Interesting engine at a price...

[24OZ]

Just caught this on ebay.... its an FJ20DET

CLICK HERE TO VIEW

[Ivan]

isn't that what was used in the old GTR's (like '71's or so)

[ZmeFly]

and if i remember correctly these engines were capable of producing neck bending power for there size and era

[Brett240]

they were used in the early 80's in certain model nissan bluebirds. a forebear to the SR20 i think.

[Rob]

"Extremely rare?"

Those engines are a lot of things (all of them good), but they are not rare (Not in Australia anyways)

They were sold in early - mid eighties Japanese skylines and silvias, in turbo and non turbo form. Nissan also made a 2.4 litre non-turbo version for the 240RS rally car.

[Keenan]

Hello!

Im a highschool student looking for a 240z,260 or 280z(not zx, too complicated). I was wondering how reliable are these engines and if i were to buy one from australia how much would it cost for the actual engine, shipping and then rebuilding? I need something thats reliable and good on gas because my dad got me a 1970 442 that gets 10-8 mpg, obviously not good plus its large but not too large...still a pain in the arse to park.

[Brett240]

the fj20 is a reliable strong engine, though if you cant find one in the states and you want a four cylinder your better off getting an sr20det in america. it would be cheaper than shipping an FJ from australia and parts are more readily available for the SR .

[Keenan]

I was thinking of SR20 swap awhile back but was kind of shaky about a 4 cylinder... im not fond of them. But for 1500 you get everything thats in the engine bay plus the 6-speed... i saw one in a 510 and that went 0-60 in 5.3 which is good while getting 25mpg.

Are they hard to fix? and reliability wise how are they and are parts expensive? I suppose i could go through the same middle man that sells the engine...

Thanks!

-Keenan

[Brett240]

you;d have to check with your local suppliers in the US about parts but they are pretty easy to get in Aus. if you are going to the trouble of importing an engine, its worthwhile saving a little more and getting a six cylinder, like an RB25det, though you should have these in the states. it will take a bit of work to get 5.3 second 0-60mph times out of an FJ in a 240z.

[Keenan]

RB25det are twin turbo right? heard some horror stories about that like frequent/expensive maintenance...

Is it true or is it just like a normal engine, just maintane it normally and itll be fine.

[Brett240]

no the RB25det is single turbo, the RB26dett is the twin turbo. for the money the RB25 is a bargain. these engines will only have problems when SERIOUS horsepower is on the cards. one of these engines with a good intercooler and a few mods in a 240z will blow everything off the road. dead reliable. a four cylinder engine will never be as quick

[Brett240]

hey keenen check out the thread, overkill for your fairladies.

[Brett240]

hey i just noticed you posted that!:stupid:

[2ManyZs]

You'll have to take into account these engine were never imported into the US in any cars. Finding parts to repair them is not going to be as easy as going to the local Auto Zone. Some parts might be interchangeable with other engines that were imported, but there are going to be some that are specific to that engine only... which means you might find them nearly as hard to find as a winning Lotto ticket...:disappoin

Just something to consider....

[That Ozzy Guy]

The SR20DET is an excellent engine. You can double the factory power output with stock internals, give it the beating of it's life and it'll still take you home every time. Very reliable and tunable engine.

[Brett240]

weve got alot of these engines in Aus though Nissan never officialy imported the cars to aus. do you guys have a grey import industry, the RB25 is out of the nissan skyline GTS-T

[That Ozzy Guy]

I think that there are no more cars with SR20's coming into Australia. The last of them would have been the S15 200SX. Am I right?

[Brett240]

yep thats right. the engine no longer can pass the emissions regs in japan.

[Ben]

The particular FJ20ET in that auction is from an early DR30 RS Turbo Skyline (like mine!). It is the non-intercooled version (ie pre 1984).

The engine was also used in the S12 Silvia in atmo & turbo form (the inlet manifold had shorter runners in the S12). It was first used in the S11 Silvia as a 2.4L atmo, twin-carb'd rally engine (the 240RS). The FJ24 stroker kits are almost non-existant.

I am currently rebuilding my FJ20, due to a head gasket failure (well, a fitting failure by the factory). It's done about 120,000km and everything is in A1 condition. They are a very rev-happy engine with plenty of power in stock form.

Mine regularly saw 7000+rpm - I just have to remember that there's no factory limiter & the redline is 7500....

(I'm usually pretty conservative in my 'revving' of engines - I keep my L28ET under 5500, but the FJ just produces more grunt the higher you go!)

My dad has an atmo one in his 510, and that is very nice too (funnily enough, his headgasket failed in the same way mine has....)

[Mr Camouflage]

Originally posted by That Ozzy Guy

I think that there are no more cars with SR20's coming into Australia. The last of them would have been the S15 200SX. Am I right?

The S15 has been discontinued as it cant meet the new japanese emission standards with its current engine, and is only sold in Japan, Australia, and NZ. Rather than sell it just in Aus and NZ nissan have droped it completely.

Second hand imports with sr20s will still be allowed, however the government has changed the rules to restrict the second hand import industry, and some cars cant be imported anymore. I was reading about it somewhere.

[Mr Camouflage]

Originally posted by Ivan

isn't that what was used in the old GTR's (like '71's or so)

No, it's not that old! It was in the RS2000 skyline which was somewhere around 85 to 88 . There were no GTR skylines after the 70's model GTR's untill the R32 brought back the GTR name in 1989.

80's skylines were just GT. (without the R) Such as the GT2800.

[Keenan]

reading about Japan's new laws i was very surprised. Thing is we are getting the Subaru STI over here, but they cant get it their because of the new emissions. First time they drool over what we have... finally.

I was thinking of the parts issue, and i have to talk to the JDM supplier because im pretty sure they can order them, but prices may be bad. Now on a highschoolers budget what would probably be cheaper/more reliable, an american V-8(no electronics, like a 1970 350ci) or an RB25(finally figured out the coding hehe). Ive seen some restored 240z's over here and they run up to a max of 4500(not ebay) and i could probably get 3-3500 for engine and little nit picky things. Id like to keep a japanese car japanese but hey everyone loves V-8s!

and what about the older infinity V-8s in the states? didnt they use them in the old Qs?

-Keenan

trying to learn all i can about these cars and from what i gather they are VERY reliable stock. Is it possible to simply turbocharge the stock I6? Or are the internals simply not strong enough? Thanks!