Weaknesses of the KA24DE

[fritts]

I am looking for the weakness that the KA24DE has when it is turboed? Also approximate horsepower levels before internals have to be changed.

Thanks

[MainEvent212]

usually i think the lower end is the main weak link...

you usually cant excede 260 or so reliably w/ stock internals

the cams i think also play a big factor in freeing up top end hp

[AceInhole]

piston ring lands are the weak link. or rather, the setup placing the wrist pin close to the ring lands.

FWIW: the materials used in the KA (aside from the block) are similar to the ones found in the SR (cast pistons, forged rods/ crank). So, to say that the internals of the KA are weak would be to say the internals of the SR are weak.

Crank is the strongest point of the KA bottom end, followed by rods, then pistons/ rings. In most cases, you'll blow a ring before anything else unless you developed an oil problem or something (leading to catastrophic failure). If you're set up properly than you really can't expect a problem, can you??

Numerous KA's live, and still live at over 300rwhp. The ones that blow up are the ones that have poor fuel management (my setup comes to mind, although neither car with my setup has blown up due to fuel issues.... 1 case was a boost spike leading to a cracked ring, the other was an oil prob leading to a hole in the block).

as for cams.... they aren't too limiting. The 300+rwhp cars I mentioned all use S13 cams as their "upgrade".

[C-Kwik]

Those who have run with no detonation have seen 350 HP on stock internals. And I doubt this is any sort of a limit for power, but with low octane fuels(91), it can become quite difficult to keep detonation under control. My thoughts are that the weak point to making a lot of power is the relatively high compression ratio(9.5:1). Or use race fuel and you can probably squeeze some more power out. WD will probably interject about alcohol now...=P

[fiznat]

I'd imagine of coruse that wear and tear is a factor here, right? I mean, turboing a 100,000 mile s13 with stock internals isnt exactly the same as doing it to a 30,000 mile s14... (I understand that mileage doesnt really matter when compared to how the car was taken car of, but its a decent standard)

Do you guys think that, with good fuel managament and proper care, even high mileage KAs can stand the pressure of forced induction? I'm sorta asking at the same time when you dudes think a rebuild is necessary.

[Structure240sx]

im turboin my 119,xxx s14 it will be done in a couple weeks when the kit gets here. i did a leakdown test and got good results thats why im goin this way. it all depends on the engine. i;ve heard of 40k engines that look like **** compared to 140k engines. i let everyone know how my egine does in a couple weeks

[creophus]

Please let us know. I'm interested in this as well.

[C-Kwik]

A well maintained motor will have negligible wear even at high mileage. Of course there are things that can go wrong and certainly a higher mileage motor has a higher potential of somthing like this occurring, but I wouldn't discount it just because of mileage. I'd say unless the motor has very low mileage, I would check any motor out before adding forced induction.