Fitting M15A VVT engine into non VVT M13A Jimny

Does the vvt work off the ecu or by oil pressure if its oil pressure then it wouldnt make any difference would it?

Also was it a used or recon engine fitted if it was recon the thay should look into it to see why it did what it did if it was used and surplyed by them then its harder to sort out if surplyed by you then its your problem

The vvt runs a different engine management so yes it would make a difference.
The bottom line is you don't put a vvt engine in a none vvt car.

That wasnt the question is it ecu switched vvt or oil pressure adjusted

The job was done about 3 weeks before it gave up. On my receipt they have listed it as engine supplied by client but in fact it was supplied by a close friend and maybe even employee of theirs (not sure on this fact). I originally called in to ask them to supply and fit a cage for me and mentioned that I was also interested in an engine upgrade re the extra weight of the cage.

They then showed me an engine which they had lying in their unit and which they claimed they were selling on behalf of a friend. They confirmed also that the engine was in good fettle and had only done about 50,000 miles. They fitted it and less than a month later I was off-roading on a course where many other Jimny's had driven and were driving without engine problems. The car suddenly started banging and over heating quickly followed by steam and the oil light coming on.

This to me doesn't fit the image of 'engine supplied by client' either. I paid £300 for the engine which I was informed was going to a 3rd party and £200 for fitting.

redbrian wrote: Sorry I just read over again I see they recommended supplied and fitted. how long ago was the job done?

We did not recommend, supply and fit

We when smoggy came in about a roll cage said the engine was for sale, for sale from the person who owned it

He asked us to fit it into his car, no advice given

He gave money to us to hand over for the engine and exhaust, he was buying direct but they weren't available at the same time, not even leaving sufficient funds before leaving but seller was ok to wait. All quotes said we were ok to pass the payment to the seller. All quotes and receipt stated engine supplied by seller. Quotation email also stated We'll then forward the payment for the engine and exhaust to the person selling them for you as agreed, Mike wanted to also pay via PayPal which the client could not accept as he doesn't use it.

The amount left to pay for fitting of all items was £200. There was a charge made to fit the engine requested, supplied by client. Delivered to us by the seller. Paid to seller via ourselves as arranged rather than insisting Mike arranged to meet the seller and pay direct when he was due on holiday. Payment was finalised the night collected when Mike mett the seller. This payment for fitting included fitting a gear box, exhaust and engine. The engine fitting cost paid to us was less than £50

Yes the person who owned the vehicle the engine came from is a client, a friend as many have become, he is also knowledgable about Jimnys and Suzukis and who many on here go to for advice. Including about the V8 fitted which no doubt your mechanic would disagree with. He is not an employee. As you stated you didn't meet him, request to pay him direct up front or his contact details at any time at all. You were more than welcome to pay him his asking price up front. You didn't even leave the asking price with us to pay. He waited. He did not offer any warranty. You'd seen the engine on a floor, knowing it had not been in a car since that date. Knowing it would need running in to ensure it was ok in your car. It was used, not new, not reconditioned

Wiring on the existing engine was an accident waiting to happen, unsafe and definitely not up to any decent standard. Even the battery connection was poor. Worst we had ever seen on an engine. Wires hanging around inside also. We took photos of this before removing the existing engine. The engine was removed before the replacement arrived.

We have since been sent 7 videos by Big Jimny members which included the engine running fine all be it ragged within an inch of it's life. The engine was being pushed very hard in a particular video but can be heard running. There appears to be no issues with it running apart from how it was being used. All this within 200 miles of replacement while the engine should have been still run in gently, not bouncing off the limiter dragging round a diff that was in a similar condition to the wiring

They include driving which is so wreckless there is an obligation to report it

The advice given including on the receipt was Customer supplied engine. There was advice given NOT to take it green lane driving and because it wasn't the conversion expected to run it in properly first and let us know ASAP if there was any issues. Not just because it was replacement but because of the alterations needed

The advice was given that this wasn't the engine expected or we were informed initially. We were not aware what engine it had in until the day after it arrived, before that he told us it had VVT. We did say its not a straight forward swap after finding that out, it took much longer and at no point did Mike Lloyd say do not fit the engine I requested or change it back. Also oil filter - told it needed changing, that it didn't fit and to service it
You agreed to do so. Guessing by the photographs you haven't

We had arranged to view this week until we received threatening messages and these videos showing how misused the engine was from several members. The email stated a request for the money for the engine (he supplied we just passed payment on and accepted delivery) exhaust (again bought from third party) and the fitting of exhaust and gear box or he was taking the issue up with trading standards.

We then took advice as the email threats arrived . We were advised not to refund the engine and exhaust costs which were now in the sellers hands, we just passed over payment and to await the advice from Trading Standards which we're more than willing to follow

We will request this thread is removed as it gives half a story and even less of the facts

Thanks to those who emailed photos and videos to show exactly what extremes the new engine was put under against advice in the day after fitting and not long after.

Anyone wants to ask us anything direct, please feel free

I am pleased most are knowledgable enough to know how not to treat a vehicle with a recently fitted engine and to highlight this to us

As has been said by the members if it was going to fail because it shouldn't have been fitted it wouldn't have even done that 200 miles being bounced off the limiter. We are not sure what failed as we have no opportunity to assess, and others have been into the engine so we are not sure what is as it left and what has been changed.


At the end of the day you bought an engine, asked someone to fit it, ragged it around the country side against advice as you seen fit then expect to instantly blame the seller or fitter of that engine. You were offered assistance immediately as soon as we were made aware (this was well after the incident and after it was posted on here) at cost to us, then chose to threaten and request payment without giving us the opportunity to inspect. Sorry this wasn't going to happen and the seller wasn't going to release his payment without seeing the engine and cause of breakdown. Trading standards usual advice and rightly so is if you expect something doing about a repair issue before doing a report you must give those opportunity to check it before anyone touches it and rectify if any issues. We've never had a customer complaint, ever, but have supported others in claims.

redbrian wrote: Sorry I just read over again I see they recommended supplied and fitted. how long ago was the job done?

The job was probably done about 5 to 6 weeks ago now (need to check the receipt).

It's been standing on my drive for about a week. I am trying to get the time to take it to a local highly revered garage and MOT station so that they can do a full diagnostic and report on it so that if necessary will help me in any legal claim I may have.

From the information stated I am sure it can be seen that the job has been done incompetently and any decent garage would reimburse me instead of try to pass the book and blame the owner for mistreating the engine and causing the damage. It's strange then that the same owner (me) never had any problems doing the very same off road lanes on a smaller less powerful 1.3 Jimny engine with over 110,000 miles on the clock.

Now one can see why I am annoyed to say the least.