Hyundai KIA Alpha Petrol engines

Hyundai / KIA
Alpha, Alpha II, Alpha II CVVT
Manufacturer:	Hyundai / KIA
Production period:	1991-present
Style:	Line four-cylinder
Engines:	1.3 L (1341 cc)  1.4 L (1399 cc)  1.5 L (1495 cc)  1.6 L (1599 cc)
Cylinder firing order:	1-3-4-2
Successor:	Gamma (4-cylinder)

The Hyundai KIA Alpha series are single ( SOHC ) or double overhead camshaft ( DOHC ) four-cylinder gasoline engines with three or four valves per cylinder. The engines for Hyundai models are being built in Ulsan for KIA in Hwaseong (both South Korea ).For the Hyundai plants in Russia , India , Turkeyand China , the alpha engines derived Shandong (China). 

Engine codes G4EA,G4EB,G4EC,G4ED,G4EH,G4EK,G4ER

The 1.5-liter engine is the only one designed in both variants, two camshafts were the versions from 99 hp. The 1.3 L versions have the SOHC design throughout, while the 1.4 and 1.6 L versions of the Alpha II series have the DOHC cylinder head . Both designs always include a knock sensor .

The Alpha series is the first engine series developed in Korea. Previously built Hyundai manufactured under license from Mitsubishi engines. Instead of the usual designation for planets there, Hyundai opted for Greek letters. This makes it easy to distinguish in-house developments from licensed production.

The engine block is made of cast iron , its cylinder head made of light metal . The pistons are made of aluminum, their attachment to the crankshaft , the connecting rod , however, made of steel. The weights of the motors can be found in the table below . Alpha engines use a MAP sensor (Manifold Absolute Pressure) for air flow measurement.

The idling speed of the Alpha series is 800 revolutions per minute, with the air conditioning switched on, it rises to 850 revolutions. In the more precisely manufactured Alpha II series, the speed drops to 750, in the Alpha II CVVT once again to 720 and in its automatic version at D rive switching position finally to 660. 

The intake and exhaust camshafts of the DOHC models are linked by a timing chain . The power transmission from the crankshaft to the cylinder head by means of toothed belt . Its inspection is planned for models of pre-2005 every 60,000 km (95,000 km) or 30 months, in newer models, only his replacement of every 100,000 km (145,000 km) or 48 (108) months (in brackets only apply to the Hyundai Accent MC ) The engines are not runners . The ancillary units are driven by a total of three V-beltswhose inspection is model-dependent for every 32,000 to 48,000 km or 16 to 24 months, their replacement in the event of decreasing tension or visible wear. The inspection of the valve clearance of all 24,000 km or 12/24 months provided (models with Alpha / Alpha II and alpha II CVVT), an exchange of hydraulic tappets as necessary.

The valves are hydraulic tappets without tilting and drag lever actuated. This form of valve clearance compensation is maintenance-free until the hydraulic tappets wear out. This is created by the removal of the contact surface between the cam and the hydraulic tappet. The distance is initially compensated by a spring which pushes the plunger top flush upwards. Permanent ticking indicates that this is no longer sufficient and the cam no longer constantly rests on the hydraulic tappet, but only reaches it once per revolution - the advent generates the ticking noise. When replacing the rams they are replaced by a little longer to compensate for the worn cam material. If the exchange is omitted, the cams are also increasingly removed, which ultimately results in a "run-in camshaft".  results. Then this would have to be exchanged in addition to the pestles. Ticks can also be caused by improper oil viscosity or non-compliance with the replacement intervals. If the oil passage in the hydraulic tappet runs empty due to an insufficient oil level, for example, the valve clearance also becomes too great and the valve is not fully opened. A smaller amount of air and thus a little less power are the result. Even after a long standstill, the noise is possible when the oil channels have run empty. This is not a wear feature and disappears after a few seconds .

