Engine swap- anything I should know?

[rupesmcd]

So my lower pulley fell apart at the start of the month, and took out the cam belt, causing many hours of despair on a Devon roadside waiting for recovery.
Now the car has had a new cam belt kit fitted and lower pulley but won't run. Mechanic has also pointed out that oil is leaking into the inlet manifold, suspect turbo failure, and anything associated with the timing belt going. Poorly.
Having looked around for a cheap replacement car, I was not impressed.
So, I have seen a replacement engine from a breaker on eBay- and am considering an engine swap as the car has 10 months MOT, tyres, brakes and drivetrain all good, plus the radio works really well and I like it. Plus I have already a new cam belt kit and lower pulley! The engine is up for £449 with best offer, and is from the same year (2003,2.2HDi), and has 87k (so 60k less than mine).
My local mechanic will do the work if I choose to go down this route- I'm off to discuss it with him today.
Any issues I should be aware of? Will the ECU need to be re-flashed? The DPF is gone and it was running Doggy's map.
What a merry Christmas...

[steve_earwig]

These engines are designed to sacrifice the cam followers if the cam belt goes (x16) but I've seen on the coupe club they can still eat the odd valve. It'd be interesting to know what else yours munched.

I can't see you'd need to do any ecu work, especially if you use all your ancillaries on it. Presume Doggy's map means it's not actually designed for your engine so it won't make any difference. I think everything else should work itself out.

[Stenasev]

Hi,

As mentioned I would do some basic engine checks first to assess damage before replacing the whole engine.

If you do go the replacement route for whatever reason then please don't trust the mileage figure as most breakers will just make up a nice lowish mileage to make the engine a more attractive purchase.

For example the engine on ebay that says 85k has a photo of the car from which it may be safe to assume the engine came from and at the last MOT a year ago it was at 120k.

There is also another engine on ebay at £250.

I also have some parts for this engine if you need them including rockers and lifters. I wouldn't worry too much about the mileage though as this engine had done 270k and ran fine.

Cheers,

Steve

[Doggy]

Oil in the inlet manifold is normal - it's the condensed oil fumes from the breather recirculated through the turbo. They all have minor oil spills round the base of the intercooler, air dosers and so on.

As the others have said, you may just have some rockers gone, it's worth investigating. If you do have the cams out, consider changing the chain that drives the other, (exhaust)? camshaft.

Best of luck with it & keep us posted.

[rupesmcd]

Many thanks all, I will get the rocker cover off and take a look and might come back on here for some bits. Fingers crossed it's just the rockers that are gone.

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Are you still thinking of selling, you listed it for sale as a none runner on Sunday & now you're asking about
engine swaps or are you just testing the water

[rupesmcd]

Hi. I have bought a new car- so this one is just sitting in the village outside the mechanic's garage looking sorry for itself. He reckons there is still compression there- so likely rocker/lifter damage after the cam belt went. I'm washing my hands of it now and moving on..
I will be listing it on the various sites as spares or repair- in the hope to cover the mechanic bill (cam belt and lower pulley) it will need collecting, TQ13 9TA. Access is OK for a small car transporter/low loader. The mechanic there might even deliver it for cash locally.

[rupesmcd]

Sold.
May I wish it well.
Thanks for all your help guys over the last 3 years.