i am the owner of a 99 protege lx with the 1.6L engine and an automatic tranny. i recently came about a wrecked 2001 protege es with the 2.0L engine and a 5spd tranny. the engine is good and i can probably get the car for very cheap (50.00 plus towing). Is an engine swap possible between these two cars. how difficult would it be? what kind of parts do i need? do i need a new ecu or the one from the 1.6 will be good? do i need new axles or can i use my old ones? will the engine bolt right in or do i need different mounts? how about the tranny. i would like to change it over to the 5 spd. how difficullt will that be? and information will be good. thanx alot

 

The only question about whether or not the swap is possible is whether or not the firewall on the 1.6L auto is correctly drilled for the manual-tranny clutch pedal and master cylinder from the 2.0L. However, it will probably work because most modern Japanese cars are built so that the same unibody can be used for all cars in all markets.

Assuming it's possible, you will be changing just about everything over. Besides the obvious (engine, tranny and shifter linkage) you will need to swap the axles and #1, #3 and #4 engine mounts. You can technically reuse your #2 mount but it's probably broken (they usually are) so you might as well swap it too, and IMHO you should also install the stronger MSP #3 mount while you're at it (run a search). You will also have to swap the PCM (i.e. ECU) and wiring harness because the 1.6L lacks VICS and VTCS, and various other engine sensors are in different places.

The auto-to-manual swap will require a center console from a 99-00 manual tranny car (the 01+ interior is different) and the installation of the pedal assembly and other m/t hardware.

There's also some question about the power steering system- the 99-00 1.6L and 1.8L cars used different p/s pumps but the same steering rack; however, the 2.0L cars have a different steering rack, and I'm not sure if it's due to some change in the engine hardware or the suspension changes done to the 2001 model. I'm not sure what the consequences will be of hooking the 2.0L engine up to your 1.6L rack, although since you have an entire donor vehicle, you could always try it and if it doesn't work, swap over the steering rack too.

Good luck! If I were you, I'd go for it. Keep us posted about how it works out.

 

Hey, just checked the parts catalog, and the 2.0L power steering system is identical to the 99-00 1.8L power steering system, so the 2.0L's brackets, pipes, hoses, etc. should all bolt up. You are good to go.

 

Oh yeah, one other thing. Don't forget to swap the radiators! The 2.0L uses a different radiator and I assume it's larger. Using the 2.0L engine with the 1.6L radiator will probably result in nasty overheating.

 

Way to go Chris! Very informative!