how can you tell if you have an old or new version of the 13b while the engine is in the car? What are the benefits to either? Thanks

 

Lets see some pics...

 

I will work on pics, but is there a way for me to tell?

 

Old or new version 13B what?

Do you want to know if you have a S3? and S4? an S5? an S6? a 13b-RE? a 13b- Renesis?

What makes you think your engine is not the original engine?

 

well because it is in a 914 porsche. Last I checked, that car did not come with a rotary.

Can't believe no one has answered this yet. I'm a noob, but this seems like a simple question to answer

 

Well first off, if its that custom all bets are off.

This thread is worthless without pics.

 

well what pics do you want? The engine is in the car...not much is visible by taking pictures. can't you just tell me what to look for? what would you look at in the pics?

 

If you ask for help you need to comply and show pics otherwise you look like an ***.

 

I could tell you to search newb, but instead I am trying to help.

At this point any pics are better then the ones your provided.

However since you asked, pictures of the rotor housings will help. If the intake is a stock intake, pictures of that will help. If it has a turbo on it, that may be good to know.

I can't just tell you what to 'look for' because I have no idea what is in there. There are multiple 13b's out there, and judging by your lack of identification skills I doubt I will be able to give you any meaningful pointers.

Even still you could have a frankenwankel with parts mixed and matched, then any of my meaningful pointers will only steer you in the wrong direction.

 

the housing castings look different. so without pics its very hard to tell.

 

Simple question if you show us pics, description of casting/lettering would help, anything besides its installed in a porche 914

 

there's no way to answer your question because we don't know what you have and by your self-admitted "noob"-status, who the hell could trust you to find whatever pointers we could give in the blind?
and yes ... as Farberio points out, if you have an engine composed of different generations of parts, it further complicates things. so take some pics and calm down.

 

if you bought freds car, its a 70's motor. if you didn't buy freds car, i have no idea

is the car black?

 

No, I did not buy Fred's car. Mine is white.
I am calm. but can you please specify what exactly you want pics of? the numbers on the housing? The intake location? what else?

 

take a pic of the intake manifold and the front end housing, those will be the biggest tells

 

Just take a picture of the engine as you were looking at it in the bay. From there we can at least give you what is should be judging from the intake manifold. If it is a frankenstein engine, then we will need to see things such as the housings, front cover, etc.

 

first, let me say, my definition of old versus new is: old = 1974-85 and new = 1986-96. with that said, the easiest outward sign would be the rotor housings. the old ones do not have (what i call) "waves" in them and they lack provision for the oil metering nozzles/jets. conversely, the new ones have the waves and provisions for metering nozzles/jets. the waves i refer to are just what i call them, and is why i would need a picture to help you. i'm sure the other guys on here have their own quick visual references, too, and likewise can help you best with a photo.

to narrow it down any further than that will require further probing (taking off exhausts to look at sleeves, looking at the "MAZDA" font, looking for provisions for knock sensors, shrouding of the spark plug holes, etc.). keep in mind these are just outward differences in rotor housings, as mentioned before that doesn't tell you much else because people build engines with different side housings and rotating assemblies all the time. what properties decide what year motor it is ambiguous at best.

take photos of as many things as you can, rotor housings, side housings, intake/exhaust side, ignition side, etc. try to get as much details as you can fit in the shot. this is a case where more is better.

 

I'll second what diabolical said. If you can find oil injection holes through the rotor housings (or oil injectors themselves) just above the intake manifold, that will tell you a lot. There's also often a casting mark behind the oil filler neck on the center iron, though it sounds like you won't be able to see that easily. If you do some searching, you can find info on aux ports - you'll find two distinct types of intake manifolds out there, and knowing if you've got a 4-port or 6-port would also be helpful. So would pics of the bottom of the oil pan.