For your viewing pleasure in case you haven’t seen this.
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/06/9458f771f68703f9046cbd6729f48793.jpg
dsgrey16 your very smart and your post reflects it. You hit the nail on the head. Over and over we see countess near stock motors do the exact same thing your motor did. So nos or not it was going to happen.
The jhm built motors for the S4 4.2 are the answer
http://audirevolution.net/forum/index.php?topic=2283.0
the rs4 motor is nice but is it better then a built 4.2 s4… no. The money into converting your car over would be just about the same or more as a built motor. And with a built motor you have a fresh motor with zero miles.
Great points made… and the above pic is a thing of beauty!
I am hoping to talk to the JHM guys early next week, and ill let you guys know what route i decide to go down.
Dsgray, here is my take on swapping in the motor. As you stated the engine harness is different. We already know you can rewire that to theoretically work without issues (2.7 swaps in b6/b7 are a perfect example) but you would have to really do some studying of the wiring diagrams before I even considered it. The fuel pump is different and there is a fuel control module in the rs4 that the s4 does not have, not common parts and will cost some $. You’d probably want an rs4 transmission to take advantage of the power band as well, more $. Most of all I think it comes down to price. I am going to assume you would not be doing the work. The cost in paying someone would be crazy. Cheapest would be to source a running car, remember the coolant/oil/power steering cooling system is different, basically everything from the firewall forward. Even branded title cars at auction are fetching 20k+ still. Next paying a shop to figure out the wiring and trouble shooting all that, I would estimate 10-15 hours into matching up the wiring harness diagrams and knowing how JR would want to do the harness in a very clean fashion add another few hours. So that would put you at 25-30k into parts and labor to have a stock motor rs4 that you can’t use your nitrous kit and still won’t have a supercharger or anything like that.
Just my .02, I’m making a lot of assumptions here, but having done swap in my b6 and purchasing a couple rs4’s I think it’s some pretty valuable info. On the other hand, rxheaven made a good point the other day, you would have a pretty good wait time on a built motor I would bet.
Thanks for the response Justin. i had a feeling the N20 kit didnt just blow his car up. There are so many fail safes. Sucks this happened to you OP BUT maybe you get a built motor and this works out for the best?
Well i just took the time to read that whole post about the built 4.2 program…
Leaves me with the conclusion that i need to talk to JHM about going built motor - Upgraded N20 kit (new jets, what else?) and i already have the headers and IM… ;D
I saw a few people ask, but never saw any answers… would JHM suggest upgrading the cat-back to 2.75?
Then i would have to look at staying with the tip and having JHM TCU tune, or doing a swap to 6MT… Still need more input on that as well.
Lots to sort out, but i am getting some great ideas here… thanks guys!
Haven’t heard of anything about bumping it up to a 2.75" exhaust but I think they’ll just stick with the 2.5". I can add that to the list of questions I have to ask them when I’m there Friday.
Yeah mention it…
Still exploring options here…
So aside form going built 4.2, obviously i am seeing alot of 2.7 swaps going on as well… to that end, would dropping this 3.0 stroker single turbo into my B7 be a viable option?
Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks!
I would most definitely not do that. There are a few people who have done those swaps and non of them are happy. The power isn’t anywhere near the same. The b5 guys have been proping up the fake idea on how the B5 and 2.7t is a great motor. None of the stuff that the B5 guys ever say is great is ever great. The money it will cost and the headaches for what you end up with are not worth it.
+1. The money you end up spending on a swap will get you a well sorted built motor plus supercharger. These swaps always end up way over $$$ to what was expected.
You don’t want to buy someone’s part out/build they are getting rid of for a reason.
Your mod list is awesome for your 4.2, getting JHM to build it just makes sense for you. To do things right in a 2.7t you’ll easily spend the same amount of money after fueling, turbos, tuning. I’m sure a ton of people will tell you it’s somehow “cheaper” but it won’t be…I promise you. Also with the built motor maybe you can be One of the first guys to run bigger jets.
