S-Chassis.com - KA24e to KA24de SWAP!!!!

KA24e to KA24de swap

By: frapjap

edit by BigGameHit

I just completed my ka24e to ka24de swap. A 1995 motor into my 1990 S13. Here is the COMPLETE (to my knowlege, dont hold it against me if I missed a small detail) write up on the swap since it seemed we didn't have a really thorough one.

Parts Needed:
-new engine
-Oil&filter, 4 quarts will do
-Coolant/antifreeze
-Power Steering Fluid
-Transmission Fluid

1991-1993 parts:
-Wiring harness (tach if you want the tach to work)
-ECU
-Power steering pump AND lines.
-A/C compressor and lines. (unless you can make a bracket for your original one.
-Distributor and coil
-Intake manifold
-Throttle cable/cruise cable(if you like things all nice and neat)
-Extension Piece that goes from butterfly to intake piping(again, if you like it nice and neat)
-MAF

Procedure:
1. Source parts needed for swap
2. Source a motorset.
3. Remove cooling fan and fan shroud. Remove old motor from chassis. You can unbolt the motor mounts from above or below. Guide the motor out, making sure it doesn't damage anything on it's way out. Pull the tranny with it so that it will be easier to remove, should you be resuing it. Just make sure you go inside and take off the plastic pieces and remove the shifter. And unbolt the driveshaft. Flush radiator with hose if you feel it necessary.
4. Remove A/C lines. You will have to get custom lines made if you want to keep A/C, OR make a custom bracket for your SOHC compressor to adapt to the new motor.
5. Relocate SOHC power steering lines over to driver's side & install DOHC power steering reservoir -OR- install S13 DOHC power steering lines. OR, find a way to mount the original resevoir.
6. Optional. Replace SOHC throttle cable with DOHC throttle cable. Two bolts at the firewall behind the accelerator (and remove it from the accelerator to make life easier).
9. Pull SOHC engine harness. You can either cut it at the firewall, leave it intact and pull it thru the firewall (into the engine bay), or whatever is easiest for you. Don't throw it away - you may want extra wiring, or to keep the connectors for future use.
10. Install DOHC engine harness. Reverse of above. Don't hook up yet!
11. If you're doing a manual swap, NOW is the time to drill out the place for the clutch master cylinder, install it, and run the hardline down.
12. Reinstall everything you took out to prep the engine bay, like AIV, airbox, cruise control, etc.
13. Prepare your new motor. This means whatever maintenance you'd like to perform on it before it goes in, i.e. water pump, vacuum lines, thermostat, reseal oil pan, timing chain job, belts, etc.
14. Reinstall the ka24de into your chassis. Again, watch your clearances. Make sure you attach your heater hoses during this step. They're hell if you don't.
15. After getting the tranny mounted in and bolted down, tighten down the motor mounts. This is important, you don't want your engine can sit corooked and still be tightened down at the motor mounts.
16. Reinstall your clutch fan (or not if you have electric stuff), and install your radiator and fan shroud. Install your Upper and Lower radiator hoses at this time.
17. Start connecting the harness to the motor. Now is the time to do a good job of installing the wiring in the engine bay. Don't attach to the ECU just yet, its coming...
18. Finish installing everything else, like intake piping, sparkplug wires, etc.
19. Your engine bay SHOULD be complete. Don't forget oil and other appropiate fluids. Don't miss the engine ground wires! Now it's time to take care of that harness/ecu wiring.

Wiring:
1. Locate the body harness (under dash harness that attached to the ECU) that attached to your old harness. Cut the old connector off (the one that attached to your SOHC harness) and attach your DOHC body harness connector. Just match the colors!
Yellow/Red --Tach
Yellow/Green--Speedometor
Orange--Ignition start
Black---Ground
Blue/Black---Water temp sensor

There will be some wires left over. These are for the SOHC's diagnostic plug, and are unnecessary. Please note: Your car will NOT be able to hook up to a CONSULT tool.
2. Use a soldering iron to splice the wires together. It makes for a much cleaner job, and a cleaner electrical signal.
3. You need to swap out your tach if you want one that works. No wiring is involved, but it must be done. Simply pull your gauge cluster and remove the three screws behind the tach. Lift and separate. Replace.

DONE! Give the motor a whirl. If something goes wrong, I have a few of the more common possibilities and solutions.

Things that MAY go wrong:
You may not be receiving spark, fuel, or both. The resulting problem of one missing element will be the engine cranking, but not turning over. So we assess the possible problems:

Alternator or alternator fuse: Check both. Fuse is 75A.

Fuel: Easiest way to check for fuel is to listen for the fuel pump when you turn your key to just the 'on position.' Or just unbolt the fuel rail and crank the car to see if the injectors spray. If not, you've found the problem, fuel pump, OR you may have installed the lines at the ends of the fuel rail backwards. It happens sometimes...

Spark: Pull plug wires out of engine. Put a spark plug on the end of each one and see if you are getting spark to each plug by laying it near the head. Crank the car. If you don't get a spark at the plug, then the wire isn't conducting, OR you have a bad plug. If all goes well then go to the next step, the distributor.

If the distributor is still in and hasnt been knocked around then your engine may still be timed.
If its like mine and the S13 dohc distributor was off, then you'll have to retime it.
1)Crank your motor by hand to TDC (top dead center) Be sure that it is at TDC by putting a dipstick or other thin, straight object in the spark plug hole.
2)After this, simply unblot and pull out the distributor CAREFULLY (DONT STRIP THOSE TEETH!), and see where the rotor is positioned and set the rotor to cylinder 1. Mark it with a grease marker to make sure it isn't spinning badly in the process.
3)Reinstall the distributor. It may take a few times, but don't get fustrated about it, it will come out right. If it doesn't work, crank the motor to TDC one more time and try again.
4)If that STILL doesn't work, the distributor may be 180'd out. The simple way to fix this is to move plug wire 1 to plug wire 4 and vice versa. Just don't forget that you did it!!!!!
5)If all is still bad, remove the valve cover and see if the cams are in their correct position. At TDC, Intake Cam is at 12 o'clock, Exhaust Cam is at 1 o'clock. If this is off, consult your FSM for details on how to reset the cam gears. __________________