KA's time up?

[1991S13]

I just bought a 1991 240sx SE with a completely stock KA24DE. It has 140,000 miles on it, so I don't know if I should spend my money trying to get more horsepower, or save up for a sr20 swap. Im thinking a turbo may be out of the picture because with that many miles it probably can't handle it? If I should go with the sr20, what (besides the engine) would I need? Thanks for any help.

[nismofly]

ive heard for a rule of thumb dont turbo if its got more than 100k miles, other people might be able to comment on that

if you want ka-t, you can always buy one with less miles, if you want sr check out some of the sponsors, like phase 2 motortrend and heavy throttle

[Florida240sx]

Or find a ka motor and build it up for turbo. I'm a KA a supporter but chose which ever engine you want.

[nismofly]

im still undecided, it will probably be at least a year from this summer before i can go turbo, by then, ill have to lay out my options depending on what happens with new products and what not.

[Ubernoober]

"ive heard for a rule of thumb dont turbo if its got more than 100k miles, other people might be able to comment on that"

Misinformation. PLease smack whomever told you that.Any engine is a candidate for turbocharging regardless of the miles. More important is the condition of the engine. If it is running well, doesn't burn oil and passes a compression/leakdown test, feel free to add a turbo. I have a KA24DE with 155K which would be perfect for a turbo (5-8 PSI) once the timing chain was replaced. So check the health of your engine first then make a decision.

[nismofly]

haha i think it was turbonetics...ill leave the smacking of them to you lol

[Kansei240sx]

Im debating on turbo as well, all the guys around here tell me if i want response i should go with a small t28 ball bearing off an s14 or 15 and go with a light setup to 7 psi or so. that sounds resonable.

[Ubernoober]

Heh. Turbonetics is simply trying to save itself endless headaches. By just saying "nothing over 100K" they limit it to a few well-kept cars.

[Bronze MFP]

check with 'slos13' that posts on here, he has a turbo KA with close to 200K on it i believe, and relentlessly pounds on it. The motor won't die.

[Florida240sx]

Some engines won't die some will die quicker than you know it. Mostly they all will last a good while as long as you maintain them.

[Charlie240sxt]

there a guy on his bored with over 205k on his KA-T running 13.5s and up to 16psi so that rule is SH*T

[mackdaddy240]

140,000 it'll be fine as long as its been babied. One of my friends put SR20 injectors/turbo/sidemount/maf, and a bigger fuel pump on his 93 240 with 154,000 he never runs more then 8 psi but its runs great no problems at all and he's been driveing it daily for about a year now.

He also tuned the ecu to dump more fuel but its pretty much stock.

[TheOne]

yeah, as long as the engine had its oil and everything else changed/checked when it was supposed to the engine should be fine.do the compression check and check for leaks, if it doesn't have any you might as well slap a turbo in there.

[coolcloo1019]

My KA has 120k on it and its been running pretty decent. Except lately its been starting to burn oil a lot more than usual. I have all my turbo stuff just about ready to go on. Does that burning oil mean that in like 2 months im gonna be needing a new engine?