01 2.7 engine replacement

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01 2.7 engine replacement - advice?

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Hyundai >> Vehicle Line Up >> Hyundai Santa Fe >> 01 2.7 engine replacement - advice?

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01 2.7 engine replacement - advice? - 5/5/2008 12:41:10 AM

J4k3

Posts: 1
Joined: 5/4/2008
Status: offline

I've got a 01 Santa Fe GLS that was molested by a dealer mechanic at 85k (belt changed at 67k) who apparently did something very incorrect (it didn't fix the problem and practically destroyed my engine) causing the front timing pulley to jump 4 teeth out of time about 450 miles after service. The resulting sound was definetly one of pistons striking valves. Dealer put it back into time and sent it home. It ran ok upon return but over time (now 125k) the power and economy has degraded horribly. Here lately its got quite a bit worse including a miss on cold start, even after a complete tuneup including plugs, wires and oxygen sensor. FE is down to 16-17.

It doesn't burn oil, have high crankcase flow, or any of the signs of a cracked piston...

Front head compression: 195-203#, rear head compression: 240-245#. My gauge is an old cheapie, so I doubt the numbers are accurate, except the front set is definetly significantly lower...

I'm leaning toward getting a lower mileage/later model used 2.7 and doing a swap. I noticed the Tiburon/Sonata/Optima engine has a different VIN code - are the Santa Fe 2.7's interchangable? I've found very good pricing on low mileage/late model 2.7's - can these be swapped in without a computer fiasco? Whats the difference? Do they all have the same cam profile? I can't use my cams, the front exhaust cam on my engine has chips on the edges at the tops of the lobes, I assume from impact damage...

I also believe the catalytic converter on the front head has been damaged by this, or the valve leakage is very loud. I was looking at headers off ebay. Looks like they'd be easier to install before the engine was put in - any advice on this? Moving the post-cat oxygen sensors behind a single high-flow cat doesn't look like a hard task...

Will I be forced to depressurize the AC to do this?

Thanks!