Development of the Alpha Series 

Although Hyundai and KIA are primarily carmakers in Europe, both began producing vehicles only decades after their founding. Crucial to these pans in product strategy was the country's managed economy. The military government said the existing large corporations from 1961 to tasks that they almost filled up monopolistic. For KIA that was the role of truck and machine builder from 1962, while Hyundai started in the construction business, which after the Korean War extended it to relatives, including steelmaking. That was also suitable for his vehicles produced from 1967. In 1980, before the election, the Hyundai founder decidedfor the experiences of his youth and thus the car manufacturing, whose repair he learned in the car workshop of his parents. Against the government's will, he turned in the same year, the merger with Daewoo from  . The government's goal of avoiding competition on a large scale served to cover the widest possible range of needs with the few industrial-qualified employees. These were missing due to the agrarian economy . Today, South Korea has one of the most demanding education systems in the world.

The founding of the Hyundai Motor Company was followed in 1968 by the Cortina , just one year after the company was founded and therefore completely assembled from imported components Only in 1974 was the Pony , the first vehicle from South Korean production, which was also not a pure reconstruction, but the basis Morris Marina evolved in chassis and design. To achieve the fastest possible independence, Hyundai also carried out primarily completely uneconomic projects. With this request, the CEO moved on the line of the state government. Both wanted an industry that could produce its own products independently of non-Korean companies and achieved that goal when the country changed from being an importer to an exporting country in the 1980s. Against this background, the development of a separate engine series can be seen in just 100,000 vehicles sold annually. The cost Hyundai could muster by took it from other areas of the Group. It was developed independently of the economic situation of the company, with the constant support of the founder . This approach was made possible by the owner-managed decision-making structure in the company. In 1961, the government paid attention to this property in its distribution of tasks.

Despite its $ 125 million development costs, Hyundai benefited from its own engine. First, royalties, $ 90 per engine would have summed up alone in the Accent of the year 1994 to 17 million . Anticipating these figures, the license recipient sent his incomprehension to the Alpha project in 1984, and Mitsubishi was also prepared to supply the technology in the future. In the end he added doubt on the lofty project goals in, These also moved the engineers in Seoul. Given the experience, some have voted for a carburetor system while others favor an injection engine. Also the efficiency second the departments, whose increase from the export with Mehrverbrauch and less sales, by the enterprise planning was seen however with prestige gain. The top management decided in the summer of 1984, following the latter, for an injection system and at least a sporty top engine. Mitsubishi's doubts arose from this decision, as no car maker had previously provided a three-valve cylinder design with a turbocharger .

To bridge the gap between existing and desired competencies, Alpha designer Hyun Soon contacted Lee Bosch to develop a motor control system. The price expectations approached after the invitation of Bendix in the negotiations . The cooperation with Bosch now includes the controls of several engine series and their environment, including the stop-start automatic system ISG . Lee was hired by GM before the start of the project , where he developed engines as before at Chrysler . For three years he was the Ricardo plcRicardo from Great BritainEngineer Clions advising to the side. Ricardo supported since 1978 Hyundai's development of commercial vehicle diesels. The concept of the targeted purchase of missing special competence used Hyundai before also with the development of the Pony . 

In September 1985, the first prototype was completed. This stage of development went through initial emissions tests, while the 11 drives broke $ 25,000 each. Since at the same time the first own gear was developed, it supplemented the list of possible causes of error . The cause research led to the phase of the largest design corrections, 156 alone in 1986. Their result was tested the following summer in the Sonora desert around Phoenix at 83 engines and together with the following tests by Bosch in Germany, in the Canadian winter in early 1988 and Implemented 288 corrections on the Rocky Mountains in July 1989  .

After 300 engines and 200 transmissions, Hyun Soon Lee's first, seven-year project ended. It was followed by other decisive for the company, including hybrid powertrains and the Hyundai Genesis , whose concept in 2008 he described as the culmination of the change from the fully dependent manufacturer, who began with the Alpha Project in 1983.

