1nz-fe Cam Swap

I’m sure that the MPG would be worse than the 50 MPG of the factory spec but I doubt it would be as low as 35MPG due to the battery assist and the regen brakes.


iPhone ?

 

Thanks, I kind of figured that's what it would take. I'm not sure now if I even want to pursue this. Some have pointed out that the engine may not hold up to the increase in compression, and I don't want to go through the trouble of upgrading the Pistons as well.

 

Anybody want to buy a Yaris intake cam and a set of new Yaris injectors? LOL!

 

So there is another hall sensor as Im sure you know back by the traction battery. Easy access. Few ways I could think of to modofy this to stop that HV protection from kicking in. Simply need to mod the hall sensor to make the computer believe you are drawing less than ~100a or so from the traction battery. Wiring should be able to handle non extended periods of over 100amps but Im not sure about the converters inverters IGBTs etc.

Easiest way would be to bypass another shunt or add a simple resistor circuit into the current sensor itself.

 

Holy crap, I just saw this thread

I'm trying to dissuade myself from getting a parted out Yaris engine and doing this, I guess the fact that I only have ~123k miles on my engine is a good reason not to... and the fact that I don't have access to a garage... but then I could get a parted out Prius engine (and transmission?) and do all the rebuild stuff at work and keep the old one on hand so I wouldn't have to feel too bad in case this Frankenstein monster blows up. Plus I'm running out of projects. Some kind of crazy engine thing is just what I've been looking for an excuse to take on, as a matter of fact...

While I'm considering this, I would need any 1NZ-FE engine?

 

Just put a Yaris engine on a Prius transaxle. You will have a sane compression ratio.

 

I did read over the thread but I do have a lot of research to do. I really do want to do some form of this mod and document it, you know, for science.

So if I was going to do something like this anyway, there's absolutely no reason not to just toss in a Yaris engine instead, practically speaking? I would try that out, although I'm also on the lookout for an excuse for an insane project that requires some form of engine rebuild.

 

Mlm.

SM-G892A ?

 

Multi-level marketing? By the way I'm still meaning to contact you about the intake/header stuff, been getting the other projects out of the way first.

So I think I've pieced all this back together after reading this last night, but I'm trying to make sure I have all the facts straight here.

- A Yaris engine would be plug-and-play and provide more HP, with no ECU reprogramming

- A Prius engine with a Yaris cam will have higher compression ration than either, but is going to put a lot of load on the engine

- The different parts from the Yaris engine could be swapped with the parts in the Prius engine, ostensibly without issue but maybe needing new valve spacers

- An Echo engine could potentially provide even more HP, but nobody's really tried that consumer wise. I read something in another thread about there being an issue with this engine needing a starter motor or something and possibly the transmission can't take the extra stress

If that's all correct, I think what I'm leaning towards is swapping the parts into a mid mileage Prius engine; a Yaris engine swap just isn't exciting enough (and not the tinkering hole I'm looking for)

 

Nah, that was a 'pocket-reply'...haha. sorry about that.

Responses bolded in your quoted post

 

1NZFE (10.5:1) and 1NZFXE (9.5:1) have different effective compression ratios. Combining certain parts would provide the highest effective compression of approximately 13.0:1.

 

Thanks for the info, yeah I'm sure I must have read around here 100 times around here that a direct Yaris engine swap isn't possible (I want to believe).

I saw the valve spacer thing from way2coolwheels posts in this topic; he tried putting in the Yaris cam and it didn't quite fit due to the valve spacers, and it was suggested that maybe Toyota Jesus's engine had more wear and was able to fit the cam.

 

Okay, so I've done a little bit of reading.

Do you guys have an idea about how much I should pay for a used 1NZ-FE and 1NZ-FXE? I'm thinking in the 150,000 mile zone, or less if i can find it for a good price. Also, where I should look for such an engine? I'm thinking I can put it in my trunk and maybe put a couple boards underneath them it to transport them (strapping it down with the hooks/loops), but not sure how engines work with "pick and pull" and such.

I think I misread in understanding Echo vs Yaris, since they're both 1NZ-FE, I'm assuming people are talking about these interchangeably, as well as certain Scion xA and Scion xB engines (2004-2006) and apparently a bunch of non-US models.


Since there seems to be more of a performance modding community for the Yaris/Scion vehicles, I wonder if it would be possible to incorporate performance parts somehow? (increasing compression even more sounds like a bridge too far but perhaps more durable parts if that makes sense for any components)

Another question I had was, when I'm doing this I might as well do any other engine maintenance that's possible. Anything I should look out for here aside from the head swap?


I see that the 1NZ-FE has this "VVT-i" (intelligent variable valve timing), I'm wondering if this could have any impact on putting a 1NZ-FE in a prius, or on the cam install:

I skimmed through this video about VVT-i and he holds up an ECU with a bunch of wires hanging out of it that I assume the Prius doesn't have, and wouldn't be easy to integrate with the Prius's computers, unless it's running independently and just needs power:

 

I wouldn't even pull an engine. Just do a 1nzfe head swap.

 

Yeah, I want to keep my current engine on hand in case this one blows up on me, or else I'd do the head swap in place. I've been looking on car-part.com, it seems like they have a decently competitive listing of engines out there. It's also an opportunity for me to learn about ICEs (sacrilege) so I don't mind going the extra mile to get some experience there.

But now you've got me thinking if I blow this up, keeping the extra engine on hand isn't going to be that much benefit for keeping a 250 pound hunk of metal around when I don't have permanent access to a garage. Anyway I think I'm going to have to dig into the service manual and plan out exactly what I'm doing here, while I hunt for a 1NZ-FE

 

They aren't too heavy to lug around...

 

Nice, yeah that looks manageable, but I think I'll have someone able to help me lift it out of the car or start bulking up for a few months, heh. I just put a deposit on a 2001 Echo engine with 150k miles, for $300 total price, going to pick up tomorrow or Wednesday. I'm going to strap it down using the cargo hooks on a piece of plywood and see what happens.

If I can swap the parts I need in place without pulling the engine I might just go ahead and do it; having a spare engine on hand is only going to have marginal value anyway if I blow this up, and my job probably won't want me to keep an engine around indefinitely. (not to mention my girlfriend)

 

Just picked up the engine today, I strapped it onto the cargo straps using four tie downs and it did fine. I'm glad it did because if it had slipped the manifold was sticking up and would have taken out my rear window (I would have popped it off but I remembered my tools were in the trunk compartment, under the engine). Everything held up fine and the engine seems not to have moved at all. Driving with a 250 pound engine in the back made me a little slower, but handling and suspension wise it was no issue.

I got the engine by looking on car-part.com, seems like they have a good price comparison among dismantlers etc. This on was from Coast Auto Dismantlers in Watsonville CA, they were very helpful and friendly.

Next up is gutting this thing and harvesting the body par- er, components I need for this Frankenprius


Oh yeah, some big work truck rolled coal on me when I was out in the sticks, I guess that's karma coming back on me here...

 

Here it is tied down in the trunk on a piece of plywood, it dripped a little oil/coolant but that was easy to clean up, so watch out for that if you're doing this yourself.



I was taking a very windy hilly route going probably quicker than I needed to; I noticed no noises or movement from back during this

You can see the iPod I was using to film it on the way, but thankfully nothing exciting happened. I'm planning to film this process though and put it together into a Youtube video

 

Hoping for some update status and like thread by OP....Also looking for some clarification
What model year Echo did you use ?