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JDM Engine/Trans Swap with CA Smog Pending

acustark

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
240
Location
Redondo Beach, CA
I bought a JDM engine and trans and wanted to use as much of the bolt-ons as possible, however this will be a CA car and I will need to pass smog.
My current engine and trans have 142K miles so the JDM parts with close to 50k would be preferred if possible.

What JDM items will I need to remove? javascript:void(0)

Thanks for your help.
 

acustark

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
240
Location
Redondo Beach, CA
I did notice a few more hoses on my CA smog intake manifold.
I'm thinking that the original ECU should stay also. Is the JDM ECU much different?
 

acustark

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
240
Location
Redondo Beach, CA
Will I need to reinstall the HKS 264/272 cams so the keydiver chip will not be affected?

(This is my son's car and I don't know much about it. He is in Taiwan and will not return until Aug)

This vehicle can be seen @ "Galant VR-4 Forums » Community » Members' Showcase » Jeff Stark's 1992 GVR4 745/1000"
 

FlyingEagle

Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2005
Messages
1,635
Location
THE Ottawa
Keep the chipped ECU.

Wonder if the ECU is setup for federal operation or not?

This is a simple resistor setup, R129/R130 they have a combo whereby the ECU knows to use a Cali or Fed setup.
If they are checking for presence and setup of a Cali EGR, maybe this will be needed or looked into.

Some boys from Cali can give you the lowdown on that. I could tell you about Ontario, Canada and our emissions but you are half a world away and running different protocols for testing.
 

citymunky

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Joined
Sep 22, 2010
Messages
1,761
Location
Chesapeake, VA
Last edited:

galantrevolution

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Messages
129
Location
las vegas, nv
I did the swap too and I replace the intake manifold, upgrade the fuel pump since the jdm comes with a td05 16g turbo and 510 injectors,also are you going to run a air oil cooler or a water cooler be cause the t-stat housing is a little different from the USDA engines. And also you might have to adjust the trans cables to get to shift into 5th and reverse.
 

acustark

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
240
Location
Redondo Beach, CA
Went to pick up my car after the swap an terrible news!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif It's blowing smoke out the tailpipe.
The engine seemed pristine when the cams were swapped and the turbo is the same I had before.

What are the possible sources besides valves and turbo for oil smoke out the back?

I'm already $3500 into this swap and I am so distressed that I can't think straight.

To top it all off there is a ticking sound in the transmission at idle, but goes away once the clutch is depressed.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
 

transparentdsm

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Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
3,690
Location
Cherry Hill, NJ
trans noise is the throw-out bearing i'd assume and as for the smoke, what color is it? does the smoke stay in the air or dissipate away fast?
 

acustark

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Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
240
Location
Redondo Beach, CA
Quoting luis84one:
Bad rings maybe /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif


He ran a compression test and all 4 were 140 psi so I don't think it is the rings
 

acustark

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Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
240
Location
Redondo Beach, CA
Quoting transparentdsm:
trans noise is the throw-out bearing i'd assume and as for the smoke, what color is it? does the smoke stay in the air or dissipate away fast?


the smoke lingers and is white with possible light blue hue. Revving the engine had some oil-like spray that was noted on the ground.
 

transparentdsm

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Jul 27, 2011
Messages
3,690
Location
Cherry Hill, NJ
white indicates coolant, not oil, but the blue hue makes me wonder. could be valve stem seals. how long was the car running for? did it reach full operating temperature? was it driven around the block a few times. then check everything again.

the spray that comes out the back could be condensation built up from the car sitting and the soot on the inside of the exhaust mixed together and came out the back, looking like oil, but really isn't.
 

fuel

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Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
2,165
Location
Toronto, ON, Canada
it could be the oil control rings which are bad but the number 1 and 2 compression rings still good. It's most likely valve stem seals though, or at worst worn valve guides. Pull the inlet manifold off and shine a flashlight into the ports to look at the condition of the back of the valves - I bet they will be oil soaked.
 

acustark

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
240
Location
Redondo Beach, CA
My mechanic is pretty certain that the smoke is oil related. It makes sense that the water combined with soot would give the appearance of oil and is most likely the cause for the spots on the ground. I opted to switch out my Evo III 16g for the 16g turbo that came with the engine to eliminate the turbo as the leak source. I wonder now how long my JDM engine was sitting before I bought it. My mechanic did take it for a drive, but did not look for nor notice the smoking problem. The car was smoking bad enough that I did not want to drive it on the street for fear of getting pulled over(UT plates with temp sticker driving in CA). The internals of the engine seemed indicative of a lower mileage vehicle, so I hope it is not rings or valves. Thanks again for any further comments.
 
Last edited:

transparentdsm

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Jul 27, 2011
Messages
3,690
Location
Cherry Hill, NJ
id say get the car up to operating temp, drive it around a bit and hope that everything smoking is just sh*t that was in there from the engine sitting. was the timing belt changed on the new motor and was the motor primed by hand turning the crank before being actually cranked by the starter and started?
 

acustark

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
240
Location
Redondo Beach, CA
The timing belt, water pump, balance shaft eliminator were added. As far as primed and hand cranked I do not know. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 

iceman69510

Turn Right Racing
Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2001
Messages
10,964
Location
Michigan
It may be stuck rings. Might want to run some engine cleaner with the oil for a bit.

I would be tempted to drive it hard and rev to see if that clears it up.
 
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