Engine Models 

Alpha 

For the idea of ​​self-development, Hyundai chose a sportive environment as possible. The alpha debut in the Hyundai S Coupe therefore followed in 1992 its turbo version. Their starting price was the lowest of a turbo model in the US market . Resulting concerns about its sportiness should dissipate the participation in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb . The driver Rod Millen won it achieved victory in 1992 and repeated it in 1993. However, the series near the vehicle remained unknown. The road version features a Garrett TB1501 turbocharger that increases torque and fuel consumption by 30 percent. 

As a result of their premiere alpha engines replaced the licensed Mitsubishi drives of the same capacity. However, this was initially exhausted after two models, performance-related, it was the smallest of the model range. Only strengthening and noise reduction of the Alpha II engines promoted the further spread. First, however, replaced the 1.5-liter Alpha Mitsubishi Orion (Mitsubishi code 4G15 / Hyundai code G4DJ) in the Hyundai S Coupé and Accent , which in turn used as the first model only Hyundai-own engines. 1994 also debuted the Alpha with 1.3 l displacement.

The 1.3 L with 71 hp is a special model of the series. He uses a carburetor for mixture production . So he is the only engine from South Korean development, which has a carburetor. The domestic competitors followed only in the mid-nineties with engines from their own development. The then valid emission standards took the decision between carburetor and injection system. You can find the "Alpha 1.3 CON" in non-European Accent X3 .

While in injection systems an electronically controlled nozzle opens and closes, in the carburetor, the draft of air in the intake tract entrains the fuel from a pending pipe. Both systems produce the smallest droplets, but never a gas in the sense of the aggregate state , but always that of a fuel spray.

The 1.5-liter engine was also produced in a special version. In 1999, a fuel-saving variant debuted in the Korean market, which was offered in the course of opening in the north of the country. A later awarded advertising campaign communicated the effective measure in low-gas North Korea: the mixture formation took place lean ( lean-burn ).In partial load phases, less gasoline is injected than the oxygen in the cylinder could burn. Thus, the 1.5-liter consumption of the 1.3-L drive achieved in the South Korean driving cycle an improvement of 16%. Under full load, it uses the usual amount of fuel again and thus also provides the performance of the normal engine. The reason for the failure to export is in partial load operation. Meanwhile, the excess oxygen of the lean mixture reacts with nitrogen in the air to form nitrogen oxides. This would be collected and periodically neutralized would be the task of a storage catalyst. On the renounced Hyundai however, whereby the engine the saved CO ₂ - against smog- producing NO _x -emissionsexchanged. Because of this effect, almost all manufacturers refrain from such engines, one of the exceptions produced Honda with the first Insight , whose lean-burn engine using nitrogen oxide catalyst also meets European emission standards. 

For the 99-horsepower version of the 1.5-liter engine received in 1996 a new cylinder head. With it opens on inlet and outlet side each have their own camshaft valves, instead of the previously single, centrally located. The number of camshafts is vendor-independent in the designation S ingle, D ouble, or Q uad O ver h ead C listed amshaft. With the DOHC design, the exhaust side also has a second valve, allowing more gasoline blending. The underlying combustion chamber was given the shape of a flat roof ( semi-pent roof ) instead of the previous high-roof (pent roof ). This additionally improves the mixture throughput, as the valves can open further into the cylinder without encountering in the middle.  Hyundai took over this form from the Beta range for all Alpha DOHC models.

Alpha II

With the business being transferred from the company founder to his son, the focus in 1999 shifted from growth to quality. In the same year, the Alpha series underwent a number of simplifying and noise-reducing measures and thus became Alpha II. Readable this is to the displacements that grew around a tenth of a liter to 1.4 and 1.6 l.

After the debut in Elantra in early 2000 replaced the revised versions in the course of facelifts and new releases the previous. The last new model with Alpha II engine is the Accent MC from 2006.

To improve the smoothness of the cylinder block was a more materialüppigere strut and the crankshaft doubled to eight counterweights to their balancing. The engine itself was better decoupled from the bodywork by the change from rubberized to hydraulic bearing.  Its cylinder head had to go through more precise production once only instead be sealed in several layers.  The pistons were given a graphite coating which reduces friction and therefore noise and oil consumption.

