Reliability

[Thoughtful_One]

I am contemplating swapping motors and I'm considering the CA and the SR now. The car is a 1992 240SX and is, for the most part, a daily driver. Since the car is my DD, I wanted to know how reliable have you found your SR to be? (this only applies to people who have done minimal mods). How is stock power? I have rideen in an SR swapped coupe a few months ago and it was GREAT. How difficult has it been in finding parts that you ABSOLUTELY needed to get your car on the road again? Does the USDM SR20DE share any parts with the JDM SR?

Overall, if you had the chance to start over, what would you do differently?
Modified by Thoughtful_One at 7:11 PM 4/24/2007

[IanS]

Ive had my redtop for 2 years and 60,000 miles, Ive had no real problems other than turbo seals and other normal maintenance, I did instal an oil cooler and high power fans for good cooling, Ive got a front mount and bov, Ive been running 11 psi almost the whole time 7.5 with the snow tires on. this car has endured redline shifts day after day. If you take good care of the motor it will be good to you, just make sure you get your motor from a good importer like our sponsors, because you get what you pay for, if you get a cheap motor, chances are, it wont last.

[drftsx]

My SR has been great to me. Nothings been wrong with it. Like sideways said if your good to it itll be good to you. Parts are pretty easy to find.

[oki_bum]

Do the swap right. Replace every hose and take your time with it. The SR is a pretty reliable car. In my opinion it gets better gas mileage than the KA even on boost. Parts can be a hassle. A lot of parts cross over USDM cars and can be bought at your local auto parts store.

Parts Guide:zerothread/59345

[corey240]

just replace all the hoses, check and probly just replace any sensors you can for the hell of it. this motor is just as reliable as any other motor if you take care of it like any other motor. just get a bigger oil pan such as greddy, not a knockoff.

[karmakaze]

the days of the 40k mile jdm engine are over. pretty much plan to rebuild whatever you get. that being said, you might as well build a KA.

[kamikazestorm420]

ive been running stock boost with only a downpipe and a bov for a year and its been fun. the power going from a dohc ka to a sr is insane.

[Thoughtful_One]

After you bought the engine, and before you swapped it in, what have you replaced? This question applies to only those who are running stock, or semi-stock setups, running close to stock boost.

[kamikazestorm420]

i did the s15 exhaust gasket, and the usual hoses and stuff.

btw, im also running on stock fuel pump and its been fine. (if i up the boost id upgrade for sure tho)

[oki_bum]

Replace all the hoses as I stated earlier. Water pump, oil pan (Greddy), spark plugs, gaskets (exhaust), Fuel Pump, switched to flex-a-lite radiator fans, koyo radiator....man the list goes on... some things arn't necessary, but i'd recommend anyway.

[Sil80315]

Ok get off the whole "greddy oilpan" kick because if hes running the sr stock and doesn't plan on driving it like some race car then this oil pan will be fine. The greddy only pan only holds a quart more oil over stock.

My oil relocation kit made up for that so it takes about alittle over 4 quarts of oil to be in my normal line on the dip stick.

If you just plan on running stock sr then you should be fine but do check over all the hoses like everyone else is saying and just clean it up before you put it in.

[IanS]

yah, you dont really need the oil pan, or the new radiator, I dont have either, I do have an oil cooler though

[evil_intent]

90% of sr's will have dented oil pans. unless you like starving your engine of oil, the greddy pan would be a good investment.

[Morph]

90% of sr's will have dented oil pans. unless you like starving your engine of oil, the greddy pan would be a good investment.

Just get a stocker. Not hard to find, and your statistics are wrong.

[IanS]

mine was dented to hell when I got it, nothing my trusty hammer couldnt fix

[Tulsa_S-13]

Yea, a new OEM oil pan can be had from our sponsors for about $80

http://www.phase2motortrend.com http://www.srswap.comhttp://www.enjukuracing.com

[homeslicej2]

If you go aftermarket oil pan, get the Tomei. It's a lot of $$ but it's steel instead of alum like the Greddy pan. Imagine hitting something hard enough to dent the stock pan, but it's now alum so you get a big hole instead of a dent. I'm keeping the stocker until I can get a Tomei, I would do an oil cooler before the pan too.

[Thoughtful_One]

Geez, I can't make up my mind. I like the SR, CA, and KA-T equally. Once I make a decision, I can't turn back. I think I will wait a little longer and talk to more people before I make any drastic decisions.

[homeslicej2]

Good idea. Search each respective forum to find some more helpful info.

[evil_intent]

Yea, a new OEM oil pan can be had from our sponsors for about $80

http://www.phase2motortrend.com http://www.srswap.comhttp://www.enjukuracing.com

[Thoughtful_One]

Guys, thanks for your help. I spoke to a few members, including a few non-biased engine importers and it seems like the SR is the way to go. It looks like I'm looking at $2000 shipped for a Blacktop, plus another $600 for the swap, and another $300-$400 for maintenance.

I know what power a basic KA-T setup can make, but how about an SR with downpipe, high-flow cat., larger exhaust, FMIC, lightened pulleys, and lightened flywheel? My goal was around 220 WHP in the most reliable manner possible, is this possible?

Hopefully I can have this done by the end of the summer!

[TchouikoS13]

220whp, Bro your good to go. Your stock turbo will get you the power you want.

[JustinStrife]

After you bought the engine, and before you swapped it in, what have you replaced? This question applies to only those who are running stock, or semi-stock setups, running close to stock boost.

I replaced Fuel pump, Oil pump, Water pump, gaskets, fuel lines, spark plugs, Rocker Arm Stoppers, Frount Mount Intercooler, HKS 3" Downpipe, Hi-Flow Cat, 3" BRM SS exhaust, lightened pullies, removed A/C and Power Steering, and maybe a couple other things I can't remember. Wish I didn't remove the A/C and P/S, but what can you do.

Haven't driven the car too much, but she fires on the first crank, and never gives me any complaint. The SR20 has been sitting in there for about a year now. I figure I'm around 200rwhp on stock boost since I'm running the S14 SR20 with the T28.

Will

P.S. I love this motor over my old KA's so much.

[Thoughtful_One]

How much have you spent TOTAL to get it into your car and up and running with 0 issues?

[Agent 47]

Does sr's bolt up to ka trannys?

[eliterit]

you have to use the sr bellhousing to use a ka transmission on the sr

[jdm_master_X]

S13 SRs are reliable and in my opinion easy to maintain because a lot of the parts are easily available in the US from other cars in the Nissan/Infiniti fleet (sometimes even other cars like Ford).

The only time I see the SR loosing its effectiveness is in the cooling and lubrication department, but then again, you really have to piss the engine off with lack of maintenance, overkill on mods, and extremely abusive driving.