We install the engine on the Niva from a foreign car. It's worth it |

To improve the performance of your car, you can install a Niva engine from a foreign car without modifications. The VAZ-2121 has long been considered one of the best domestic cars both in terms of engine power and driving performance. But now this car model has become outdated, and many motorists are trying to somehow improve it. What engine should be installed as an analogue to the 1.7 liter petrol injection engine?

Practical advice for installing a diesel engine

When deciding to install it yourself, you should pay attention to the following experience. Among the possible units that the designers of both the classic car and the Chevrolet Niva considered was the Peugeot engine with the index XUD-9SD

Not the most powerful unit (from 69 to 75 hp) is highly reliable.

When planning such tuning, you need to be prepared to make some modifications:

1. Replace the gearbox. Among the options, a box from Fiat Polnes was offered, as it would work with such an engine. But it won’t be easy to find a unit from a car that is now rare.
2. Clutch mechanism. When searching for a box, they immediately select a clutch mechanism, which must ensure transmission of rotation and match in size.
3. Engine support points. When installing on the Niva, the front engine mounts required modifications.
4. Pallet shape. Taking into account the dense layout of the Niva’s engine compartment, the pallet requires an original shape, and was often made individually.
5. Exhaust system. Minimal modifications to the exhaust piping are required.

The serial Niva with this engine was produced until 2009 and was mainly exported. With a certain amount of luck, the car can still be found in advertisements for sale. A special feature of the car is its low dynamics. The car reaches the first hundred in only 25 seconds.

When carrying out independent modernization, do not forget about one more aspect. Replacing the engine with a non-similar version will require technical expertise. In practice, it will be possible to undergo such a procedure, but it will require a certain investment of time, money and nerves. Only after this you have the right to count on hassle-free registration of your car with the traffic police. Perhaps we should wait for the car to appear in a diesel version when the new generation comes out.

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What kind of diesel engine can be installed on Niva

Diesel for Niva: solving problems of self-installation

Passenger cars and SUVs with diesel engines are very popular abroad. For us, the idea of ​​equipping a car with such an engine did not take root for a long time. Only not so long ago UAZ all-terrain vehicles with such an engine began to arrive on the market.

Nevertheless, there were attempts to make a jeep with a diesel engine. One example of such a car was the diesel Niva

.
This VAZ Niva 2121
was exported and had an index of 21215.

Equipping a car with a diesel unit has a number of positive qualities. These engines are significantly more economical than gasoline-powered units and are less demanding on fuel quality. They have excellent traction characteristics at low engine speeds. The service life of a diesel engine is not easy, which allows it to be used longer without undergoing extensive repairs.

The main drawback of these engines is the complexity and high cost of repairing the fuel accounting system, since a number of units use precision-machined parts.

Pros and cons of the injector

Which is better - Niva carburetor or injector? Among the advantages of the carburetor Niva, it should be noted:

• Simple design of the power system. In the event of a breakdown, you can fix the problem yourself.
• Cheap service.
• Unpretentiousness to fuel quality. Many Soviet Nivas can easily “digest” even 76-octane gasoline.
• Lack of many sensors.

It would seem that the answer has been found to the question of which is better - a Niva carburetor or an injector. However, a carburetor engine has more disadvantages. Among them:

• Low reliability. Every season you need to adjust the carburetor and carry out its maintenance.
• Dependence on air temperatures. In winter, the spark plugs could easily be overfilled, making starting impossible until the spark plugs were subsequently unscrewed and dried. Also, in winter, due to condensation, the float often “stuck”. And in the summer the fuel pump often got hot.
• Greater fuel consumption.
• Less productivity. To unlock the potential of the engine, it was necessary to spin it up to high speeds.

No matter how simple and maintainable this power system may be, it requires a lot of attention. Over the course of a year of operation, you will have to rebuild the carburetor several times. A modern car enthusiast is unlikely to be happy with this situation (especially adjusting the carburetor or drying spark plugs in 20-degree frost).

