Engine swap (non mopar)

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Futzy1

Futzy1

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So first let me say I'm feeling a bit of shame, but I need to ask a question about a. . . . Toyota.:(. . . Lol

Anyway. I posted this on some toyota forums and those guys suck. They dont respond. I figured the question is general enough that I would ask you guys because you're awesome and always help me out.

I was gifted an 04 lexus es330. My sister's mom was in the middle of a trip back home when she blew the engine. It was 7000 to fix and the best she could ever get for that car is 5 so she figured "hey I'll just give it to Jon." The only problem is I've never replaced an engine before.

So question time. What are some of the routine things I need to do with a salvage engine before installing it? I understand the process of removing and installing, but for example I figured I should pick up a gasket set and replace all those before install. Anything as far as cleaning etc I should consider? I saw one article talking about disconnecting fuel the first time to get the oil pumping without starting the engine. All that kind of stuff.

Thanks for any help
 
For starters, what are the terms and conditions of the warranty of the salvage engine? That will tell you what you can and can't do; as a private individual do you even get a warranty?? I had a salvage yard once try to not to give me a warranty because I was not a registered shop, I countered with "what difference does that make???"

Things I think are "to do": Pull radiator, have it cleaned and pressure tested, new water pump, fresh plugs, air cleaner, fuel filter, oil and filter. Get a manual, study it long and hard, look for each piece to be removed; new cars are incredibly densely packed and are quite challenging. A note of real importance......does the engine come out the top, or out the bottom?? I'll hazard a guess now that it comes out the bottom, which is not the end of the world to do, just takes planning.
 
what is wrong with the engine ?
you might be able to rebuild it, but if you would rather go with a junkyard engine, thats fine too

on a junkyard engine, LKQ has decent warranties
i would check to see if i that warranty lets you install a new waterpump and whatever "gaskets" you have in mind
then you want all new coolant and oil, of course

i dont know how those engines oil, but if you can prime the oil pump, i definitely would
 
So I found an engine on ebay from a highly rated national salvage operation (my local yards wanted around a thousand for engines with 175,000 mi) with 37,000 for 650 with shipping. Its listed as "tested running" and comes with a 6 month, no labor, warranty.

As far as the existing engine I have yet to dive into it, but it was diagnosed with "lower end problem" which I am inclined to believe. Crank, no turnover, fun noises, and the coolant resevoir starts gurgling.
 
I would say you need the book. The list of things to do is endless. For me the list would be very dependent on how far I figured to drive it. Find out the year of the engine and then figure out the flukes that are inherent to it and fix those.
I wonder why it blew up. A car that has had poor maintenance will be a nightmare. Especially at 15 years old.
 
That generation is known to be prone to overheating. This one overheated doing 80 on the freeway. I looks like it had a head gasket type failure and flooded the engine with coolant
 
magnumdart said:
I would say you need the book. The list of things to do is endless. For me the list would be very dependent on how far I figured to drive it. Find out the year of the engine and then figure out the flukes that are inherent to it and fix those.
I wonder why it blew up. A car that has had poor maintenance will be a nightmare. Especially at 15 years old.
Click to expand...
A car that had poor maintenance for 15 years may not be worth putting a "new" engine in...unless you want to swap out the transmission next week
 
This thing is immaculate. The only dirt inside is a couple blemishes on the floormats and I have a stack of paperwork a foot high of every bit of upkeep. My sisters mom bought it very slightly used and has driven for the last 13.5 years. She is very. . Particular. Lol

Seriously though this is one of the best looking, well documented, non running car I've ever seen.

My 73 dart doesn't have ac, so the plan is to get this on the road asap. Use the summer to pull the leaning tower out of the dart for a rebuild. Then sell the lexus for 5 grand easy
 
Futzy1 said:
That generation is known to be prone to overheating................
Click to expand...

Sounds like a Subaru, get about 140,00 to 150,00 miles on them and you're doing head gaskets.

6 month warranty is good, do a water pump, new radiator, thermostate.......I say that instead of flush /pressure test current one as having already been in front of engine that expired, plastic tanks may be compromised, you will never know when they will fail even though they passed pressure test.
 
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Replace the timing belt and water pump while the engine is out, it's a lot easier to do out of the car. Also the motor mount bolts on the top-passenger side tend to break, they are about 6" long and tend to snap off in the bracket. The engine should come out from the topside once you pull the intake manifold (which is a pain in the *** to do on some cars) there's 3 brackets on the back side that are tough to reach the hardware.
Toyota used 2 engines in those cars, the 1MZ and 3MZ make sure you replace the dead engine with the same type, the both look very similar. The engine type is cast into the block near where it bolts to the transmission a little below the front exhaust manifold.
If this car is all wheel drive keep in mind Toyota made a different block for AWD vs FWD, I found that out the hard way once.
Keep all your hardware organized in groups of where they came from, use baggies with labels, it will make reassembly a lot easier.
 
My SC400 is so tight in there that they had to use a hydraulic cooling fan motor as there was no alignment for a pulley. Pull the pan first and check rod bearings. then pull the heads and have them checked. I bet it blew a head gasket or timing belt broke ($$) $650 sounds like a bargain but check the timing belt: Toyota recommended a timing belt at 75K on the 1UZFE V8 and that is a PITA. But once you get it running again, they are some smooth motors.
 
This forum kick all the toyota/lexus forum's collective asses. I've been asking about this for the last three days and have yet to get any real responses. One day on a mopar forum. . . .enough said.

Well thanks for the info. I double checked and listing is for a "5th vin digit 'a'" which is what I have.

Good advice on what to do out of the engine.

As far as the radiator. I dont mind replacing it as I will most likely need to pull it out for engine clearance, but what would have happened to it?

Next question will the new engine need any sort of break in?
 
A used engine wont need a break in but a good idea is to pull oil drain plug and see what drips out. It will tell you if it was neglected.
Then change oil in 500 miles.
 
You can have the oil analyzed and find out exactly what it's condition is, if you feel it important enough.
 
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