The K-series engine is sh*t. True Story.

[Sanjøy]

N1 TUT around 200,000 Km, N3 TUT around 300,00 Km, all on road runs, trackdays, Scottish Championships, Stelvios, DP, SPAZZ, FF's, no commuting or shopping trips, engines and gearboxes never touched.

Reckon that is a testament to reliability.

tut

Yep, you never came home on a trailor....

But Ill give engine and box reliabilty, still remember you forgetting you left her running with no water. It got so hot it stopped on its own, topped it up and she was none the worse for it!

I see you and raise you 3 mmc discs and an iron one was it not?!

[r10crw]

Pah, he drove for a year without a roll bar, not sure he even noticed a difference.

[tut]

Drive shafts and CV joints Craig along with a couple of toe links, but never the engine.

tut

[Andy G]

What caused the recovery fro
Teeside the year you maxed out your allowed number of AA recoveries Tut?

[tut]

Lost count Andy, but it was two snapped drive shafts, lots of CV joints, snapped throttle cable, one clutch, rear toe link, three S/C belts before we put the auto tensioner back on, and probably some from further back than my memory stretches.

Biggest testimony though is the missed gear changes from 3 to 2 instead of 4 at 8,600, lord knows what the revs went to. Engine hiccuped a few times, ECU probably went into shock, then went back to normal.

tut

[campbell]

Yup, no doubt a Honda block and head have endurance capabilities that would shame F1.

Just a pity that everything else around them on your cars gets wrecked, Tut

Nature will find the weakest link. Always.

[Dominic]

On the subject of potential engine transplants - I reckon the engine from my fiesta would be pretty decent in an elise; 1.6 turbo, no lag to speak of, 200BHP* in standard tune, with (IIRC over 200 torques). Easily tuneable to more. Pulls strongly from low revs, unlike the hondas which need to be screaming to go, and are not as torquey. It's pretty economical too. I wonder if the 1.6 turbo will become the engine of choice as the duratecs fade away.


*the figure with over-boost which is not quoted in UK as although it's the maximum output, it's not permanent

[Rosssco]

An nice sounding exhaust is £200 and the engine will go to the moon and back. Stick a charger on it for a few K and it will be quicker than a Honda

Yep, you could build up a near ~300bhp / 250lb/ft engine for about the price of a new Honda SC kit, but alas, the whole lot won't fit in the space where the K-Series sat - somebody tested fitted at some stage and it was a no. Think the g'box is the main issue TBH..

[Corranga]

An nice sounding exhaust is £200 and the engine will go to the moon and back. Stick a charger on it for a few K and it will be quicker than a Honda

There is that, assuming you fit the exhaust. We had an N/A VX for 5 years, alongside my S1, and the exhaust we bought sat in the garage for 4 of the 5 years
The VX came and went, the S1 is a keeper though, and the vx engine and box won't fit

[campbell]

Wonder what the Fiesta 1.6 turbo weighs?

Turbo cooling challenges?

We still come back to the fact that the K has every reason to succeed in an Elise, as the car was broadly built - and durability tested - around that engine.

Perhaps there is some odd risk that if you "split" a factory assembled K, you reintroduce a greater chance of an HGF (this is assuming that's what's actually wrong with yours, Dave?). However, all I can quote is the fact that I have now done something like 40k miles since my factory K was "split" for a pre-emptive head gasket change while the head was being serviced. And those miles have generally been harder ones than the first 70k. Touch wood, all still good. Cooling issues have been down to weak hose clips (my fault, I tightened them after I changed the radiator "myself"), a leaky hose, and now a possible minor block leak.

In the absence of Craig and team at CMC, I'd probably ask DVA to build me a relatively stock K, perhaps with some stronger bottom end parts, a Kiwirog Stage 1 head (no fancy cams). My understanding is that that's one of the truly experienced K specialists.

If you want a K that runs much beyond 150bhp on a "reliable" basis, I think you have to accept that it then becomes a light racing / sprinting engine and MUST be regularly inspected and overhauled accordingly. That probably means pulling it apart every year or after a handful of trackdays. And even then, you may have to accept that it's going to fail randomly from time to time. Just like race engines do...

Yes yes I know "Honda's don't need that", in which case, fine. There's the other answer.

The choice, as they say, is yours!

[Dominic]

Wonder what the Fiesta 1.6 turbo weighs?

Turbo cooling challenges?

Seems to be a fairly compact light weight unit. The Fiesta ST is just over 1000kgs, which is pretty decent these days IMHO. Not so sure about the cooling though!

[Rosssco]

1.0 Ecoboost seem cheap and plenty on fleabay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiesta-Mk9-1- ... 35f2ac5778

Complete looking 1.6 Ecoboost Package

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2014-Ford-Fie ... 4aeebac3c2

[Shug]

You can pretty much fit any engine that'll physically go in if you've got enough money.

The motor isn't the problem, it's the bits between car and engine that don't invent themselves - mounts, which are important with noise, stability, location, and even gearchange quality. Then sorting out custom gearchange cables and linkages, custom driveshafts, interfacing the electrics with the Elise's fairly old fashioned setup, cooling, etc, etc, etc.

None of this is cheap - most especially if you're the first one doing it... You'll go through several iterations of most things as niggles develop - if you want something that feels like a factory install.

[Ferg]

If you want a K that runs much beyond 150bhp on a "reliable" basis, I think you have to accept that it then becomes a light racing / sprinting engine and MUST be regularly inspected and overhauled accordingly.

The higher the stress on the engine the finer the luck required of course, but maintenance wise nothing beyond the same servicing you describe having applied to your 150ish BHP motor. Love it and it will love you back I say... pats VHPD grenade, then touches wood, rubs rabbit's foot etc etc

[campbell]

My understanding is that VHPDs are worth some bonus TLC too. They're a race-oriented unit after all.

But keeping it all crossed for you!!