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Sun Jul 23, 2023 4:38 am

This thread will chronical a K24Z swap into my 1986 Westy Synchro. It will not be a quick swap I am sure, but slow wins the race.

NOTES:

- K24Z out of a 2012 Acura TSX with 92,000 miles. The car was rearended with no front damage. Pulled the cam cover and everything looks clean.

- The engine came with the harness, computer and throttle by wire accelerator pedal. Cost me $800.00.

- Transaxle will be rebuilt and strengthened as part of the swap.

- I will be using Bostig's new K24 engine mount when made available.

- I will be using Pchill2's build as somewhat of a guide.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=766259

Sun Jul 23, 2023 7:30 am

:popcorn:

Sun Jul 23, 2023 7:44 am

RG5 Bostig installed but definitely watching this.

Sun Jul 23, 2023 9:55 am

Nice!

What’s you plan for engine management?

Sun Jul 23, 2023 1:52 pm

Very cool. Currently have the RG7 Bostig, looking forward to the brave souls such as yourself to work out all the bugs and create some great how to's. :)

Sun Jul 23, 2023 3:10 pm

Wiring harness and all the accessories have been removed.

The motor will be getting:

- New Four Season AC Compressor
- OEM Honda Alternator
- Motorad thermostat
- Aisin water pump

Still need to source a starter and considering removal and or installation of it requires removing the intake manifold I do not want to cheap out on an unreliable part.

Sun Jul 23, 2023 3:21 pm

I will be waiting to see what Bostig comes out with for a "kit" and going that route. I like the supporting them and, in all honesty, I don't mind paying a bit more for a kit where someone else has worked out the bugs.

Sun Jul 23, 2023 7:37 pm

You will reuse your factory VW starter which is mounted to the transmission. The starter hole on the engine will be blocked off with a small plate.

Mon Jul 24, 2023 4:12 am

Thanks Pchill2. That just saved me a couple hundred dollars.

Mon Jul 24, 2023 5:51 am

Any clear standout on who to trust the transaxle rebuild with? I am on the East Coast, so if there is a reputable shop on this side of the country shipping would be easier.

http://www.mrgasrebuilds.com/

https://ranchotransaxles.com/

https://aatransaxle.com/

https://www.germantransaxle.com/VW-Vanagon-Syncro-...mp;id=1393

Mon Jul 24, 2023 7:21 am

MSGGrunt wrote: Any clear standout on who to trust the transaxle rebuild with? I am on the East Coast, so if there is a reputable shop on this side of the country shipping would be easier.

Matt Steedle (in NJ)

Tue Jul 25, 2023 5:27 am

Sent Matt an IM on FB. Seems he comes very highly recommended here on the East Coast.

Tue Jul 25, 2023 5:45 am

Oh yeah, lets go, excited to see how this goes!

Tue Jul 25, 2023 5:51 am

A little about the K24Z3 from the Miata swap guys.

https://kpower.industries/blogs/news/game-changer-the-new-k24z3-swap-is-here

Out of this article it will be interesting to see Bostig's Solutions to:

- Unique oval designed exhaust downpipe. Will the Vanagon exhaust be total custom or bolted onto a stock downpipe/catalytic converter?

- Will the OEM crank position sensor be used?

- I assume the ECU and immobilizer issues can be sorted.

- Would one be able to convert to a front of the engine/rear of the Vanagon pointing aluminum intake manifold? Stock puts the throttle body back towards the firewall. I like the idea of an aluminum manifold vs the factor plastic one.

It’s still a K series, but with some significant changes that will bring broad appeal.

The 2.4L and 2.0L K24A and K20A variants were manufactured from 2002-2008 and were thoroughly embraced by the Honda engine swap community immediately. No four cylinder engine had ever done what the K series could do, which is why it still stands head and shoulders above all other four cylinder engine options on the market.

In 2009, Honda threw a wrench into the K series platform with the release of the new K24Z3 engines found in the 2009+ TSX and 2008+ Accords (K24Z3). Instead of individual exhaust ports, Honda cut costs and met emissions regulations by designing the R40 cylinder head with an integrated exhaust manifold and a single exit exhaust port.

The aftermarket community saw this limitation to exhaust flow and lost interest. Additionally, these new engines used completely different wiring harnesses, ECUs, and an incompatible crank sensor, which made them nearly impossible to use for engine swaps.

The ideal engine to use for this swap is the K24Z3 engine found in the 2009-2014 Acura TSX. They are cheap and plentiful.

The K24Z3 found in the Honda Accord can also be used, but does have a slightly lower compression ratio (10.7:1 vs. 11:1). Because of this, we opted to stick with the TSX variant.

The other compatible option is the K24Z7 engine from the 2012-2015 Civic Si. However, we’ve found these engines to be quite a bit more expensive and they have identical specs to the K24Z3 from the TSX.

As stated above, the K24Z3 features a higher compression ratio (11:1) than the K24A2 (10.5:1). It has iVTEC on the intake cam only, and also includes a 50 degree VTC gear from the factory, so there’s no need to upgrade it like we do for the K24A2 engines. The intake ports are a bit larger, the valves are larger, and the cam lobes are larger. The connecting rods are also visibly thicker and stronger than all older K24 engines.

