Engine Transplant

Car-less for 3 days. Yesterday, today and tomorrow. Why? About 2 months ago, my engine started leaking engine oil really badly. This was about the time where Desmo and I went down to Klang. Once I got home, I checked my engine oil and it was practically empty. The bottom of the block was leaking badly and fixing it was no use as the crack would appear again later. Time for a new block.

This would be the car’s second transplant in the car’s 20 years of faithful service. It originally ran on a 1.3 liter E13 engine stock, which is what most Nissan Sunnys in Malaysia run on. Once that engine gave up, it was replaced with an E15 which was a 1.5 liter. This engine could be found in 1.5 liter Sunnys, or the Nissan Langley.

The E13 makes 67hp and the E15 makes 69hp. That’s pretty low. It’s often said that the naturally aspirated carburetted E series engines had the worse ever head design that ever came out of Nissan’s stables. People often joke that Nissan’s engineers must have been on crack or something when they were designing it.

At first I contemplated getting a GA16DE. This was a 1597cc twin-cam fuel-injected engine from the Sentra that put out 110hp at 6000rpm. I know, I know. 110hp is not much. But it’s much, much higher than the 69hp that my current E15 has. And the Nissan Sunny is light, so there’s a weight advantage there. But it was too costly as I would have to get a new gearbox and etcetra. Not to mention the hassle of getting the new displacement and engine model JPJ-approved.

I was also eyeing an E15ET. The E15ET was a turbocharged, fuel-injected version of the engine that I’m having now. It also didn’t share the badly designed head, but instead used a newer improved design. Basically, it’s a 1498cc liter turbocharged 8-valve SOHC model from the old Pulsar/Cherry Turbo. It wasn’t intercooled in stock form, and ran on a pretty low boost of 7psi. That’s about 0.5 bar. But definitely could go higher with an intercooler and a better turbine. Makes about 120 horses or so in stock form but there are some in Australia which make over 300 horses.

The E15ET is a very rare engine, but friends found one at a chop shop in Puchong. But it wasn’t a complete half cut, it only had the block, manifold, and turbine. No wiring or ECU. To use it I had to get an aftermarket ECU like a Microtech, or wait till I could find a compatible ECU. Too costly as well and I didn’t have the time to wait. Last I heard, it was shipped away to a buyer from Sabah. You can find out more about the E15ET at http://www.n12turbo.com/

So I stuck with the E15 carburetted engine that I had. I could keep my gearbox and carburettor. Just changed the block. Should be ready by tomorrow.