Deciphering the codes of a motor from the JDM

:: motor JDM ::

Deciphering the code of a motor from the JDM can quite tricky if you don’t know the specific encryption. However, motors in JDM aren’t too different from the ones produced in America, so their coding numbers are virtually the same. The only difference is that when someone refers to a JDM engine they typically refer to it by beginning the engine code with JDM. So, for example a Honda engine with the code B16A1 produced in the Japanese market would be referred to as either JDMB16A21 or JDM-B16A1. It’s important to distinguish two motors of the same model but produced in different countries because their performance might slightly vary depending on where they were produced.

Honda engine codes are fairly easy to decipher. The first letter refers to the series. Immediately following the letter come two numbers that represent the liter displacement. Finally, the last letter and the last number represent the model and the generation. Considering our Honda example above the B16A2 would be a second generation B series A model motor with 1.6 L displacement.

Nissan motors, also Japanese, come with a little different coding information. The first two letters is the motor series. The second two numbers also represent the displacement. The letter that comes after that indicates the valve train type. The following letter is the fuel delivery system that the motor uses. The last letter represents the forced induction mechanism. So, according to this nomenclature the SR20DET Nissan engine would be a series SR engine with 2.0 L displacement, a DOHC valve train, multiport fuel injection and single turbo forced induction.

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