Overall, the alpha design has been reduced to fewer components, whose manufacturing tolerances can add up less. This simplified production and maintenance, the latter also by rearrangements such as that of the ignition system, which now works at the front of the engine block. Unchanged, it consists of two contactless and thus low-wear coils. The intake manifold has been shortened and now consists of one component. This minimizes the possibilities for the intake of "outside air", which would not be controllable and thus disturbs the engine control. On the exhaust side, the catalytic converter is now directly on the exhaust manifoldwelded, which warms him faster and simplifies the exhaust system under the vehicle. Accelerator pedal and idle speed sensor were combined in one component. The fueling system has a higher fuel pressure return system for better low-speed torque.  This has since become standard for all new motor series of the manufacturer.

The engines of this series formed the basis for the subsequent gamma series . Since 2006, it gradually replaces the Alpha engines.

Alpha II CVVT 

In 2004, the largest alpha engine was like a year before that of the beta-series , a CVVT named camshaft adjustment. It originates from the technological cooperation with Daimler-Chrysler within the framework of the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance . The CVVT varies the opening time of the intake valves (by 40 ° of a crankshaft revolution), but not the valve lift and thus the opening duration .  Thus it exerts influence on the overlap between inlet and outlet side and is comparable with the BMW single VANOS technology .

This addition resulted in a fuel economy, as well as a better torque in the lower speed range. The performance increased by 4 percent (see also the background ). On the emission side, especially the nitrogen oxide values ​​were reduced by using the exhaust gas recirculation effect of a large overlap - in this case already exhausted exhaust gas is sucked back into the combustion chamber.

Since 2006, the gamma family has gradually replaced the Alpha range with new models. Only for cost-sensitive models or markets is still resorting to this. In Europe, their use ended with the Rio model change in the spring of 2011.

Use 

Listed are the Alpha engines installed worldwide for each model, not all countries were offered in all configurations listed.

Hyundai Accent

• Accent X3
  • G4EA, G4EH (all performance levels), G4EK: 1994-2000
  • G4ER: 1996-2000
• Accent LC
  • G4EH (75 hp): 1999-2003
  • G4EH (86 hp): 2003-2005
  • G4EB, G4EC: 1999-2003 (2003 replaced in Europe by facelift, today production in Egypt and India )
  • G4ED (105 hp): 2003-today (replaced in 2005 by the Accent MC in Europe , today production in Egypt and Russia  )
• Accent MC
  • G4EE, G4ED (112 hp): 2005-today ( replaced by the i20 in Europe in 2009 )

Hyundai coupe

• Coupe RD2
  • G4ED (107 hp): 2001-2002
• Coupe GK
  • G4ED (105 hp): 2002-2005

Hyundai Lantra

• Lantra J2 / RD
  • G4EK: 1995-2000 (South Korea only)

Hyundai Elantra

• Elantra XD
  • G4ED (107 HP): 2000-today (2004 replaced in Europe by the facelift with 105 hp, this is further produced with the older 107-horsepower engine in Venezuela  )
  • G4ED (105 hp): 2004-2006
  • G4ED (112 hp): 2011-today (China only) 

Hyundai Getz

• Getz TB
  • G4EH / G4EH60 (82 hp): 2002-2004
  • G4EH / G4EH63 (86 hp): 2004-2005
  • G4ED (105 hp): 2002-2005
• Getz TBi
  • G4EE, G4ED (106 hp): 2005-today (2009 superseded in Europe by the i20 , today production in Malaysia,  Venezuela  and Egypt )

Hyundai Matrix

• Matrix FC
  • G4ED (103 hp): 2001-today (discontinued in 2010 in Europe, today production in Malaysia  and Egypt )

Hyundai S coupe

• Scoupe L1
  • G4EK-TC: 1992-1995
  • G4EK: 1991-1995

KIA Cerato

• Cerato LD
  • G4ED (105 hp): 2003-2006
  • G4ED (112 HP): 2004-2006 (South Korea), 2005-today (China)

KIA Rio

• Rio DE
  • G4EE (97 hp), G4ED (112 hp): 2005-2011