Buying a JDM KLZE and things to look for

[KLZE Porsche]

Does this include ZE ingines or just DE? I just want to make sure....

This applies to both engines because I have found the undesirable type of retainers and locks on both ZE's and DE's now.

[BePro]

Excellent information. Reading up this, and the follow-up threads of stories infuriates me how greedy and crossed some people in this world can be. The one guy who had the piston blow to shards, that really grinds my gears.

Thats what sucks about buying such a complex assembly, when its too far away that you cannot check it out in person, and you have the expensive shipping and negotiations. This is one of the handful of reasons I have not bought a ZE yet, I have a very hard time spending so much on something I can't inspect in person. Its kind-of like buying a car from ebay without checking it out or driving it. The biggest stopper for me, is knowing that dealing with issues with the importer, will be hard, and probably require legal actons. Almost too much a mess to deal with.

Now, if there ever could be a day, that a Probe/Mazda enthusiast (honest) can work, or better, run such an import business, that would be great, but I better wake up as I am dreaming LOL.

[Venchman]

Heads+Cams+Manifold = KLZE Hybrid +/- 3-7hp? If I had to redo it thats probably what i would have done...

[Ryan1995]

good info here good luck on buyn the ze guys

[Tigger]

so if I got my obd-1 ZE it should have the good retainers in it already and I should not have to switch them out with my odb-1 de retainers and locks right?

[tb93redgt]

Importing motors

if the compresion checks ok there it doesn't mean it will here. Could also have to be rebuilt. So it's like paying for two enignes one that doesn't work and then having to rebuild it.

[KLZE Porsche]

so if I got my obd-1 ZE it should have the good retainers in it already and I should not have to switch them out with my odb-1 de retainers and locks right?

Not neccessarily so. All ZE intake retainers, valvesprings and locks should be changed out with the preferrable DE versions because the ZE intake valvesprings and retainers are more likely to cause problems then the DE ones. This is because of the increased diameter of the retainer without increasing the mass of it and the reduced spring rate of the ZE intake springs over the DE ones. Faster spring rate means less chance of floating valves. Floating valves in a KL engine is extremely risky to your engine's health.

[projectB10]

Valve Spring Retainers - more info from an old thread on Mx3.com

Hey Porsche

Congratulations on some really useful research - bloody useful.

You might be interested in this topic which touches on the same theme of variations in the size of retainers from "KL-ZE" engines

http://mx-3.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php...ring+retainers

[Tigger]

Ok, so what you are saying is they made the retainers with more surface area but they thinned them out so they are more brittle. Should I change out the springs as well to the DE ones? Or should I just swap out the retainers and locks..?

[shawn_crashed]

Make sure no Helicoil on it...thats a ball buster to deal with.

[KLZE Porsche]

Make sure no Helicoil on it...thats a ball buster to deal with.

Explain what you mean about helicoils? I know what helicoils are because I am have done machinist work but most everybody on here wouldn't have a clue what you are talking about with helicoils. Have you found engines with helicoils? If so then explain please.

Ok, so what you are saying is they made the retainers with more surface area but they thinned them out so they are more brittle. Should I change out the springs as well to the DE ones? Or should I just swap out the retainers and locks..?

You should be able to identify which retainers you have by looking at them before you remove them. I have examined them thoroughly and it is possible to tell which ones you have just by looking at the tops of the retainers/locks when installed. I will post a good photo of this soon. But if you have the stock KLZE intake valvesprings then you should change them out regardless to DE ones. And in the process of doing so then you would be able to determine which ones you have. And at this point if you have the bad ones then you also need to change out the exhaust retainers and splitlocks. If the bad ones are on the intake side they will be on the exhaust side as well.

Also a note to all who read: If you experience broken retainers in your ZE or DE then please post photos of which type of retainer and split locks you had that broke so we can shed more light on this. Please clean the pieces very well and use a high quality camera (not a cell phone cam) to post some photos for comparison. This bit of help would be greatly appreciated.

[Tigger]

Ok, I got ya now, I will be posting pics as soon as I get it torn down... Do you have good pics yet porsche?

[alexskull75]

Hello to all the probetalkers, my name is alex and I live in rome, italy i have an mazda mx3 and i'm tryng to swap my old k8 with a klze. I would ask you some information about the klze because here in italy nobody knows this engine. Viewing this probetalk forum I noticed that here you know it very well. and i want to tell.. .thank you!!!!!!!! to all the guys for these very important informations..actually i bought an klze straight neck on ebay from ENGINESUS hoping to give "200"hp at my car but now i'm afraid to receive "200"kg of rust... and i'm waiting for the payment... do you knows Bob of enginesus and the products they sell on ebay? I can trust?. i bought the staight neck version in order to have for sure the kl-31 cams but i know that this intake manifond don't work good cause the mx3 battery's location, but before i bought also the kl47 curved neck intake manifold with square port/runners but unfortunately i have this kl47 throttlebody it's full of rust and I would like to ask if i can install a kl-31 throttlebody from the straight neck that i will receive on this new Curved neck intake manifolds. please help me!!!!!!!!! thanks a lot.

[KLZE Porsche]

Hello to all the probetalkers, my name is alex and I live in rome, italy i have an mazda mx3 and i'm tryng to swap my old k8 with a klze. I would ask you some information about the klze because here in italy nobody knows this engine. Viewing this probetalk forum I noticed that here you know it very well. and i want to tell.. .thank you!!!!!!!! to all the guys for these very important informations..actually i bought an klze straight neck on ebay from ENGINESUS hoping to give "200"hp at my car but now i'm afraid to receive "200"kg of rust... and i'm waiting for the payment... do you knows Bob of enginesus and the products they sell on ebay? I can trust?. i bought the staight neck version in order to have for sure the kl-31 cams but i know that this intake manifond don't work good cause the mx3 battery's location, but before i bought also the kl47 curved neck intake manifold with square port/runners but unfortunately i have this kl47 throttlebody it's full of rust and I would like to ask if i can install a kl-31 throttlebody from the straight neck that i will receive on this new Curved neck intake manifolds. please help me!!!!!!!!! thanks a lot.

No you will need to use the KL47 throttlebody with the curved neck. If you are not familiar with it there is also a very good website similar to the Probetalk website but for the MX3 cars specifically. There are a lot of very good articles on there about the MX3 ZE swap. And they are actually a lot better off with their information specific to the MX3. But most of us on here would be happy to help with info about the motor alone.

I am continuing to build this thread with photos and information but I cannot express enough the importance of performing a very thorough inspection as suggested by this thread. And it is especially important to people overseas since the cost of obtaining a KLZE is far greater than it is in the US in most cases.

[Rocko]

And I am really dissapointed that Noyan has chosen to not honor the warranty that is expressed on their website.

im Suprised by that, one ZE that a buddy received from them was all sludged up and one phone call had them sending another out right away and picking up the bad motor...i hope that company hasnt gone down the drain they have had great service with 3 motors for me and i may buy another from them.

Good thread and something i will use on my next engine purchase