Considering an engine swap -- Advice?

knomadic

knomadic

New member
A few months back, I was posting about what to do about the snapped off bolt the idiot mechanic put in my crank. Long story short, his insurance company sent me a check for $3800 for the damage (finally). I'm looking at options for repairs. Since I'll have to R&R anyway, I don't think it makes sense to just replace the crank and neglect the rest of the engine. It's a 225k engine, so I'm considering either replacing the whole engine with a low mileage JDM. I plan on doing the R&R myself with a couple friends.

What I'm wondering is: Should I buy JDM's off craigslist or ebay? or is it only advisable to buy them from reputable distributors. I've never purchased an engine before, and I assume it's difficult to ensure everything is ok on it before installing it and running it, right?

Also, how difficult is the swap? Can a few moderately experienced DIY'ers get it done in a reasonable amount of time? Anything I should know before diving in?

Edit: It's a 98 4runner with a V6 3.4L DOHC (5VZFE).
 
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knomadic said:
A few months back, I was posting about what to do about the snapped off bolt the idiot mechanic put in my crank. Long story short, his insurance company sent me a check for $3800 for the damage (finally). I'm looking at options for repairs. Since I'll have to R&R anyway, I don't think it makes sense to just replace the crank and neglect the rest of the engine. It's a 225k engine, so I'm considering either replacing the whole engine with a low mileage JDM. I plan on doing the R&R myself with a couple friends.

What I'm wondering is: Should I buy JDM's off craigslist or ebay? or is it only advisable to buy them from reputable distributors. I've never purchased an engine before, and I assume it's difficult to ensure everything is ok on it before installing it and running it, right?

Also, how difficult is the swap? Can a few moderately experienced DIY'ers get it done in a reasonable amount of time? Anything I should know before diving in?

Edit: It's a 98 4runner with a V6 3.4L DOHC (5VZFE).
Click to expand...

No such thing as a low mileage JDM. Its funny how all shops put that at exactly 60k miles.

Buy a low mileage local motor from a wrecked vehicle. Thats your best bet. Usually you can start them and listen, look at the mileage on dash and you know what your getting.
 
I blew a head gasket at 187k miles and figured an engine swap would be the best way to go instead and shopped around here in Denver and couldn't find anything under 200k miles so I went through a vendor in Cali and found one with 61,385 true miles as we got pics from the sourced '01 Cali model it was yanked from and I got it for $2100 shipped.
My mechanic got the motor and we used one of those stethoscope cameras and got a look inside as much as we could and pulled a valve cover and the thing looks near new so should be a good motor for a long time to come. The only thing is it had been sitting a while and the fuel rail had an old gas smell so we figured it was best to use my old injectors and fuel rail.

You will likely have to use your old accessories including coil packs,water pump,etc. Also replace anything that is easy to do with the motor out of the truck as I did a new timing belt,water pump,plugs/wires and a new rear seal and of course new gaskets and O rings where applicable.
 
knomadic said:
A few months back, I was posting about what to do about the snapped off bolt the idiot mechanic put in my crank. Long story short, his insurance company sent me a check for $3800 for the damage (finally). I'm looking at options for repairs. Since I'll have to R&R anyway, I don't think it makes sense to just replace the crank and neglect the rest of the engine. It's a 225k engine, so I'm considering either replacing the whole engine with a low mileage JDM. I plan on doing the R&R myself with a couple friends.

What I'm wondering is: Should I buy JDM's off craigslist or ebay? or is it only advisable to buy them from reputable distributors. I've never purchased an engine before, and I assume it's difficult to ensure everything is ok on it before installing it and running it, right?

Also, how difficult is the swap? Can a few moderately experienced DIY'ers get it done in a reasonable amount of time? Anything I should know before diving in?

