RB20 reliability (yes I searched)

[AR31TU]

Nobody has really commented on how RBs are doing in the long run. My friend heard from a fairly reputable source that the RB20 is generally unreliable and not worth it. But I've never heard from anyone on the forum as to how reliable they are.

[Nameless EJ6]

They're as realiable as any other engine Nissan has produced. Provided it's been maintained.

[NISMO_RB25]

what he said

You also have to remember that the RB20 is a fairly old engine so any reliability issues you have heard are probably mostly due to age and some importers bringing in crap engines.

There are plenty of people on here that daily drive there RB's without any problems.

[s14 2510's]

They are probly as reliable as any other jdm engine. Try to find on with low K. I have pulled apart a few 26 but never a 20. I would not run a engine direct from japan. Every one I looked at had allot of carbon buildup in them. My 26 was showing copper on one of the bearings so Im glad I pulled it apart to rebuild. It had the wrong size bearings in it. Just try to find one that is clean and not modded out. The modded ones people beat on before they are sent to the USA. Thats my two cents on it

[mmatl16]

There are plenty of people on here that daily drive there RB's without any problems.

I would be one of those people.

[Andrew85cm]

I too would be one of those ^ people. This motor is great as long as you maintain it like any other motor it will be the same as any other car. I have made several long trips back and forth from college which is a 8 hour drive. I have put about 4,000 miles on her and she is running great. The thing about swapping engines is that anything you do half assed WILL come around and bite you in the ***. I had my power steering lines zip tied to the sway bar (bad idea). I didn't think much about it because I knew it was a temporary thing but they finally broke loose and I had no more power steering. As long as you do what you need initially and keep up with the maintainence she will be good for you.~ANDREW~

[frosted flakes]

ive had my motor for over a year and a half and ive had no problems. its reliable if you take care of it.

[driftjunke]

The 20's are fairly reliable, only problems we have really ever had was turbos going bad after some wear was put on the motor, not sure if it was customers fault or old turbo, the coil packs go bad almost at least 1 per motor we've seen go bad, other than that maintain it, and it will be fine.

E

[PsiloX]

I've had my 20 in for three years now. I've driven it daily to and from work with no problems. But you do have to maintain like any other engine.

[WDRacing]

The RB20 design is awsome. The famous Nissan stud girdle, piston oil squirters, low compression pistons for boost all wrapped up in a very easy to work on package.

Mix this with a decent regiment of maintenance and you'll be happy for a long time. I beat up RB20's horribly when I was in japan. I would overboost, run lean, use bad gas, make repeated high speed runs over and over and the damn things just kept on ticking. I would detonate so badly my spark plugs would have no no ground strap left. I've had the turbine section glowing red hot and still raced it.

I did go through a few pistons while I was there, they can only handle so much boost mixed with bad tuning for so long. In the end I was able to make 498 whp at 28psi on stock internals and stock injectors. I had the base fuel pressure cranked to 65psi IIRC and I was using enough alcohol to kill a herd of cows. Oh and 2 cold start injectors from a Saab.

As you can tell I had no idea what I was doing, that high of a fuel pressure isn't very safe. Not to mention I had to crank the idle to 1200 just so it wouldn't stall. I was in a learning curve back then. But that just goes to show how resilient the RB20 can be. I love that little motor. I've always wanted to use some forged rods/pistons and see how much HP one would make with actual tuning. The only thing I had back then was a knock meter and a lame *** narrow band O2 gauge.'

What an idiot I was...

[iliketocrash]

this is all really good to hear. i might be soon joining the ranks of the rb20 because my ca18det i think might have already kicked the bucket. ca18det's unfortunately suffer from some sort of lower rod knock/crank issues and i had just swapped the engine in and not even had a chance to get it running completely right and i already hear knocking in the dumb thing around 2500-3000rpm.

[BoostFab]

Nobody has really commented on how RBs are doing in the long run.

i have been driving my rb20det daily for about a year without any problem. i drive about 80->100 miles daily. best of all, it average about 320+miles per tank of gas. so you do the math

[NISMO_RB25]

The RB20 design is awsome. The famous Nissan stud girdle, piston oil squirters, low compression pistons for boost all wrapped up in a very easy to work on package.

Mix this with a decent regiment of maintenance and you'll be happy for a long time. I beat up RB20's horribly when I was in japan. I would overboost, run lean, use bad gas, make repeated high speed runs over and over and the damn things just kept on ticking. I would detonate so badly my spark plugs would have no no ground strap left. I've had the turbine section glowing red hot and still raced it.

I did go through a few pistons while I was there, they can only handle so much boost mixed with bad tuning for so long. In the end I was able to make 498 whp at 28psi on stock internals and stock injectors. I had the base fuel pressure cranked to 65psi IIRC and I was using enough alcohol to kill a herd of cows. Oh and 2 cold start injectors from a Saab.

As you can tell I had no idea what I was doing, that high of a fuel pressure isn't very safe. Not to mention I had to crank the idle to 1200 just so it wouldn't stall. I was in a learning curve back then. But that just goes to show how resilient the RB20 can be. I love that little motor. I've always wanted to use some forged rods/pistons and see how much HP one would make with actual tuning. The only thing I had back then was a knock meter and a lame *** narrow band O2 gauge.'

What an idiot I was...

You are my new hero!

[Yellow4g63]

I was using enough alcohol to kill a herd of cows.

LoL

[Carl H]

haha, yeah the rb20 is a strong little engine.while i hadnt had my car swapped for long before it was wrecked i never had a problem with the 20, always started and never let me down.just change the oil every 2.5k mi and coolant once a year and life should be good.

[OKCA18DET]

ive had my motor for over a year and a half and ive had no problems. its reliable if you take care of it.

his is so reliable its been swapped into 2 different 240's it out lasted an S13, now its in an S14

[Cornloaf]

you pulled 498 whp with stock injectors??

[RB20DETodd]

I drove my Rb20 from Oklahoma to Seattle average speed of 100 with no probs exept my hood poping up a few times cause i got lazy on cutting hood bracing, just change the oil every 3,000 and do preventative maintenance and it will work wonders.

-Todd

[WDRacing]

Stock injectors at 65 psi static pressure, direct port alcohol injection and two cold start injectors off of a older Saab. I believe the ones from the 88 900 turbo were the larger ones. Not the best setup in the world, but it worked.

To get 65 psi you have to crimp the return line almost completely closed...lol. I used two holley inline pumps for fuel supply.

The stock injectors run out of juice at 14 psi with stock fuel pressure. So I cranked up the pressure, used a different type of hacked maf, I had an additional air source behind the MAF that let in unmetered air. Plus all the other diy things, port/polish everything, NA cams, wrap everything with thermo wrap...etc.

Alcohol is the key...

[Wulfgang]

Alcohol is the key...

Burn the methanol and drink the ethanol. Either way you'll think you're going faster...