day or two if you know what you're doing so may be back quicker than you think! fingers crossed? you excited?

[vdubCorrado 0]

personally what i would do is run a compression test on the cylinders... if compression is good across all cylinders and not too variant there is nothing wrong with the bottom end... not sure if you're familiar with doing compression tests, but you get a gauge that goes in place of a spark plug, disconnect the coil pack wire, turn the car over a couple of times so the cylinder fully pump then check the number. then move on to the next cyl...

 

if the head is redone, and the bottom end is good on compression, then it's probably just that you're used to the power the car makes so now it seems sluggish... i would go out and buy a 50mm intake manifold and a set of cams... autotech are a good cam cause they add power N/A or turbo. they are a rather conservative cam design so fuel efficiency is not comprimised all too much... not sure how they'll effect your MOT though?

 

i would say the 50mm inlet over the 42 even though you lose tq because of the way the engine is built. shorter stroke, higher RPM's, and higher hp than tq. keeping the 42mm inlet over the 50mm i think is just counter acting what the engine is ment to be... again this is my personal opinion... i do know engine building and the concepts of, but i won't say what you should and should not do to your car because it is that... your car not mine... just voicing my opinion here...

[Jules 0]

stevef182, yeah I'm excited, but nervous too cos I need to pick new wheels while the car is off the road so that if the arches need rolling then it can be done before it gets painted.

So that is the next decision I need to make like within the next week or so!

 

vdubCorrado, Thanks for the information. I dont know much about engines myself but picking up some things along the way.

 

My husband is fitting the new engine and we already picked it up yesterday but it is worth while getting him to check this anyway, if he hasnt already. I'll ask him if he decides to surface from the garage at some point!

 

We are going to stick to the 50mm inlet just now to see what its like. To be honest if it runs even a fraction better with the new engine and with no funny coloured smoke coming out the exhaust then I will be more than happy!

 

At the moment it struggles to reach 105mph and is embarrassing when fiesta's and similar are sitting up my rear end, and I can't pull away from them! I have had 16v Golfs in the past, which I know are a bit lighter but they would have left mine standing lol

[stevef182 0]

struggles to reach 105 mph???? this replacement engine sounds like a good idea!!!!!

[Jules 0]

Well the new engine has been fitted to the car and I would say I'm sort of happy with it....some issues though and questions!

 

It always starts first time in the morning (cold start) but then the rest of the day it needs some coaxing. It can be left for around 8 hours and it is still like this and then for the rest of the night too. It has been tuned, CO has been set, but I'm thinking it may be overfuelling??

 

The other issue is that I am still finding it quite sluggish, although there is a slight improvement from the old engine. The revs are still taking their time to come back down and it just feels its lacking somewhere.

 

I'm not looking for huge amounts of power, but it definetely needs something done to it. Without spending huge amounts of money...what have other 16v owners done to improve performance?

 

Was thinking of changing the gearbox to MK2 16v?? Was trying to find some info on the ratios of the MK2 to compare.

 

On a happier note....there is no blue reek !!!! lol

[A-J 0]

Where did you get it tuned?

 

I took mine to Autrac in Motherwell a couple of weeks ago for a tune and seen an improvement. That was the only place that could sort my mk2(8v) for me a few years ago and he is the only guy around here I'd trust to set up my car. I thought my Corrado was running pretty well when I booked it but thought it would be worth a once over. Both CO and timing were slightly out and the car was great afterwards.

[Jules 0]

Sorry meant to say a 20VT gearbox,not a mk2 one! Do they fit??

 

A-J it was Bedrock it went to for the tune up. It's going back just to get checked again, but pretty confident it will be spot on. I know the place you are talking about though. Always good to know of someone recommended.

[A-J 0]

I took it to Autrac after Bedrock couldn't fix my Golf which had similar problems to those that you described, but that was a while ago. If the engine is feeling sluggish I think sticking another gearbox on is just going to be covering up whatever the problem is.

[Jules 0]

Thats interesting...it will be going down this week again so I'll see how it is after that. What's the guys name you deal with in at Autrac?

[A-J 0]

Tam.