My uncles kia carnival 2.5 engine has just died. I anticipated this to happen after hearing of many similar case from past owners. He is contemplating swapping the engine with a more reliable powerplant and he is looking for feedbacks.

Some of the engine on his mind are 1JZ, RB20DET , or the Cefiro VQ25 V6.

Anyone can recommend any good workshop for the engine transplant around Rawang area?

Go for the VQ25DE. No point going for turbo. Is a MPV. Not built for turbo. Hence you need a NA engine to give you early accelaration which comes in handy when you are crossing junctions. Due to the weight of the MPV, the IJ will get you kill on cross junction.

This post has been edited by flamestudio: Apr 5 2011, 04:06 PM

since you said the word reliable out of the list of choices. i would say its the VQ

Got many choices...

The Kia Carnival is FF btw... so, u can use VQ25 from a Nissan Cefiro (same CC, so easier to pass) or 6A13, the non-turbo version from a Mitsubishi Galant - 8th Gen. Or, if u can find... the common rail diesel engine for Kia Carnival. I believe it is a 2.9L 4-potter.

This post has been edited by acbc: Apr 5 2011, 06:45 PM

how the engine died?

This post has been edited by xshiro: Apr 5 2011, 06:49 PM

According to Wiki, the Kia Carnival came with a 2.5L Rover KV6 engine and there 2 variants.

The one shipped with Naza Ria has many known problems... head gasket issue due to a manufacturing fault.

The original 2002 Kia Carnival came with the same engine but with a revised engine design to cure the problem.

"A number of early units were seen off by head gasket failure brought about by poorly maintained production tolerances. This caused the height of the cylinder liners to vary resulting in over compression or under compression of the head gaskets. However, the redesign of the engine and its production facility, prior to the introduction of the Rover 75, cured this problem and it became one of the company's most reliable units. Problems remaining through until the end of production were largely confined to the inlet manifold mechanism (particularly the VIS valve motors) and leaking thermostat housings.

A Kia manufactured variant of the engine was also fitted to the Kia Carnival (people mover) with some problems on early model engines. A large percentage of early model (2000 -> 2003) Kia Carnivals sold in Australia required a new engine— some multiple engines. In most cases KIA provided a reconditioned short (without transmission) engine free of charge and with no questions asked, providing the vehicle was under warranty. For those outside warranty, Kia "covered costs proportional to what should have been the full expected life of components" and charged for labour and consumables."

get cheap engine that runs and get rid of the car

the most common is cefiro. i have heard people using old odyssey engine.

okay,then its the VQ25 V6. Now need to go find a good workshop for the engine transplant

How much does it cost in total for VQ25 conversion?

RM7500.

Does it include labour & runner to process? How long does it take? Any improvement found? How about FC? better than Kia original engine?

much better than original kia engine.I drove the car after my uncle paid the mechanic. FC not yet measure since just gotten back the car. Took bout 1 week and a half

RM7500 include labour but not runner fees.

now they have another option, brand new kia engine sold at mudah.my. no wiring problem n long down time if convert.

Since is a half-cut, i'm guessing the Auto Gearbox is 4 speed too?

May i know your uncle MPV is Kia or Naza version?

Where was the conversion taken place?

4G64 MIVEC & VQ25 which one is better ?

compare to 4g64(2.4), vq25 is better out of block and smoother / more linear power distribution across the rpm range. thus, more suitable for the heavy carnival.
i've driven one with rb25det and it was a hell' of a drive.
still, being an mpv, diesel engine(one from the 2.5vgt hyundai starex) will suit this car the most. monster torque
at very low rpm and frugal on fuel.