If it’s a game of time. Look for a nice spare motor they are out there. The built motors make the car something better then before and turns the only real worry into no worries at all. It sucks but anything you might do to get a quicker fix might come back to bite you later.
Well, if you do that, you’re essentially throwing out your NOS kit, headers, intake manifold, etc. Obviously you can sell them and take a loss, but is that something that you’d want to do? Did you get a built motor timeframe from JHM? If so, how long if you don’t mind me asking? It’s your car and you can do what you want, but putting a smaller motor in it would be a bad move imho. I’d rather buy a second car at that point. Plus, there’s gonna be a long wait for a built 2.7/3.0, right? What’s the cost for something like that? Aren’t the 3.0 l giant turbo engines essentially ticking time bombs too? I swear I’ve read it’s only a matter of time before the block goes.
That motor setup he posted is already built.
I think it more depends on who built it at this point. You are counting on that build to have been done well. Parts list is impressive and in line with a well built motor but i would need a lot of documentation to show it was put together right. And even then it is a leap of faith.
Personally i believe the 2.7 gets a bad rap. If well maintained and cared for it will provide just as much fun and reliabilty as the venerable 4.2 that is loved so much. It still is a major undertaking to pull that swap off successfully. In the end you may very well wish you had just built a 4.2 and be able to use the bits you already took time to piece together. Just my 2 cents.
To answer a few questions…
I am still waiting on info from JHM regarding timeframe and cost estimate for built 4.2. Its my first choice, but i also dont want to have it sitting in CA for a year… the other side of that is that the car is currently sitting at RSWorx… it cant sit there much longer, and i dont want to ship it to my parents house in RI (Cant sit in BK). So there are questions and issues with timing.
I am just exploring the idea of 2.7 swap… and yes, only because im enticed by the idea of this already built motor. Just not sure how much labor would cost on the swap.
I would sell my LHM motor parts… yes i would take a hit, but everything is less than a year old with 10k or less miles on it… dont think the hit would be too bad.
Other option i am looking at is selling the car as is. Need to get an idea of what i could get.
I don’t think it would be worth it with the cost of the built motor personally. I got my motor for free essentially. Put about $1500 into it in rods bearings and all new seals and then probably another 10K into the stk supporting mods, custom exhaust etc. Having the shop do the wiring would be far from cheap but if you are serious about it Id have no problem giving JR everything he needs to get the wiring done. I think he quoted me a couple grand though for the wiring when I asked…it would look oem too though if you ever took a good look at the matte blue widebody they did.
That said, I miss the low end torque. 2.7 is fun for what it is, but you have far to many excellent supporting mods for the v8 IMO. If you were starting stock I would say sure go 2.7 and have a healthy car for under 10K in mods. Will it destroy the 1/4? Not likely, but they hold their own on the highway. I have walked away from the cars I have done pulls with.
I think i would miss the V8 sounds and low-end grunt as well… damn
So im left with:
Option 1: Hope that JHM comes through with a reasonable estimate on time and cost for built 4.2. Buy car that wife will love (“tolerate”) and have the S4 as more of toy.
Option 2: Find used engine and swap into car, and pray that i dont have the same issue another 10k miles down the road…
Option 3: Sell the car as is… let somebody else put a new motor in it and add aftermarket parts they see fit and sell the rest. Move on.
:
The quickest will be find a new (used) engine. No matter what I think the fastest JHM would be able to get you a built engine its 6 months away.
Karma bump. I really want to say how impressive this is of you to say. With so many guys who take on different builds and lie to themselves and others just to save face and make it look like something great when it’s just something. Big props to you. I rarely see honest reviews from anyone that breaks the mold and takes a different direction. Your not saying your project b6 v6 isn’t the best thing ever only to end up selling it a few weeks later. From what we all know and have seen you gave a real great honest assessment of most every b5. It’s good to see your thoughts and your (to me) very open and non bias opinion.