ST215 3SGTE into a ST185

[WRX_eater]

Hi peoples,

I know this has been done alot in the states as i have found out but i was wondering if anyone knows of anyone in south east queensland that can help with the swap or preferably someone that can do the swap... the most i have ever done on my car is an oil change so this is a completely new mine field for me. any help would be greatly appreciated

[jonathan yee]

road and track are in QLD and have extensive knowledge of the gt4's.

terryo is on the forums and he's the owner. do a search

[wagonist]

Biggest headachoe of this swap will be the wiring.
Are you going for factory or aftermarket management?

If you've already got an ST185, I really need to ask the question why (not that I want to take work away from Terry, he's helped me a lot in the last 12 months)?
For the amouint of money it would cost (considering that you can't do the work yourself), you'd be better (and cheaper) doing mods to your existing engine.

I was recently looking around for a replacement ST215 engine for my Dina, the cheapest I could find was $1400 for an auto halfcut with maybe 120 000km. Bare engine with manual box attached $1500.

[Squid]

As steve just said - it's going to be hard to track one down. Also of note, his just suffered a major failure, and it is reported that the rods a weaker than the gen2 and gen3 items - so I guess the question is what are you trying to gain out of putting a later gen engine in.

The differences between the generations as not huge and if the engine is going to be 'built' it is generally not worth the effort of changing the base block.

[wagonist]

Not hard to find anymore. I tracked down at least 5.

My failure was due to me breaking the wastegate line, so the engine can't really be blamed.

I'm not sure how the earlier models check the crank & camshaft timing. Sensor in the distributor?

But the effort is not worth the gains. The ST215 halfcuts are cheaper than the ST205 for a reason. Higher availability is one of the reasons (a lot of ST215s are auto), but the engine isn't quite as good.

[88FOUR]

after having constant problems with my 165 engine, ... and then putting a st205 engine in.... straight from japan into the car, no major rebuild nothing... drove to melbourne, ripped around there for a year and back to brisbane again (left at 1 in the morning, arrived 2 the following morning, on a constant run with 3 half hour breaks)......... still going strong. Very good engine. look up CWPS for the wiring job, cost me just over a grand for him to do it, and its very well done. ask him first if he "wants" to do it though. it is a gt four afterall, most dodgy car in the mechanics world, thats why stevos a bit of a god send for the owners of these things

[WRX_eater]

well the problem was a mobile mechanic thought it would be a good idea to drill on of the holes to bolt the oil cooler bracket to the engine deeper (as one of the four bolts is slightly shorter) and now the car over heats like something chronic so i was looking at putting the engine in from a st215 which comes with ecu and wire harness then sending the wire harness over to dr. tweak in the states that does the wiring for about 500usd. eventually i would love to have a lightweight performance vehicle. something that lives up to my name WRX eater eventually

[Draven]

buy an evo

[RONA]

Sell GT4 buy Caldina, it'll probably be cheaper.

[wagonist]

Considering what you've just said, I'd buy an ST205 engine & use your existing wiring to run it (can this be done?) because it still has a distributor, and then get a piggy back computer.
The ST205 is only 6kW down on the ST215 with greater potential for mods due to the stronger bottom end & separate turbo with better intercooler.

[jonathan yee]

well the problem was a mobile mechanic thought it would be a good idea to drill on of the holes to bolt the oil cooler bracket to the engine deeper (as one of the four bolts is slightly shorter) and now the car over heats like something chronic so i was looking at putting the engine in from a st215 which comes with ecu and wire harness then sending the wire harness over to dr. tweak in the states that does the wiring for about 500usd. eventually i would love to have a lightweight performance vehicle. something that lives up to my name WRX eater eventually

then you'll need to save your pennies and do a no nonsense rebuild.

what's cuasing the overheating? are you loosing coolant and or oil? did he drill too deep and go into the block?

[WRX_eater]

well eventually i will be doing all the mods (over a period of time) im doing alot of research now... i like toyota's and i like the celica i currently have st162 a st184 one for spare and another that i have to put back together and then i have my st185. i will keep my 185 sell the others and buy a 165 as a daily driver....

as for the engine over heating i beleive he didnt drill into the head all the way but the fourth bolt wont go in anylonger so :S im just going off what a mechanic told me im not sure if there is a small leak of coolant into the oil or if there is a clog where the coolant wont flow through im not 100% sure just yet i will be pulling it out soon and having a look at it

[MWP]

165 as a daily driver?
Heh... good luck with that

[the_prawn]

I assume you paid this mobile mechanic to work on your car? Drop the keys in his hand and ask him to fix what he has fked up.

[wagonist]

165 as a daily driver?
Heh... good luck with that

Why not? I use my Caldina as my work car which includes a 50km commute either way with Sydney traffic.
If the ST165 had a bigger boot area, I'd have one (after replacing all of the running gear with ST205 stuff)