2.4 v6 range of engines

Newbie Joined: Jun 09, 2013 Posts: 4

Hi All, wondering if there's a engine expert on the forum who can tell me what the differences are between the various models of V6 2.4 engines. I have 2004 2.4 v6 with engine code BDV unfortunately it's got a cracked holed sump and a snapped cambelt, resulting in I believe some pretty bad valve damage (the cams won't turn even slightly), so I'm looking at a replacement engine.

The problem is the BDV engine is rare and of course expensive, the APS unit which looks to be the same is easier to find and a lot cheaper. I know the basic layout is the same 30v, 2.4 v6 and they share a lot of components. I'm even willing to swap over key parts from the BDV such as injection and sensors. The question is are there 'hard' differences that I won't be able to overcome, such as missing sensor locations (extra ones can be plugged)?

Also been told there's two versions of the BDV engine to complicate things, something to do with the ports but again nothing's really clear.

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 9:30 pm

The APS engine came from the first generation 30v V6 engines, being used from 97 - 2001. The BDV was used in the 2nd generation A4/6 etc from 2001. Looking at the block and cylinder heads they look identical, same bore and stroke on the block, same compression ratio so a straight block and cylinder head swap should be no problem, the APS may not have throttle by wire so you would have to use your throttle control from the BDV and any other ancillaries that look different. Not sure about the port design, the 3.0 litre V6 was a different beast with a new aluminium block and cylinder head design.

Newbie Joined: Jun 09, 2013 Posts: 4

Thanks Fast28, that's a real help. I've done quite a bit of searching, although there's not much out there I've managed to confirm now in a few places the engines are basically the same.

The inlet manifolds and injectors are different plus if it was an auto engine (it isn't) there would be a vac feed. There could also be different alternator, starter, sensor and aircon pump options depending on model. The final part of the puzzle was the different water pump and tensioner part numbers, seems these are just upgraded part numbers for later models and a straight swap.

So although there's quite a bit to swap over It should be a straight forward swap Very Happy

Newbie Joined: Jun 09, 2013 Posts: 4

OK, so I went and bought an APS engine, £200 with 124,000 on the clock, put it in my garage and had a good look around it, as per the previous post it looked basically the same.

Pulled the BDV out my car and sat the two next to each other and started to strip down unitil they were both the same. Here a list of differences that I can recall.

different knock sensors
different rubber water pipes all round the engine
different water pipes on under the inlet manifold
different inlet manifold, only difference seems to be the vac pipes
different AC compressor
different water pipes that run across the bottom front of the engine
different crank case ventilation
different fan, viscous rather than electric
different aux drive belt tensioner because of above
different aux drive belt

The BDV engine also has a combi valve at the back of each cylinder head, the APS doesn't. There's a milled hole all the way along the length of the head that cuts into the exhaust outlet. On the APS these have bearing pressed in to seal them, I had to spend quite a bit of time drilling around these to get the bearings out and for this system to work.

So that was all I could see difference wise, I've got the engine mostly assembled and of course I'll let you know how it goes