Hello people, I need more power out of my 94 tracker. The draw back is that it is an auto trans which and I dont want to go through the hassle of a disiel conversion to an auto. I have searched all over this forum for turbo setups and have not been able to find ones where a novice (like me) would understand and be able to do on his own. If anyone has done other conversions on autos, or have mnore info on turbo setups, please chime in.

Thanks in advance!

I actually have a 16v Auto and an 8V Manual... the 16 will run circles around my manual.   With my Auto I found nice butt dyno gains with a K&N filter and larger exhaust.  I still haven't replaced my cat either.  I can run 70-90 in the 16v auto at 9-10k feet in elevation with no problem as long as i don't hit long upsloaps.    The 8V motor really has trouble with anything that isn't flat or downhill.  I know it may not answer your question, but to add a turbo setup you may as well go buy a different vehicle, and for the motor swaps, there are a few out there if you search. But most pretty involved and expensive.  Unless you are building this to be your wheeler for the next 10 years or just have a bank account to empty.. I'd have to say you may want to just do the simple mods and be happy or find something that is more powerful to start.  Buying a vehicle that is already turbo'd makes it much easier to upgrade than turbo'ing a naturally aspirated motor, but good luck either way.

Looks like I am going to need to get another vehicle... Thanks for the reply.

You could go to a 2.0 or 2.3 conversion?  It's pretty easy with the auto if you can do the wiring.

I would ask why.  My 8v auto Tracker was not a rocket but it had more than enough power for everyday driving.  At most lights I would be the first one away and stay ahead of other as long as they weren't racing.  The only time I felt it lacking was when passing on a two lane.  I'd expect a 16v with its better breathing wouldn't have this issue as much.

When you jump up a few tire sizes it takes quite a bit out of the vehicle.  On 33's with the 8 valve, a 3 speed auto and 5.12 gears I can do 60+ but it isn't exactly peppy and does take quite a bit of work if I am climbing a hill or a head wind.

The 2.0l and 2.3 give you a jump of 50-60 hp, not a bad step up.

What make and model would the 2.0 or 2.3 come out of, and how difficult would the conversion be? The lack of power comes when I have four grown men and hunting/camping gear in it. For everyday use, it is not bad.

The second gen Trackers have a 2.0, otherwise you jump up to the Aerio.  We did the swap, for the Aerio motor you need a 2.0 oil pan, oil pickup, and water outlet.  Exhaust as well if you don't want to build your own engine mounts for the drivers side.  Other then that it is a lot of wiring.

Give Trail Tough a call and they can help you out, since they sell the adapter to bolt the transmission up to the auto and probably have some experience.

You never mentioned if your truck is stock, lifted with bigger tires, lowered with wide low profiles, or whatever.   It may be all you need is a simple gearing change , which is a piece of cake with the auto trans.

It's bone stock.

I'm thinking stepping up diff gears, adding a header with an improved exhaust with a turbo muffler and opening up the air intake with more air.

I had a '91 4 door Sidekick with a 5 speed (5.38 diff gears stock) that I ran 225 size M/T tires on and I added a Calmini header (long tube) and a K&N filter to it.  The butt-dyno power improvement was noticeable and I did not notice any loss of MPG.  No it wasn't a dragster... but that isn't what these trucks were built for anyway.  I did cruise across the midwest and through the mountains of Pennsylvania  to Fort Dix in Joisey many times while cruising at 75-80MPH with no problem.  A 5+HP gain on the 8 valve engine (or even 16 valve) is significant.  They are what they are, bless their little hearts.

If you are running 5.12 gears now, jumping up to a set of 5.38 gears ($500?), and adding a header ($300) would be much cheaper than buying a new vehicle OR buying then swapping in a larger engine.  The down sides that come to mind would be slightly higher cruising RPMs (100-200 RPMs each gear), your speedo registering slightly slower than your actual ground speed (2-3MPH) and probably losing 1-2 MPG on the fuel economy side.

You could go to a 2.0 or 2.3 conversion?  It's pretty easy with the auto if you can do the wiring.

I have a 1995 auto sidekick lwb i want to engine swap after reading i think the j20a is all i need power wise. Extra 40hp and 40tq over the 16v 1.6 i have in it now.

Can i use my transmission i have now amd bokt the j20a up?

Or should i swap the entire drivetrain from a tracker/vitara j20a with the auto transmission?

Also does the j20a bolt up to the stock engine mounts? Thats why i steered away from a h25a

Trail Tough used to sell a wiring harness that would allow you to use the Aerio computer with the stock 4-speed automatic.  I haven't worked with it myself.

If you want to avoid an engine swap a turbo kit might be the way to go.  A buddy installed the turbo in his Samurai 16l 16v conversion and has been really happy with it.  Had to install a new fuel pressure regulator, but no computer modifications needed.