Will a truck KA fit a S13?

[Red Lightning]

Will a truck KA fit a S13, if I use the 240 trans? Because their both techinically the same engine, KA24E. Do I need to swap the truck ecu, can the S13 ecu control the truck motor?

Yes, I did a search, but I couldn't find a clear answer. So please help. Thanks.

[TrunkMonkey]

i don't have a sure answer for you, but keep in mind that the engines are not the same.

i don't think the engine mounts are in the same place, and bolt ons for the 240's KA will not work on the truck KA.

-demetrius

[Red Lightning]

Ok, thanks.

[king_johnthegreat]

That's not entirely true... I have a Nissan Frontier, and 99% of my bolt on mods are intended for the 240sx. My engine is the KA24DE, DOHC 2.4L 16 valver. I can use the same head and bottom end studs, cams, and whatnot. The bore is the same, I believe the stroke is, also. We have a slightly lower comp., ratio somehow, but I'll double check on that. It only speculation, from what I understand. By their very nature the Frontier engine is a little better suited for turbocharging. I do believe that the blocks are identical, even though the head's locator dowel is placed differently, and the exhaust ports in the head are differently shaped on the '95-'98's. I am interested in finding out EXACTLY how much is the same, I would think that you might be surprised. Manufacturers save money by parts binning. John

[TrunkMonkey]

i stand corrected.

-demetrius

[Red Lightning]

Will a S14 KA24DE swap to a S13 using the S13 engine mounts? Thanks.

[noopz]

My friend Dropped a KA24DE to his 89 240sx, he had to change the steering pump lines or something like that.

[Red Lightning]

Hi, king_johnthegreat, did you swap the KA24DE engine into your truck? I thought all Frontier engine is just E. Thanks.

[king_johnthegreat]

Hardbodies have the E, and maybe even some of the later model HB's have the DE, but ALL Frontier 4cyl. pick-ups (98-03) have the DE. Slightly different comp. ratio, and the truck engine is geared for torque while delivering only 143hp in stock trim. As I said, the difference between the S14 240's and the Fronties is the head ports and locator dowel are different. I don't believe anything else is. I know the cams swap. The heads between the Fronties and the S13 240's is identical, according to my inside Nissan source. The intake manifolds are different, and obviously other things as well, but there may in fact be a substantial carry over of physical parts. As I said, many of my aftermarket bolt-ons are 240SX intended. I will know more shortly, as I am looking to compare turbo exhaust manifolds to the S13 and Fronty head flanges. If they are in fact identical bolt patterns, then turbo related parts applications could very well be exchanged freely between the two. There may be other engine compartment proximity tolerances to be aware of or dealt with, but it would be a great start! John

[1dollar240]

I asked this question a loong time ago while looking for a replacement motor. The answer I got was that the truck KA's are made in Mexico and are produced with much wider tolerances than the 240 KA's. Meaning that they are lesser quality engines. Nothing against Mexico, just that they were trying to make the motors for less money to raise profits. I'm not sure this is true, but the NICO member who told me this seemed to know what he was talking about.

[Red Lightning]

I'm looking for a cheap engine that I can turbo and if it blow up I can get another one for cheap (I know it probably will because this will be my first NA to turbo project). So because truck KA are so easy to come by, if they works I don't see why not. king_johnthegreat, do you have any pictures of your engine block, if you do please post some picture. I'm sure someone has a 240 KA block piture, then we can compare. Thanks in advance.

[king_johnthegreat]

I'll see what I can do to come up with some pics of the block for ya. That comment about the engine tolerances being much wider, I can't see that being too true. These engines are much newer, and completely CNC. Even if the parts are fabbed and assembled in Mexico, it is not as though anyone had direct control over the machine tolerances. My company contracts foundries out of china that produce better parts and higher machine tolerances than those found in the US. The technology used to create ISO 9001/9002 parts and products is very much turn key. The labor and the space is much cheaper else where, and that is why they relocate the fabbing to those regions of the world. The tech is the very same, and the newer engines will have tighter tolerances from decreased run-out over time. An older engine may well have been tight when it was new, but you pick it up second hand, and God only knows what it has been through. I would be perfectly comfortable putting pressure to the truck motor. Lean on hard, I bet it will deliver;) John

[Red Lightning]

I'll see what I can do to come up with some pics of the block for ya. That comment about the engine tolerances being much wider, I can't see that being too true. These engines are much newer, and completely CNC. Even if the parts are fabbed and assembled in Mexico, it is not as though anyone had direct control over the machine tolerances. My company contracts foundries out of china that produce better parts and higher machine tolerances than those found in the US. The technology used to create ISO 9001/9002 parts and products is very much turn key. The labor and the space is much cheaper else where, and that is why they relocate the fabbing to those regions of the world. The tech is the very same, and the newer engines will have tighter tolerances from decreased run-out over time. An older engine may well have been tight when it was new, but you pick it up second hand, and God only knows what it has been through. I would be perfectly comfortable putting pressure to the truck motor. Lean on hard, I bet it will deliver;) John

I'm not worrying the truck motor's build quality at all. Before the QR25DE, I have never heard of nissan engine fail because of fatory defects. When you have time to post pictures, some pictures of the engine mounting points would be great. Because some say the 240 mounts will not bolt up to the truck KA, I want to see if thats correct or not. Thanks king_johnthegreat.