cvt vs standard engine

rumenocity · 06-12-2010, 05:50 PM

I have my first Insight a 2002 cvt that my daughter crashed and the nose was suddenly removed by a pickup. The engine was not touched and still runs. The car was totaled and I bought a 2003 standard. My 03 has over 150,000 miles and I was wondering are the engines interchangeable? One is "ultra low emissions and one is super low emissions. Is that the transmission?
Thanks

02insight · 06-12-2010, 07:46 PM

yes, the engines are interchangeable between CVT and MT.

The CVT engine have a slightly lower compression due to different Pistons used than the MT engines.

Even with the different compression, the engine will run fine. The fuel injectors are also different between MT and CVT.

ULV and ULEV are just emissions rating, not transmission. The manual version is given ULEV instead of SULEV because of LeanBurn which produces more Emissions, but gives higher MPG.

Fabio puts CVT sourced ICE in MT Insight. Fabio Lean burns.

aisbell · 06-13-2010, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rumenocity

I have my first Insight a 2002 cvt that my daughter crashed and the nose was suddenly removed by a pickup. The engine was not touched and still runs. The car was totaled and I bought a 2003 standard. My 03 has over 150,000 miles and I was wondering are the engines interchangeable? One is "ultra low emissions and one is super low emissions. Is that the transmission?

I wonder whether exchanging the engines is really worthwhile at this time. Unless something is obviously wrong or worn with the MT engine, it should provide many more miles of good service. Very few engine problems have been reported in this forum even though several members have driven their Insights far in excess of 200,000 miles.

If you have the means to store the engine and maybe other parts from your wrecked Insight until needed, that might be the better approach.

rumenocity · 06-13-2010, 09:06 AM

Thanks, storing the wrecked one in the basement. It is slowly giving parts to the 03. Just wondering about the engine as I cannibalized the coils yesterday and was thinking down the road with the engine. The 03 runs great now.