Need help IDing a 4cyl DOHC engine| Grassroots Motorsports forum |

Pete Gossett GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/4/19 4:40 p.m.

You guys like these challenges...

A friend/car-guy is having trouble IDing an engine he saw a pic of swapped into a Volvo 122. He couldn’t give me a copy of the pic, but here’s the description & a sketch. Any idea what it is?

“Technical question. What fwd 4-cylinder engines in the standard configuration (transmission on the left side of the car) have exhausts on the front?
I’m looking at photos of a 1966 Volvo 122 that has a FWD swap from what I assume is an Asian car (it says “HO LEE CHIT” on the cam cover in the stereotype Chinese-food font, and I can’t tell what it’s from. All of the identifying marks are absent. There can’t be too many with forward-exit exhaust.”

”More clues:
It is distributorless, but not coil-on-plug.
Twin/dual cam. Hemispherical or penta head (plugs in the center).
Aluminum head.
Looks like it has a MAF”

”This engine has a plastic timing case cover (at least the top bit). This cover was no higher than the cam cover, so I assume that it’s belt-driven, not chain. Normal for a Japanese engine though.
The cam box has no markings, so I assume that the plastic trim spanned the entire cam cover.
The strange thing is that the bolts that hole the cam cover on are not symmetrical - they’re staggered.
The spark plug wires went to a terminal block over the bell housing, so it had to have electronic ignition.”

pres589 (djronnebaum) PowerDork
10/4/19 4:44 p.m.

Olds Quad 4

Suprf1y UltimaDork
10/4/19 4:50 p.m.

In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :

Exhaust is in the back

Javelin GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/4/19 4:59 p.m.

FWD Mazda BP like from a Protege.

iceracer UltimaDork
10/4/19 5:02 p.m.

Zetec ?

Pete Gossett GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/4/19 5:10 p.m.

In reply to Javelin :

He said the oil cap is above the rear cam. Otherwise that was my first thought too.

Pete Gossett GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/4/19 5:10 p.m.

In reply to iceracer :

The intake is on the front, I’m pretty sure?

Javelin GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/4/19 5:11 p.m.

In reply to Pete Gossett :

There's about a dozen different BP cam cover designs, including one that says KIA on it, so it wouldn't surprise me if it's one of the others.

Streetwiseguy MegaDork
10/4/19 5:12 p.m.

How many fingers am I holding up right now?

I need pictures.

ProDarwin UltimaDork
10/4/19 5:13 p.m.

I feel like this could be just about any 90s 4cyl. Most of them have exhausts that exit the front.

I'm just going to guess SR20

NickD PowerDork
10/4/19 5:40 p.m.

Javelin said:
In reply to Pete Gossett :

There's about a dozen different BP cam cover designs, including one that says KIA on it, so it wouldn't surprise me if it's one of the others.

I kinda want a Kia one for my Miata, just to trip people up when I pop the hood

Pete Gossett GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/4/19 6:02 p.m.

In reply to ProDarwin :

I thought SR20 too, but per his sketch the cam cover bolts are offset/staggered from front to rear. I’m not finding any Japanese, US, or Korean DOHC 4cyl like that?

ProDarwin UltimaDork
10/4/19 6:27 p.m.

A Saturn LL0 bolts are slightly offset (but not equally spaced).

buzzboy HalfDork
10/4/19 6:29 p.m.

Tele or a Strat?

DeadSkunk (Warren) PowerDork
10/4/19 7:04 p.m.

If your friend doesn't know what the engine is from how does he "know" it's from a FWD with the transmission on the left. Why can't it be from a RWD vehicle?

Steve_Jones Reader
10/4/19 7:05 p.m.

Mitsubishi 4G63

Pete Gossett GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/4/19 9:27 p.m.

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

I think it’s more that it looked like a typical FWD dohc engine.

Pete Gossett GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/4/19 9:32 p.m.

Here’s another thought: it was swapped into a Volvo - are there any European DOHC 4cyl engines that would match his description?

I just search for Volvo ones, but the pics I found have the intake on the wrong side.

CJ GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
10/4/19 10:52 p.m.

I'm betting on the SR20DE as well. Here is a video in one in a Volvo 1800.

Nissan Video

Driven5 UltraDork
10/4/19 11:17 p.m.

SR20DE had timing chain, not belt.

Knurled. GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/5/19 5:46 a.m.

Pete Gossett said:
Here’s another thought: it was swapped into a Volvo - are there any European DOHC 4cyl engines that would match his description?

I just search for Volvo ones, but the pics I found have the intake on the wrong side.

Volvo only made two DOHC fours, one already a rear driver, and both run the exhaust down the passenger side in Volvo fashion.

My gut instinct is Zetec as these are a popular swap in to things, and they all had coil packs mounted behind the engine, and they all had plastic valve covers.

Pete Gossett GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/5/19 5:51 a.m.

In reply to CJ :

Definitely not a SR20DE from what I see. It looks like those had a distributor, and the cam cover doesn’t have the jumps over the bearing caps like the sketch above.

The closest I’ve been able to find so far, oddly enough, is the old Saturn twin-cam. However, he said the oil cap was on the timing belt/chain end of the engine, and the humps over the bearing caps were even more pronounced.