hi i am from Portugal and i own a 1997 combo b van
originally mounted with an athmospheric 1.7d engine (isuzo)
the engine had completed more than 400000 km's!! always pedal to the metal and the van most of the times loads from 500 to 1000 kgs, so it's a very resistant engine, although a bit slow.
i decided it was time for an upgrade and fitted a turbcharged engine from a Vectra.
here in Portugal, engines and mechanical stuff are very expensive, 1.7td engines range from 600 to 900€
i was lucky to found this one in a small village junkyard for 400€
so the process was the following:
1 remove the old engine and gearbox as a unit
2 separate the gearbox/clutch and flywheel to fit on the new engine
3 clean the new engine thoroughly
4 camshaft and crankshaft seals replaced
5 complete timing kit fitted (much easier with engine outside the car)
6 new valve cover gasket and other minor things
7 the fuel pump bracket needed to be replaced as it hits the steering rack
8 the block needed to be grinded so i could fit the gear linkage
9 the left engine mount was different and i placed my old one
10 all coolant piping was inspected and replaced as needed
11 engine + gearbox were fitted as a unit (removing and fitting were made from beneath the car)
12 exhaust was fabricated from the original vectra exhaust to fit my exhaust at the cat zone, cat was removed
13 as this is a work van and carries lots of heavy stuff i did not mess up with the boost and i did not put an IC, because too much piping means more turbo lag, especially when loaded and on hills.
i am not having any temperature issues, temperature never passes 90ºC, except in traffic as i removed the thermostat, engine seems very reliable, it's not so easy cold-starting as the atmospheric version, maybe because of the lower compresion ratio. I was a bit disappointed with the turbo lag when the van is loaded..but when the turbo starts to spin it has plenty more power than the old one....i am thinking on fitting a supercharger instead of the turbo, maybe from a vw G40 or so...has anyone done that??
originally mounted with an athmospheric 1.7d engine (isuzo)
the engine had completed more than 400000 km's!! always pedal to the metal and the van most of the times loads from 500 to 1000 kgs, so it's a very resistant engine, although a bit slow.
i decided it was time for an upgrade and fitted a turbcharged engine from a Vectra.
here in Portugal, engines and mechanical stuff are very expensive, 1.7td engines range from 600 to 900€
i was lucky to found this one in a small village junkyard for 400€
so the process was the following:
1 remove the old engine and gearbox as a unit
2 separate the gearbox/clutch and flywheel to fit on the new engine
3 clean the new engine thoroughly
4 camshaft and crankshaft seals replaced
5 complete timing kit fitted (much easier with engine outside the car)
6 new valve cover gasket and other minor things
7 the fuel pump bracket needed to be replaced as it hits the steering rack
8 the block needed to be grinded so i could fit the gear linkage
9 the left engine mount was different and i placed my old one
10 all coolant piping was inspected and replaced as needed
11 engine + gearbox were fitted as a unit (removing and fitting were made from beneath the car)
12 exhaust was fabricated from the original vectra exhaust to fit my exhaust at the cat zone, cat was removed
13 as this is a work van and carries lots of heavy stuff i did not mess up with the boost and i did not put an IC, because too much piping means more turbo lag, especially when loaded and on hills.
i am not having any temperature issues, temperature never passes 90ºC, except in traffic as i removed the thermostat, engine seems very reliable, it's not so easy cold-starting as the atmospheric version, maybe because of the lower compresion ratio. I was a bit disappointed with the turbo lag when the van is loaded..but when the turbo starts to spin it has plenty more power than the old one....i am thinking on fitting a supercharger instead of the turbo, maybe from a vw G40 or so...has anyone done that??