# I NEED help!!!



## altima-240 mix (Feb 12, 2007)

i just got a 96 nissan 240sx and i want to turbo the ka motor sitting in it, the engine is blown and i knew that when i bought it, how should i rebuild it and what should i do?


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## Nismo240 (Jul 24, 2004)

i would buy a used one from someone in your area. it'll be a lot cheaper, since you can pick one up for a few hundred bucks.


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## trmn8r (Apr 16, 2005)

its not highly recommended to rebuild the motor you have. because theres no knowing how blown out it is until you pull it apart? i would look for a running ka motor. and work from there. and if you decide to do internals to the motor, you wont have to worry about having a cracked head and block.


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## altima-240 mix (Feb 12, 2007)

well i have a nother motor sitting at my house that is also blown i want to rebuild it because of what you sead, it would be easyer. the motor is from a 93 240 s13 coupe will that motor fit, is it the same as the ka already in it?


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## Nismo240 (Jul 24, 2004)

yes, that motor will work as well.


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## altima-240 mix (Feb 12, 2007)

i think the head gasket on the motor is blow and the crank might be cracked or braken, if that is what is wrong will that effect rebuilding it, i know the head gasket being blown want but what about the crank? and when i want to rebuild it how should i go upon doing it.


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## Dustin (Dec 14, 2003)

uh.. so i take it you have no idea what you're getting into. honestly, i'd sit back, and learn as much as i could about cars in general, and THEN attempt a turbo build. it's not something that any tard should attempt, it requires some skill and knowledge..


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## altima-240 mix (Feb 12, 2007)

well smart one i happen to actually know about cars, i dropped an sr20det into my buddys car and i have dropped a ka into his girlfriends car. i am trying to get some sugestions to what i should do to the motor instead of just turboing it, so before you go off on someone ask first. there are alot of different things to do to a motor and i'm not the one who blew the motor so the ard who had it befor me might of messed up the wireing or somthing else.


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## Nismo240 (Jul 24, 2004)

dustin's right, you don't sound every knowledgeble about cars. dont take it as a put down, he just doesn't want you to make things worse by taking something apart and not being able to put it back together. just because you've swaped in motors doesn't mean you know a lot about cars. i've swaped motors before, its no big deal. bolting in a motor and rebuilding a motor are two extrememly different things. you should thoroughly search on this and what you want to do with the car before you go making decisions. i'm not trying to make you look stupid or anything, i'm just helping you out so you don't make a decision you're going to regret.


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## altima-240 mix (Feb 12, 2007)

you know what i am sorry, i am on this forum trying to get help and some sugestions. i have taken apart motors and put them back together, and they run. i'm not completely stupid and i have an idea of what i am doing. i was just looking for help or somthing. i know it sounds like i don't know what i am doing but i do and i know what i am getting into with this car and motor upgrades i want to do. so i have a question for both of yall. when i turn the car on my tach keeps jumping and going retarded, do yall think it is in the wiring or the guage cluster is stupid, or what could it be, i can't seem to figure it out. the tach jumping isn't affecting the idle though. any suggestions?


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## Nismo240 (Jul 24, 2004)

if it has a rough idle, there may be a leak in the vaccum lines somewhere.


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## Dustin (Dec 14, 2003)

Nismo240 said:


> if it has a rough idle, there may be a leak in the vaccum lines somewhere.


he said the idle is fine, just the tach, which leads me to believe either the signal wire isn't right, which is weird. or the tach has finally burnt out, which i can understand. 

altima, have you messed with any wiring with the car? did it work fine before? does it stick when you hit 4k rpms? will it show general rpm range? 

before you assume the questions are stupid, they really will help me rule out the wiring, or tach being the problem. right now, im leaning towards the tach as the problem, but that doesn't mean there can't be a grounded out signal wire.


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## trmn8r (Apr 16, 2005)

it took me months of research before i started to rebuild my motor. its one thing u dont want to half ass, if you do u will start over guaranteed. to answer your q about the crank and stuff. send the block and head to a machine shop and get it magnafluxed to see if it has cracks. there are somethings that you are just not gonna be able to do. and thats why theres the machine shop guy.


