Question for the 3SGTE swappers, Is it a high maintenance engine? Options

[94GT]

I'm in the military so I get access to some pretty nice auto shop facilities to work on my car. Today I was in a stall next to a guy that had swapped a prelude engine into a civic. Custom header, turbo, intercooler, the works. It was putting out some ridiculous amount of horsepower... Anyways, it looks to me like he has to put a lot of work into it to keep it running. He was talking about all the parts he'd blown on it (of course, he said he's running 24 pounds of boost!!!!). My question is do you guys with the 3SGTE have to do a lot to keep it running good? If I were to go through with this after getting to cali, that'd be the last thing I'd want to deal with once I finally got through with the swap. Also, were you able to keep things like the cruise control and a/c running after the swap was done or did you have to sh**can those parts? Thanks!

[nObOdy]

If i were you i would check out my post that i recently posted called - Celica - Prelude - i asked that same question eventually and it really helped me out..
read on down a bit and you'll find it =)

[Supersprynt]

I consider it a high maintenance.

[94GT]

But what about things like A/C and cruise? Did you have to deactivate any stock features as a result of the swap? For the guys with front mounted intercoolers, did you have to pull the condenser out to make room for it? I think I've given up on the idea of putting the GT-4 front on mine, so FMIC would probably be the best way to go for air flow.

[jgreening]

It is high maintenance. If you buy a 2nd gen (which is the most popular choice because you can get all parts easily in the US since it came in the 91-95 mr2 and is more reliable than the gen 1), the newest motor you will find will be from a 93 JDM. Thats at least 12 years old. Plus, a turbo setup in general is going to be prone to maintenance. IMO, if you cannot afford downtime or the expenses to fix it, you should seriously reconsider the swap.

As for cruise and A/C, you can get the stock A/C to work. If you get a 3rd gen clip, you can get the cruise to work. You could add an aftermarket cruise control to any of the choices which I have considered.

This post has been edited by jgreening: Mar 23, 2005 - 10:33 PM

[94GT]

I know the burien kit is expensive, but it might be the middle ground I'm looking for. I hate to compromise, but I'm still going to need the celica as a daily driver. I don't think many people on this site have gone with that kit, so I might have to look elsewhere for feedback on it...

[DG_Performance]

I would not go as far to say it is a high maintenance engine. It will all depend on how hard you drive and push the engine. If you leave it stock you should have no problems getting high miles on your car. Most all types of engines are overbuilt and ecu's are programed to run rich to make engines run safe and last pretty long. Sure you will run into problems now and then but what car doesn't? Corvette is a good example of how no two engines are the same. They are tested right after production on a dyno and if it is not up to spec.... that car is not put on the dealer lot!!!
Anyway,
FMIC setup does not make you remove anything that i can think of (maybe fog lights if you want a long IC and they are in the way of piping path?)
Cruise control should work fine and i am waiting to hear back from strangerdanger to see if my new way of wiring AC worked??? It should not be a problem but the wiring on ac system is tricky for some reason?
If you want a 5s turbo kit ... i made one a while back for a kid and he wants to sell it to get a 3s for more power!!!