Hi All

Been browsing looking for info regarding J2 1.6L (what we got here in South Africa).

Seems 1.8 or even 2.0 can drop in but the ECU could be a problem?

 

The 1.6l ECU will probably run the engine, but honestly the wiring does vary in some markets so it's unlikely that anyone will know for sure that some difference won't prevent your ECU from running a 2.0l or 1.8l right out of the box. It SHOULD work, and more than likely a 1.8l or 2.0l ECU will plug in because I believe that all 1.6l engines used in J2 Elantras worldwide were Beta engines. If you post a picture we could verify that.

 

I did see elsewhere on this forum that somebody said that the Alpha engines were NOT used outside of the USA, so it seems pretty likely it is a Beta.

All the blurb @hmaservice.com corresponds except for engine size. Its a toss-up, whether to go the engine swap route which involves legal issues over everyhting else, or to have the head gasket done AGAIN at approximately the same costs! Also with engine swapping, you don't know what you are getting - I might have to do the head gasket anyway.

Thanks for the info.

 

You can do the head gasket yourself in about 2 hours. It's pretty easy.

If it's failed on you before and you have a shop do it, they should check to ensure that the head isn't warped. Head gaskets are not normally a problem area at least with other sizes of Beta engines.