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topswap fails vs success

Grimsin

Grimsin

New member
I have been seeing alot off broken engines after being topswaped lately and it has me worried, kinda wondering if I should even do it..
Wondering if anyone here or know anyone knows someone topswapped with success and if so how long has it been topswapped for.
My engine is a seriesII with 165 000 miles
 


I had my 04 topswapped, self tuned and moderatly modded for about 2 years. I had zero mechanical failures the entire time.

The key is tuning it so you're not running lean, and getting rid of all KR.
 
Thats good to hear, overkill will be tuning it for me. Thinking if buying a aeroforce gauge also.
Anyone else with a story to tell?
 
Aeroforce is good, but I would also recommend a boost/vac and afr gauge so you can monitor for lean conditions. That's where most people run into trouble.

I'm sure if overkill is doing your tuning, it will be good, but mechanical failures can change things in a hurry.
 
Ya overkill is awesome.
I have maintained the engine with full synthetic oil changes.new plugs wires etc so hopefully engine stays as reliable as it has been for all these years

Oh and I have a boost guage. Never checked to see if ut reads vacuum as well
 
ok doubled checked I have a maximum performance boost/vacuum guage, so i just need afr guage.. does aeroforce guage cover that?
come on people on know you guys have more good/horror stories to tell me! lol
 


Oxfire said:
Horror stories occur when people don't scan and make sure their car is running a proper tune.
Click to expand...

This ^


And no an aero force doesn't update fast enough to be an accurate air fuel gauge. The aem uego is nice and the innovate lc-1 is a good less expensive alternative.
 
In the several years of being on this and a couple other forums, I have seen more than 3x the successful topswaps vs the not-successful. Most of the not-so's were due to builder error and tuner error.

As said, biggest thing is not running lean and getting rid of the KR, solve those 2 and you should be problem free.
 
my motor went down because i put it together wrong before i put it together right. then i got a new block and put it together right the first time.
 
My brother has an 03 and the first issue we had was the tune. The car would just stall after a period of 5-10 mn of driving on the higway. Did a little research and once that was figured out the car ran fine until it developed a cooling issue. Turned out the heads were bad from the get go. Probably a reason why the GTP was at the salavage yard. Now that everything has been resolved the car runs good.
 


I top swapped.

Ran fine.

Most of the time I had the car it was top swapped.

I junked my lifters, after cam install. Gave up. Shouldn't have, but I did.

Also evidence that I was leaking coolant into the cat.

But I had a pitted LIM, and heads cracked between the seats as far as .5-.7" from the valve seat. Unsure if there are any coolant passages in the heads anywhere near there.

I also vaguely recall having a coolant issue when I had the intercooler as well. Same cat used then as well.

Make sure you pressure test the cooling system, and preform a compression test before and after the swap. Just to make sure things are where they should be.

WB is almost a must, even if Will uses his when tuning. Mine kept drifting rich.
 
getting more confident lols, least I have the l36 engine, I am gonna check the heads out this weekend, got a boost/vacuum gauge, gonna get the aeroforce and wideband sensor but will probably be shortly after the swap.
and people say topswaps are cheap :th_laugh-lol3:
 
The L67 parts are cheap. All of the other things to go with it are far from it.

My vote on WB goes for the NTK AFX. Quality electronics designed by ECM, NTK sensor, and calibration is possible and recommended to ensure it stays accurate over the life of the sensor.
 
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