please help! determine the year of my engine and trans

[flyingbrick]

alright so ive got a vh45 and auto transmission. How can i work out what year it was made?

cheers,
nathan

[SanCarlosQ45]

A way you can tell as far as 90-93 vs 94-96 is look at the valve covers, if there is rtv around the edge and there is a black strip(inspection plate) bellow the black coil covers then you have a 90-93.I don't think it is easy to find the specific year of the motor other than to look at connector styles and other peripherals on the motor. Sorry I couldn't be more specific.

[Q451990]

Post up some good pictures and we can probably narrow it down... 90-93, 94-95, or 96.

Heath

[flyingbrick]

hi there.

No pics at the moment sorry :-(

However, it has no inspection plate or cover under the coil/plug covers.

Also, the auto bellhousing has a hole/vent in the bottom with a grill which i believe is indicative.

This motor also has EGR and because it came from an importer here I assume its from japan.

There is blue sealant around everything on the front of the motor- its only supposed to have 88,000kms on it and from what i can see there is factory blue sealant on EVERYTHING; thermostat housing, chain inspection hatch, etc etc.

What year got the new metal chain guides?

On the front of the engine on the silver sticker (to the left of the data plate) is the date 96/12 which i assume is a service date- its penned on.

Thanks all :-)

-Nathan

[goody90q45]

Look at the fuel injector connectors. If the connector has a 3 sided metal clip holding it in place on the injector head it's a 90-93 with the old style injectors (phase 1?). If the connector only has a tab that's squeezed to remove it (no metal clip) it's a 94-96 with the newer (phase 2?) injectors.

[flyingbrick]

thanks!

Mines definately a phase two 94-96 motor then.

Why do i see people always upgrading to this injector system?

Do I have the metal chain guides?

[SanCarlosQ45]

If its 94-96 then yes you have metal backed chain guides. The failure rate of the 90-93 fuel injectors is quite high compared to the 94-96 injector design. I forget the exact details but they redesigned the fuel injectors for 1994. The popular theory is that it has something to do with ethanol in the gas swelling the fuel injector causing the failure. The 94-96 are less prone to this failure but it all depends on circumstances because I have had to replace two fuel injectors so far.

[Q451990]

I'm pretty sure the injector theory has been debunked... at least at T3 in Atlanta they were seeing pretty much equal failure rates between the phase 1 and phase 2 injectors after ethanol was introduced.

Heath

[SanCarlosQ45]

That wouldn't surprise me, how different could the really injectors be other than a few years newer. I've been lucky all the injectors I have replaced have been #2 and #8.

[flyingbrick]

well that makes me really happy! Glad that ive got two less things to worry about. The guides were going to be a real pain in the a**.

Thanks all :-D