The factory K24Z3 electronics are very different than the older K series engines. Older ECUs, wiring harnesses, and crank sensors are all incompatible. The 2009+ TSX uses CAN bus, has a much more complex immobilizer system, and can only be tuned by reflashing the ECU though the OBD2 port

The main hurdle to running this new engine on the older 02-04 RSX harness and Kpro is the crank position sensor. The K24Z3 has a trigger wheel built onto the crankshaft on the flywheel side, while the older engines have the crank sensor in the timing chain cover behind the crank pulley. And unfortunately the timing chain covers are not interchangeable due to a different bolt pattern.

Wed Jul 26, 2023 10:03 am

I'm really curious to see what engine management system solutions you go with for your build. As you mentioned the K24Z3 has a 60 tooth crank position sensor wheel toward the rear of the engine instead of the 12+1 the K24A has just behind the timing chain cover. When I was researching solutions the Kpro couldn't handle the Z3.

Kpower has a custom timing chain cover that you can retrofit the K24A crank sensor wheel.

I also checked with Skunk2 on their short magnesium valve cover, and they said the bolt patterns work on the head, but the timing cover would have to have some modifications to work with their valve cover.

Wed Jul 26, 2023 6:38 pm

I too have seen the Kpower custom front cover that relocates the sensor to the front. Which cover needs to be reworked to work with the Skunk2 cam cover, the Kpower one or the OEM one?

Thu Jul 27, 2023 5:28 am

I believe it's the OEM timing cover that would need to be modded at the top for the magnesium valve cover to fit. The Kpower one might need that mod as well. I sent an email asking about it to Kpower, and didn't get an answer.

Thu Jul 27, 2023 10:00 am

Definitely watching, very cool...

Sat Jul 29, 2023 5:43 am

New info gained from Bostig. Their exhaust will require maintaining the stock Catalytic converter so, if possible, keep it when buying a motor. Only the upstream O2 sensor will be used.

As mentioned before, throttle control can be either K-pro or Haltech. Haltech will maintain the TSX throttle by wire but with K-pro you could use a modified Accord intake and throttle body and then throttle control would be by a conventional cable.

Tue Aug 01, 2023 4:38 am

Skunk2 magnesium low profile cam cover fits with the stock K24Z3 front timing chain cover. Some of the mounting bolts need to be changed out with new ones provided, but it fits.

K24Z3 out of a TSX has electric power steering, so an engine driven PS pump from the same year Honda accord will have to be bolted in place of the upper most idler pulley. Custom PS lines will have to be made.

I would assume the K Power K24Z hybrid timing chain cover would work with the Skunk2 cam cover.

Now the Questions and advice sought.

I have been reading as much as I can on K24Z3 swaps on the Miata sites as this seems like a common swap for them. Vanagons being pretty new terriory, but the same principles should apply.

Is it beneficial to move the crank position sensor from the rear of the motor to the front? It seems if this is done I could use Hondata Kpro or Ktuner for engine management.

I believe the 2012 motor and ECU I have out of a TSX runs/communicates via CAN Bus and has an immobilizer that I would have to be concerned with. With "back dating" to a front mounted CPS and using Hondata or Ktune the CAN bus and immobilizer could be eliminated by using Honda Accord engine sensors and ECU?

In addition to the above, would I be incorrect that I could also then use an intake manifold or just the throttle body off an Accord and swap over to drive by cable instead of drive by wire?

Info off KPower Industries Site:

https://kpower.industries/collections/kmiata-swap-parts/products/k24z-hybrid-timing-chain-cover

Our KPower cast aluminum timing chain cover for K24Z engines unlocks the potential of the 2009-2014 TSX (K24Z3) and 2012-2015 Civic Si (K24Z7) engines for swapped vehicles. This cover is also now standard in all K24Z3 Miata Ultimate Swap Packages.

This cover is a direct replacement for the OEM K24Z part, but it has a provision for a K20A/K24A crank position sensor. This hybrid cover allows you to run a K24Z engine in any K swapped vehicle running Hondata Kpro or KTuner without needing to deal with the newer style crank trigger wheel and the immobilizers in the new ECUs.

Since the rest of the K24A sensors can swap onto a K24Z engine, this cover provides the final piece of the puzzle to take advantage of the huge number of cheap used K24Z engines available.

Best of all, this cover is available in two configurations: the standard option is for a full K24Z engine with the factory R40 head, but we’ve also created a variation that allows the older four exhaust port traditional K series heads to be mated to a K24Z block. A PRB, RBB, or RBC head can now easily be installed on a K24Z engine, unlocking the potential of the K24Z bottom ends for many applications.

The K24Z engines have the highest compression pistons (11:1) and strongest rods of any K24 block, so we’re excited to bring this new engine block option to the K swap community.

This cover includes a new crank seal, new O-ring, new lower OEM lower shoulder bolts, and a full replacement bolt set (M6 and M10). Customers using this cover in a FWD application will need to also add a set of spacers so the factory FWD engine mount bracket can be bolted on with the factory M10 bolts.

If using this cover with Hondata Kpro, customers will need to pair this cover with the following Honda parts:

Crankshaft pulse plate: 13622-PNA-003

Crankshaft position sensor: 37500-RAA-A01 (K24 style) or 37500-PNB-003 (K20 style)

Exhaust camshaft pulse plate: 14114-PNA-003