Which is better - Niva carburetor or injector? This question interests many car enthusiasts. Here are the advantages of the injection Niva:

• Stable operation of the internal combustion engine. Thanks to the presence of IAC, owners have forgotten what floating speed is. For carburetor engines this was a real disease.
• Great performance. The fuel-injected Niva responds more quickly to the gas pedal.
• Less fuel consumption. We have already seen this by looking at the technical specifications. With the arrival of the injector, consumption decreased by 20 percent.
• Excellent starting in any weather. The injection engine does not flood the spark plugs, and in the summer the fuel pump does not overheat. The latter is submersible and is cooled by gasoline, as it is located in the tank.
• Reliability. Since there is no carburetor, there is no need to regularly tune it, change jets and clean it. The maximum that the owner of an injection-powered Niva can do is clean the throttle valve, but this procedure is by no means mandatory. It is recommended to do this only if the car selects high idle speeds.

And if the engine refuses to start, the contact may have come loose from the crankshaft position sensor. But fortunately, these problems don't happen that often. And you can diagnose them with a simple multimeter by measuring the resistance or contact voltage of one of the sensors. Thus, breakdowns mainly concern only electronics. The mechanical part does not raise any questions.

What engine can be installed on Niva 2121

We install the engine on the Niva from a foreign car. It's worth it

Why do some owners install a foreign car engine on the Niva? Old Russian cars like the VAZ-2121 Niva, VAZ-2107, VAZ-2108 at this time seem at least not profitable, and at most not at all capable.

At the moment, you won’t see an entrepreneur driving a Veil, although not long ago it was one of the most massive cars; its cross-country ability was unattainable for the EU and the USA. But not now…

What problems can installing a foreign car engine on a Niva help solve? If you need to think about what, what method to do so that Niva

has become profitable and convenient for the modern world, then change your heart! In fact, it’s natural to put it

Almost any engine removed from a foreign car.

However, the engine must meet several requirements

: to fit inside the hood of the car so as not to cut off additional parts (this can have a bad effect later_. And most importantly, the engine power should not greatly exceed the power of its predecessor. After all, if you install an engine that is too powerful, the car’s design simply won’t withstand it; cars of that time were not created for power and speed, but for reliability.

Read

The new foreign car can barely withstand a head-on blow with the Niva, and VAZ has a great chance of winning. But Niva, when making a sharp turn at a speed of 150 km. at an hour it will most likely fly into a ditch, and the foreign car will continue on its way.

KEY-DOP

Of course, the engine must have more serious characteristics compared to its predecessor, because without this the entire replacement will be pointless.

Modified options

Since it is not always possible to supply an engine of a certain foreign car, it is worth considering imported production options that require a little modification:

The first candidate will again be the French engine from Peugeot XUD 11 series. Since the power of this unit is higher than that of the previous model, some changes will need to be made to the design of the Niva - replacing the gearbox. An acceptable option is a gearbox from Fiat Polonez. In addition, a good solution would be to replace the front supports of the power plant fasteners, pan and exhaust system. It is also worth replacing the drive elements with similar parts from the Chevrolet Niva.

Diesel engine for Niva Chevrolet

As a replacement, a diesel engine is used for the Niva. Such a motor provides the following advantages for the car:

• traction performance at low speeds increases. The car does not slip in the mud on rural roads or on asphalt with wet snow in the autumn. Good performance in the last parameter is also determined by the installation of high-quality studded tires;
• Niva fuel consumption decreases when traveling on rural roads and the highway;
• the lifespan of the engine increases.

However, there are also disadvantages to installing a diesel engine on a Niva. The weight of the car increases, and in city mode this affects the increase in fuel consumption. Vibrations from the diesel engine are transmitted to the body. A diesel engine from a foreign car requires replacement of foreign-made parts. Therefore, the cost of repairing such a power unit increases.

What diesel engines can be installed on the Niva in the list:

• Peugeot XUD 9SD;
• Peugeot XUD 11SD;
• Volkswagen Vento.

Together with the installation of the above-described engines, a gearbox from Fiat Polonese is suitable. It will take a little work to remodel, but it's worth the effort.

