My friend hit a donkey in morocco with his 2.1 gasoline auto. It broke both radiators. HIs mechanic found an afternarket radiator and fitted it badly so a few days later he over heated. According to his mechanic the head is "f-------" but he couldn't specify whether its likely to be a head gasket or the head itself.

Any thoughts on this? Does anyone have any experience of over heating ? What is the most likely scenario?

TO make things a litlle more interesting, let me add to the mix. We managed to find a 2.5 X with a very good engine in the scrapyard. How straight forward is it dropping the 2.5 into the 2.1? Is there lots of buggering about? Is it worth it?


Thanks in advance


MJ in Marrakech

 

Pew! Lucky you are not in Central Afrika...: You friend would have hit an elephant rather than a donkey... - poor donkey!

"Dropping" another engine into the X-Type is not possible, because it's "lifting" only...:
What I am trying to say: Sadly it is not possible to lift the old engine out, as you would do it on other cars, but the old engine has to come out from underneath the X-Type, and the new engine needs to come in from underneath.
I have a 2.1L and I have two 2.5L X-Type: The 2.1L is front wheel drive only, the 2.5L is AWD (all wheel drive). If you want to change all that too, you will be a busy bee. So, the 2.5L also has a TC (transfer case).

BUT, I think that both (the 2.1L and the 2.5L) both have the same 5 speed automatic transmission (Jatco JF506E), and I personally fail to see at the moment why you could not "just" swap the engine without adding the TC and thus create a front wheel drive only 2.5L. Maybe someone can correct be, if that is not possible...

But still: swapping the engine from underneath is difficult (but not impossible) if you do not have a car-hoist.

I don't think I need to mention, that you would need a proper radiator, too.

If all that is worth it, is up to you to decide.

Also: If you decide to swap the head-gaskets...: That also means: Engine removal from underneath.

 

A swap between a 2.1 and a 2.5 I do not think is possible as you would have to reprogram the engine computer at a minimum to account for the larger displacement engine. Then I am not sure if you would have all the wiring needed (IMT valves for one). You would need to do a lot of verifications. I know the two motors use different wiring harnesses in the engine bay. So, you may be able to do it if you grab: 1) new engine, 2) the engine harness, and 3) the ECU. From there, it may be more of a plug and play setup. You will still need the SDD software to make the new ECU talk with the rest of the car computers.

 

Chris is probably right - I only thought of the X-Type as a car, but it is a computer on wheels...
So all in all (including swapping the engines from underneath) it is a LOT of work with somehow unsure outcome...

 

Wrong thread My bad