Nissan KA engine


The KA engines were a series of four-stroke inline-four gasoline piston engines manufactured by Nissan, which were offered in 2.0 and 2.4 L. The engines blocks were made of cast-iron, while the cylinder heads were made of aluminum.
Despite their large capacity, this motor was not equipped with balance shafts.
When used in the passenger cars both versions of the KA24 used a crankshaft girdle, as opposed to individual main bearing caps. In the Nissan Hardbody and Frontier applications a crank girdle was not used.

KA20

KA20DE

The KA20DE was a DOHC 16-valve engine produced from June 1999 through August 2007. It was mainly used in Japanese Domestic Market commercial vehicles.
;Specifications
  • Bore × Stroke:
  • Max power: at 5200 rpm ; at 5600 rpm
  • Max torque: at 2800 rpm ; at 2800 rpm ; at 3200 rpm
  • Valve Configuration: DOHC, 16 valves
  • Compression ratio: 9.5:1
;Applications

KA24E

The KA24E was a SOHC 12-valve engine produced from July 1988 through January 1997. It uses Hitachi sequential electronic fuel injection, and features cast steel connecting rods, a half-counterweighted cast steel crankshaft, and a cast aluminum cylinder head.
;Specifications
  • Weight: 371lbs
  • Bore × Stroke:
  • Max power: at 5600 rpm
  • Max torque: at 4400 rpm
  • Valve Configuration: SOHC, 12 valves
  • Compression ratio: 8.6:1
  • Timing Chain
;Applications
The KA24DE was used in many Nissan cars and trucks. Most KA24DEs bound for the US were built in the city of Aguascalientes, Mexico, with the exceptions of the 240SX, 1994-97 Altima, and the U13 Bluebird released in Australia with FWD configuration, which were manufactured in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The KA24DE is very similar to the KA24E. The KA24E is SOHC with three valves per cylinder actuated by rocker arms, and the KA24DE is DOHC with 4 valves per cylinder and shim-over-bucket valve actuation. Design improvements of the dual cam engine include the use of a knock sensor, larger diameter girdled main bearings in the Japanese block, different oil pan, different oil pickup, dipstick location and piston oil squirters. In addition to the increased power and torque, the KA24DE has a higher redline than the KA24E.
KA24DE-A is an Altima specific model of the KA24DE. The head and block are non-interchangeable between all other models and are uniquely cast for front wheel drive operation.
Differences in the Japanese block to Mexican are also present. The Mexico blocks implemented a distributor and oil pump drive similar to the L series; from the crank nose. They also used a single row chain for the upper timing assembly without valve cover mounted guide. In addition to this, they removed the rearmost cam journal in the Mexico head. The crank rides on individually capped bearings with a slightly smaller diameter than the Japanese block, with shorter, slightly lower compression pistons in cylinders that have thicker walls than the Japanese DE. They retained the knock sensor and piston oilers.
;Specifications
  • Bore × Stroke:
  • Displacement:
  • Max. power: at 5,600 rpm
  • Max. torque: at 4,400 rpm at 4000 RPM.
  • Valvetrain configuration: DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder
  • Compression ratio: 9.5:1, 9.2:1
  • Timing Chain
;Applications
KA24DE
KA24DE-A