What you will need to do:

1. Install pillows from VAZ 21215.
2. Install a bellhousing and gearbox from an already known Fiat.
3. Slightly alter the pan, oil intake, flywheel and some other parts.
4. All changes must be submitted through the traffic police.

After such tuning, you will not need to invest in the car for another five years. The only thing that is needed is to observe regular technical inspection and preventive replacement of consumables: filters from air to diesel, oil seals, if the machine was used in difficult conditions, for example, such as heat and frost below 20 degrees Celsius with a minus sign.

Let's now see which engine can be installed on the Niva, but without making modifications and without completely reinstalling the “heart” system of the engine. Some of the engines listed above still have the ability to fit without modifying the space for the engine. Let us describe in more detail why these engines are good.

Options without modifications

The Chevrolet Niva will be equipped with the Peugeot XUD engine without modifications. Replacing with this power unit is better than installing the original new engine. Firstly, it is more durable than the one that was originally installed on the Niva. Secondly, a dozen different engines will be inferior in terms of power and maintainability compared to Pezhovsky. You don't have to replace many parts to get the motor to fit into the car and interact with the wheels and transmission.

Another disadvantage of this engine is its high cost. It is installed on Niva cars for export. Therefore, parts for it have a high price.

The remaining diesel engines are installed with modifications.

Modified options

Engines on the Niva with modifications are already coming from Toyota and Volkswagen. I wrote about them above and how they need to be changed so that the engine works properly was also described. However. If you do not understand the design of power units, then it is better to leave the replacement procedure to experienced mechanics.

Therefore, I will not go into details. I’d rather write what you need to know when swapping an engine for diesel or gasoline:

• the power unit must be freely placed under the hood in the engine space of the car;
• The maximum permissible excess power is no more than 20 horses. Otherwise, other parts of the car will not withstand the load;
• swap should be useful.

Now let's talk about gasoline power units.

Full technical specifications of the Chevrolet Niva - summary table

* – engine data before modernization in 2020 is indicated in brackets.

Calculation for a foreign internal combustion engine

Numerous experiments with the Niva Chevrolet diesel engine have shown that a foreign car engine of similar volume and power (no more than 120 hp) is significantly superior to a standard gasoline engine.

The installation of domestic Barnaul diesel and foreign aspirated engines, on the contrary, did not reveal any serious advantages. The car turned out to be sluggish, the maximum speed and elasticity dropped, and the characteristic tractor sound of a running diesel engine was annoying. Therefore, the optimal solution is to install modern turbocharged engines, which eliminates most of these disadvantages.

The ideal option for a new “heart” for the Chevrolet Niva is considered to be engines from the XUD SD line from Peugeot. These motors are well known from such models as the Peugeot Partner, 307 and other cars of the concern. The engine life exceeds 500 thousand km with timely maintenance.

The advantage of this diesel engine is that it is installed on standard mounts under the hood and docked with a VAZ gearbox, which greatly simplifies the amount of alterations. In some cases, a Fiat Polonez gearbox with an original clutch is installed with the same engine. This hybrid Niva consumes only 7.5 liters of fuel per 100 km, and the torque of 195 Nm is enough for off-road and comfortable driving on the highway.

From Priora

One of the most popular tuning options for domestic classics and Nivas is the installation of a 16-valve engine from Priora. Thanks to the unification of many spare parts, installation problems are minimal. Even with a 1.5 liter engine there is a good increase in power, but it is worth considering the fact that the gearbox is not designed to work with such loads, and the axles will not be very happy either.

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From a foreign car

Do you want to install the engine in the Niva without modifications? Then try another diesel from Pegout XUD9SD with a volume of 1.9. The motor is very reliable and high-torque, and what’s most interesting is that it fits perfectly into the Niva using almost all fastenings.

After this modification, the Niva will become very dynamic, and it will definitely not let you down off-road. There will be no problems with spare parts.

In conclusion, I would like to say that absolutely any engine can be installed in any car. The most important thing is desire, without it you can’t go anywhere. And love your car.

