2.0l ecotech engine

[nathannova]

just wondering how hard is it to fit a 2.0l ecotech engine into a nova (is it worth it?)
what will i have to do to fit one into the nova???

[burgo]

exactly the same as doing a red top

[Ben]

exactly the same as doing a red top

With a lot more wiring and a lot less power as standard.

[TommySR]

^^ as they said, think ecotecs are around 136bhp? where as standard redtops are 150bhp or there abouts.

[nathannova]

alot more wiring doesnt sound great for less power will try and find a reasonably priced ex engine instead (just out of interest would you need to change the ecu to fit the ecotech engine???)
thanks

[burgo]

you need the loom and ecu which come with the engine. what ecu were you hoping to run it off?

[nathannova]

i was hoping to run it of the standard on i just thought that with the ecotech engine being so new sometime you have to get one specially made for you or is that just me talking crap???

[craig0120]

just use the running gear off the eco
although for the power it would be cheaper to fit a 20seh
or for a little more the redtop

[nathannova]

is the ecotech engine more hassel than its worth then???

[Ben]

Not meaning to sound rude (normally dosent bother me but im not this time)

With the questions your asking about it i wouldnt recommend you take it on, it can be an **** to get around the built in immobiliser in the ECU unless you know what your taking on, and also quite costly.

[Lee]

Also you'll need to fit a CAT as the emissions MOT will go by the age of your engine, not the car.

Fit an XE.

[Ben]

Thats not true, it goes pruely on age of the car, nothing to do with the engine size code etc

[craig0120]

it goes by the year of the engine

[Ben]

No it dosent, if that was the case you could put an XE in a 2005 Corsa and it wouldnt need a cat test,

Any car registered before 1993 does not need to have a cat fitted, but can be fitted if you like (some old volvos and saabs etc have them fitted from 1990 and if there fitted they must work)

[craig0120]

if a non cat engine is fitted then you dont need a cat
actually you can get away with no cat up to 31st august 1995 on some cars

[Stuart]

as for the lovely ole ecotec vs XE argument.....

yes in std form the ecotec might be "down" on power but if you consider that you can get a low milage ecotec that is more likey to have its 136bhp than a 10-15 yr old XE that has been ragged thats likely to be down at similar power lol.

"more wiring" adding the immobiliser transponder ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh major work there lmao

but as said if your asking some of the questions youve mentioned then either get someone else to do it, or fit an XE (due to the huge ammount of support available)

if you intend to tune either engien then imho is makes no odds which one you chose as you can get nearly the same results from both for the same kind of money

[Adam]

You can pickup 2L eco's for like ?100ish, i've seen them on mig for ?140 a while back.
Remove the cat, and fit a decent exhaust and you wouldn't be far off XE power, especially on a old xe.
Whereas people are still wanting ?300 for a 150K XE.

Afaik, mot emissions goes on whatever is older.
I.e.-a 1995 engine in a 1990 car doesn't need a cat
a 1990 engine in a 1994 car doesn't need a cat.

Thats what i've just been told anyway.

[Lee]

Spot on LLTN, i stand corrected...

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_730.htm

[Adam]

Good job, my MOTs tomorrow and i have no cat :p Lol

[Ben]

I agree with Stu that the Immob wiring isnt difficult IF you are capable and the ecotec is a hugely tuneable engine but there is only a small amount of people that can help you as most (not all) are scared of them.

[ste porter]

the other thing going for the horrid ecow ank engines is the fact that the parts are redily available of the shelve at most vauxhall dealers where as alot of vauxhall dealers now have to order parts in for old engines plus there generaly cheaper for a low milage equivilent you can buy them brand new and there still beeing produced

slowly the red tops are getting harder to find in good nick and not been thrashed and more and more people are starting to fit these engines in stead to be honest it makes more sense as after all they are the future in some ways.

[Stuart]

what if the engine had been called something "cool" like
V-Energy
I bet people wouldnt hate them for no good reason even if they are lower power as std than a redtop lol just people in the modding game dont like the word eco lol

[nathannova]

only reason i was thinking about the ecotec engine was because theres this bloke near me that has a astra that is rite off and he said that if i can get the crain to take it out its mine (so not really loosing anything if it proves to be to hard and i cant be assed with it) itll just sit in my garage

[burgo]

if hes got the complete car then it should be pretty easy to do cos you can take all the loom including the transponder side of it

[Stoo]

Should be simple if you have the complete car!! Get it done mate, TBH ive never seen an ecotech in a nova!

[burgo]

i think it will look quite tidy in there deffo worth doing

[Stoo]

be a refrshing change to the usual redtop!

[nathannova]

yea will give it a go anyway with a little help from my mate will keep you update hopefully should pritty straight forward

[BIGS]

Give it ago you can always change the engine over to a redtop in the future if you wanted. But ive heard the best engine is a eco bottom end with a redtop head. Of course coscast if you can get one. Werth lookin into.

[lee coley]

not fitted yet?

[p.s.guy]

now then,,,,,i have actually tryed fitting a ecotech in my nova,,,bolted in as you know fine...wiring was easy same as a redtop, but the problems i ran in to was

the exhaust manifold i made one up using a redtop manifold cuting the plate off and weiling my own on !!!!!!!

the the bottom pulley was a pain to getting a single v for a ecotech?? the redtop one are 6 holes but the ecos are 4 never did find one...


in the end i riped it back out and fitted a redtop !!!!!!

[lee coley]

ive got an engine/loom/box/ecu sat in a calibra doing nowt,ive sent an email out,see what i get back.

[Ben]

lol cant believe this thread is still going.

[lee coley]

yes i started it up this morning,doing a bit of pondering,

[Ben]

as in fitting an ecotec into a nova?

Imo it dosent really help if you have whole car as you can still only get 8" maximum of the transponder loom unless you strip the entire loom with a knife and chase it through and then you have 12ft of wiring to hide in a nova,

The fitting issues are easy, the same mounts and shafts for an XE fitting kit will do, make sure you fit a Cable gearbox have seen a hydrulic one used in a nova but it was a bitch to work on and fit. The bottom pulley's you can get machined and imo the easiest way to get around the immob wiring in the ecu is to get the immobiliser removed from the ecu, I got one done a few years ago cost ?100 and then the car ran with no transponder. Easy really.

The other pain in the **** with the eco's is the egr crap, you need to blank this off (can buy blanks off the shelf) and then just bridge the plug to give it a constant circuit so it doesnt bring up a fault code.

[lee coley]

thanks Ben,the advantage of having the full car imo is that nothing can get lost of damaged when left in a shed in bits!

[Adam]

the the bottom pulley was a pain to getting a single v for a ecotech?? the redtop one are 6 holes but the ecos are 4 never did find one...

Just use a xe single v pully, 2 of the bolt holes line up iirc with the eco crank.

[Ben]

Yeah i know people that have done that, just about works lol

[leigh16v]

Don't worry about the immobilser, I have a couple of ecu's that will solve that problem for you

[Ben]

what are they then? As the C18 XE ECU wont fit as its different managment.