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## altima-240 mix (Feb 12, 2007)

no i havn't messed with any of the wiring. when i got the car the tach just sits there and jumps up and down sometimes it will go to red line then it will stick between 4k and then it will go to normal then star jumping again. i have a fealing that the wiring is messed up because when i took the car home the blinkers didn't work then i took the guage cluster out and the blinkers started working. now the car will berly turn over, but that might be the battery it is almost dead.


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## altima-240 mix (Feb 12, 2007)

i know what you meen about the machine shop guys cause i am going to school right now to learn how to run cmc equipment and other good stuff that goes on a machine shop so i have the connections to get done what i need to get done.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

altima said:


> i just got a 96 nissan 240sx and i want to turbo the ka motor sitting in it, the engine is blown and i knew that when i bought it, how should i rebuild it and what should i do?


Well hopefully you know enough about engine building, so here's some info:

If you're going to go turbo, you'd better seriously consider modifying the motor so that it'll take the much higher combustion pressures and maintain reliability if you expect it to last 100,000 MI. Things to consider in a rebuild of the motor are lower compression forged pistons, like 8.50:1 CR; magneflux crank/rod assembly; shot-peen crank/rod assembly; ARP rod bolts; steel or copper alloy head gasket with O-ringing; Studs for the head instead of bolts. These suggestions are just starters. A full motor 'blue-print' is recommended.

Custom balance the entire reciprocating assembly. You need to run forged pistons if you're going to turbo charge the motor. JE and Ross both make forged pistons for the KA. Check with TRW pistons to see if they make one for the KA. TRW uses a low expansion aluminum alloy in their forged pistons to allow you to run a tighter piston-to-wall clearance. This gives you less piston rattle and improved ring longevity. JWT uses Arias pistons, which is high silicon content so tighter tolerance can be used. No piston slap.

For turbo charging, stay with the OEM cam or go with a mild after-market turbo cam. Stay away from big duration cams.

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Rebuilding an engine is a precision art. If you've never done one yourself, get somebody that's done it before to help you. Get some books on engine building to at least get familiar with the procedures. Get a Nissan FSM which is a MUST. If you don't know what you're doing, you can make some very costly mistakes along the way.

Basically what you'll be doing is disassembling, inspecting, cleaning, taking the parts to a machine shop for reconditioning, then measuring and measuring and measuring, and reassembling.

Some of the basic things that need to be done for starters is getting the block boiled and magnefluxed, measuring the cylinders for out-of-round and taper then determining if the cylinders need only to be honed or bored to the next oversize. The crank needs to be magneflux and straightened then the journals measured to determine if they need to be reground to the next undersize. The rods need to be magnefluxed and straightened. If the block had to be honed or rebored, new pistons will be required. Remember if you're going to run forged pistons, you've got to run more piston-to-wall clearance. So hone accordingly.

There's a lot to reassembly. Measuring piston-to-wall clearances, measuring rod/main bearing clearances, wrist pin clearances, rod side clearances, crank end play, setting up piston ring gaps. The list goes on.

If you've never done this type of engine work, better get some professional help.


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## altima-240 mix (Feb 12, 2007)

wow man thank you alot, that helps me tramendously. i understand everything you are saying.


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## trmn8r (Apr 16, 2005)

damn rogoman. i must thank you for typing all that shaize down. im to lazy to get that detailed. but yeah altima what rogoman said.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

trmn8r said:


> damn rogoman. i must thank you for typing all that shaize down. im to lazy to get that detailed. but yeah altima what rogoman said.


Well TRM, I didn't quite type it all in; a lot of it was copy-and-paste. 

Over the years of doing rebuilds, I've learned some hard lessons so I've documented some general approaches to rebuilding. A lot of new kids on the block really have no idea of what's involved and many times just waste a lot of money and get nowhere so I try to help folks out.


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## altima-240 mix (Feb 12, 2007)

thanks to both of yall. rogoman what all you typed or copy and pasted is helping me.


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## trmn8r (Apr 16, 2005)

mad props rogoman. ill send you picks of my sr build wich i almost have done and ready to go on the s13


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

_____Cool_____


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