Photos taken from the Internet!

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Gasoline engine on Chevrolet Niva

Not only imported engines are suitable for the Niva. Domestic production is also quite suitable. For example, a sixteen-valve power unit from VAZ can be easily installed without modification. It has lower fuel consumption than diesel engines and more power.

Car owners of such an engine are advised to change the camshafts for traction. There is no need to replace the gearbox. Engines from foreign cars require improvement. The next block will show which gasoline power units are suitable for swapping a Niva engine.

With modification

Niva is suitable for an engine from a BMW M42, M43 or Toyota, but gasoline. You will need to buy some parts for the swap, but changing the engine to one of these will give results that will surprise you. The car will become more maneuverable and will respond better to the accelerator pedal.

The fuel consumption of these power units is low. Therefore, you won’t have to spend money on them if you only follow the technical inspection rules and visit service centers on time.

Similar article How to increase the power of an 8 valve VAZ 2114 engine with your own hands

No modifications

Many engines that are suitable without modifications for the Chevrolet Niva do not differ from the power unit that left the factory with the vehicle. Therefore, experienced mechanics advise installing an additional turbine if you want to increase engine power. The choice of gasoline engines is much higher than that of diesel engines.

A budget engine that will successfully fit into a Chevrolet Niva is Toyota’s 3S. There is no need to make major changes when installing this power unit. You can install a transmission from this car and a transfer case. Then Niva will become more powerful.

Preparatory work

You need to start by completely disassembling the flywheel, since it is important to adjust the elements related to the starter, or more precisely to its gear. The flywheel is updated due to the fact that the crown is replaced. Do not forget that when it comes to changes of this kind in a car, they are all carried out directly with regard to the engine itself. In this regard, there is a lack of checkpoint adjustments. To properly connect it to the future engine, an additional component is required, which is an adapter plate. It is available for purchase, but many specialists make it themselves. In some cases, another connection method is used. This way the motor block can be directly fixed to the gearbox. Quite often, drivers use just this method, since, from the point of view of practical application, it is considered stronger and, accordingly, more reliable.

Features of installing a diesel engine on a VAZ 2121

If the manufacturer does not provide the opportunity to buy a Lada 4×4 with a diesel engine, then craftsmen will appear who will install it with their own hands. So, which diesel engine is suitable for the VAZ 2121? Here are the most popular models:

1. Peugeot XUD-9SD (1.9 l, about 70 hp) together with Fiat Polonez gearbox.
2. Peugeot XUD 11 with Fiat Polonez gearbox.
3. Toyota 3C (79 hp) or 3ST (100 hp) together with Toyota Noah gearbox.
4. Motor from Volkswagen Vento.
5. And many others.

To install a diesel engine, a large number of modifications will be required. The simplest and most common way of such tuning is to use the engine that was installed for export versions of the SUV (XUD-9SD). Its installation requires the least amount of changes to the machine design. It has a good location of the oil intake (in the front, not in the center or rear), the oil filter (on the front left, like the Lada 4x4) and attachment points to the body. In addition, it is easy to find spare parts for this engine model. The approximate procedure is as follows:

1. Engine mounts are suitable for VAZ 21215.
2. The gearbox bell and the box itself fit well from Fiat Polonez.
3. Rework the pan, oil intake, flywheel, exhaust system, etc.
4. The easiest way is to complete all the modifications according to the documents.

In other words, no diesel engine can be installed instead of a gasoline engine without modifications. What do you think, is it necessary to change the Lada 4×4 internal combustion engine to a diesel one? If yes, which one and why? Let us remind you that you can improve off-road performance in an easier way, for example, by installing mud tires.

Replacement problem

The fact is that to replace the engine on a VAZ-2121, you can choose almost a dozen different engines, but they are all from foreign cars. But the main problem is that you will have to do some additional work during installation, for example, install or change fasteners, add new parts. Because of this, it is not so easy to find a budget replacement option. The choice is significantly narrowed down to just a few options. For an engine to be suitable for installation, it must meet several conditions:

Which engine should you consider first?