I'm thinking in particular not about the Dodge Neon SRT4 but the PT Cruiser GT.
Can you take a non-turbo PT, attach the turbo goods and ECU, and drive away? Or is there substantial difference in compression ratio and engine internals?
Curious, mostly.
Pretty sure the SRT-4 uses lower compression pistons. I think the rods are different, and it is possible the crank is stronger.
The stock 2.4 can take some boost, but there's still the compression ratio thing to deal with, so I'm not sure just switching everything over to a N/A 2.4 is a great idea.
I'll leave anything more to someone who is more of an expert.
When I finally grenade my 2.0, my plan is to upgrade to a 2.4 so I've done a little research. What I've read indicates that by taking a regular N/A 2.4 and swapping in SRT-4 (or PTGT) pistons and rods, I'll have a motor that can take similar amounts of boost and be quite a bit cheaper than an SRT4 or PTGT motor. I'll be running MegaSquirt and doing my own oil/water/sensor plumbing, so I don't know if trying to use an SRT-4/PTGT ECU and wiring harness will plug-and-play.
The SRT-4 pistons and rods drop in. That's the main difference. SRT-4's had different exhaust valve material, but that's proven relatively immaterial in real life. :)
I did this with a PT motor in a 1g Neon. Megasquirt, ~20psi, stock (tiny) PT GT/SRT-4 turbo. It was hilariously fun.
Cool. I've seen a lot of early, non-turbo, 5-speed PT Cruisers on Craigslist for less than $1000, and it gives me bad, LeMonsy ideas.
You can also use older Chrysler 2.5L rods (turbo or non-turbo, they are the same from 89-95) and forged pistons.
SRT4 piston and rod assemblies are available new from FWDPerformance for $99/ea: http://www.fwdperformance.com/store/Product.asp?IDCatalog=104&ProductID=1249
And you can get a cast exhaust manifold that allows the use of off the shelf turbos:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dodge-Neon-srt4-srt-4-Chrysler-pt-Cruiser-gt-t3-Cast-Turbo-Manifold-T3T4-T4E-/141161471041
All you ever wanted to know:
http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_1813/article.html?popularArticle
Rods/Pistons, not sure on crank. Also, there are piston squirters in the turbo motors. These allow you to run more boost with the cast pistons.
IIRC, stock rods with LS1 ARP rod bolts are good until about the 500hp mark.
Turbo oil pump is different. Using the turbo pump on a NA motor will cause oil starvation.
What year PT were you looking at? The 2.4 heads changed over about that time, as did the computers.
Just use "good" gas and bolt on the turbo with a map and PCM changeout.
Alan Cesar wrote: Cool. I've seen a lot of early, non-turbo, 5-speed PT Cruisers on Craigslist for less than $1000, and it gives me bad, LeMonsy ideas.
I would watch that happen.
Or buy mine thats all done up from the factory! See your local grm classifieds!
Mazda787b wrote: Using the turbo pump on a NA motor will cause oil starvation.
You must have typed that backwards, didn't you?
I just picked up a PT turbo engine at the pick n pull Monday for $225. I'm sure a guy can drill and tap all the oil and water fittings, but its all there in the turbo block. Oil squirters, oil feed, return, all there and ready to work.
In reply to belteshazzar:
My source says there's only one LeMons PT Cruiser so far. It's been running in the northeast since 2009, is turbocharged, and, apparently, is awful. Maybe they break a lot, maybe fuel consumption is poor, maybe they're just taking it easy and having a good time.
Streetwiseguy wrote:Mazda787b wrote: Using the turbo pump on a NA motor will cause oil starvation.You must have typed that backwards, didn't you? I just picked up a PT turbo engine at the pick n pull Monday for $225. I'm sure a guy can drill and tap all the oil and water fittings, but its all there in the turbo block. Oil squirters, oil feed, return, all there and ready to work.
Actually, no. The turbo pump is much higher volume (has to cool the turbo, run the squirters, etc.). In a heavier-duty NA application, it will pump an excess amount of oil into the head without allowing for adequate drainback. Unfortunately, the turbo pump PN has superseded the NA pump. You're pretty much left with junkyards or NOS.
http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=389283
http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=397254
http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=397254
BTW, the PT's didn't get limited slips from the factory and having driven a turbo FWD Chrysler product in cheap endurance racing, that is a huge limiting factor thanks to the hard tires you have to run.
Also trying to keep the drive-train together due to the heat generated (largest coolers you can stuff in the thing, any tricks to prevent coolant hot spots, lowering boost levels, etc.) is another trick.
Remember, its one thing to do WOT under boost off and on for a 20-minute lapping session, its quite another to do so for 2-hour stints over a 12,24,36-hour race.
A buddy runs a 2.5L TBI-equipped Caravan (Revenge of the Soccer Mom's) and Rampage in LeMons and Chump and has great success with them. Aside from a couple of axles that needed to be replaced and other normal racing consumables, it has been rock solid and the 'van won IOE at least once. Every Chrysler turbo car I've seen at an event has had some sort of major calamity or another.
I now open the floor for everyone else to chime in with their experiences to refute this and beat me to death with their experiences.
Mazda787b wrote:Streetwiseguy wrote:Actually, no. The turbo pump is much higher volume (has to cool the turbo, run the squirters, etc.). In a heavier-duty NA application, it will pump an excess amount of oil into the head without allowing for adequate drainback. Unfortunately, the turbo pump PN has superseded the NA pump. You're pretty much left with junkyards or NOS. http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=389283 http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=397254 http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=397254Mazda787b wrote: Using the turbo pump on a NA motor will cause oil starvation.You must have typed that backwards, didn't you? I just picked up a PT turbo engine at the pick n pull Monday for $225. I'm sure a guy can drill and tap all the oil and water fittings, but its all there in the turbo block. Oil squirters, oil feed, return, all there and ready to work.
Alrighty. That makes sense.
You'll need to log in to post.