Edit: It's a 98 4runner with a V6 3.4L DOHC (5VZFE).
Click to expand...
I needed one for my 3.4L 99 4runner, former owner ran it with no oil, yes it was empty when I bought it, it still ran, but was junk motor. I found a parts scrapper running 99 so I could verify mileage and running condition, it had 112k on the clock, got it for $1,200 with them pulling it out. I got a guy to install it for about $500 with low price and extra feeling guilty was too cheap tip. That is really cheap price for install, he did a great job. The book time to install it is about 20 hrs, so you can guess what a regular shop would charge. In the northeast we can get low mileage motors from 4runners with rotted frames. Also when I bought the motor, I asked him to throw in the gauge cluster which gave me a mileage reading of 112K.
 
dogtail said:
.Also when I bought the motor, I asked him to throw in the gauge cluster which gave me a mileage reading of 112K.
Click to expand...

I know that may be well intentioned, but if you ever try to sell that vehicle it has to be noted as the miles on the vehicle being different than what the odometer shows. Otherwise it's illegal and could get you in big trouble.
 
Myrunr2010 said:
I know that may be well intentioned, but if you ever try to sell that vehicle it has to be noted as the miles on the vehicle being different than what the odometer shows. Otherwise it's illegal and could get you in big trouble.
Click to expand...

Rather pointless when the rest of the vehicle still has the miles on it.
 
knomadic said:
A few months back, I was posting about what to do about the snapped off bolt the idiot mechanic put in my crank. Long story short, his insurance company sent me a check for $3800 for the damage (finally). I'm looking at options for repairs. Since I'll have to R&R anyway, I don't think it makes sense to just replace the crank and neglect the rest of the engine. It's a 225k engine, so I'm considering either replacing the whole engine with a low mileage JDM. I plan on doing the R&R myself with a couple friends.

What I'm wondering is: Should I buy JDM's off craigslist or ebay? or is it only advisable to buy them from reputable distributors. I've never purchased an engine before, and I assume it's difficult to ensure everything is ok on it before installing it and running it, right?

Also, how difficult is the swap? Can a few moderately experienced DIY'ers get it done in a reasonable amount of time? Anything I should know before diving in?

Edit: It's a 98 4runner with a V6 3.4L DOHC (5VZFE).
Click to expand...

I would just rebuild the engine you have if your going to keep it a long time. If your just gonna sell it in a few years buy a used motor
 
Myrunr2010 said:
I know that may be well intentioned, but if you ever try to sell that vehicle it has to be noted as the miles on the vehicle being different than what the odometer shows. Otherwise it's illegal and could get you in big trouble.
Click to expand...
Why would I sell my baby, I'll own it till death like my last 3rd gen. This way I'll know what the motor has on it. Its a 58k difference, and I'm bad at math. :thumb:
 
T4R2014 said:
Rather pointless when the rest of the vehicle still has the miles on it.
Click to expand...
I forgot to mention, I actually needed a gauge pack cause of the fuel gauge issue. One of the fixes for a fluctuating fuel gauge is an issue on the mother board. This gauge pack fixed it. The odometer thing was a plus for my purposes only, just for motor mileage. This 4runner will never be sold, its a DD at 1K per week.:bat:
 
Whatever motor you look at be it JDM or local used, get a compression check reading. This will tell you more about the health of the engine than milage. A reputable supplier should have the readings. If you can see the motor a visual inspection of the oil fill (for sludge) plugs and overall condition can help tell you how well it was cared for
 
JayRolla said:
No such thing as a low mileage JDM. Its funny how all shops put that at exactly 60k miles.
Click to expand...

They were probably trained by the same people that told car salesmen to say that a car was driven by an elderly woman that only drove on the highway. You would think they would switch up the story a bit.
 
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Motor swaps are cake on these trucks. I have access to a few motors if you need. Text me at 303.746.9938
 
St Runner said:
Whatever motor you look at be it JDM or local used, get a compression check reading. This will tell you more about the health of the engine than milage. A reputable supplier should have the readings. If you can see the motor a visual inspection of the oil fill (for sludge) plugs and overall condition can help tell you how well it was cared for
Click to expand...

thanks, used engines are impossible to find where i'm at in Western Colorado. They get scooped up quick. I will have to ship something in
 
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