JDM Engine Blows White Smoke

[michael33r]

.....

1) What was wrong with the original engine?


2) what parts were swapped over to the new? (Injectors?)

1) The original engine had a spark plug blow out (found out the previous owner put a heli coil in). It's got 275k miles on it so I decided to go ahead and do the swap since it's not that much more money.

2) Motor mounts, throttle body, oil pan, wiring harness (which involved taking the upper intake manifold off), various vacuum line connections that were different, exhaust manifolds, clutch and flywheel because the new engine was from an automatic and mine is a manual.

A lot more stuff had to be transferred than I thought would have to be. I was going to sell my old engine to my brother for $300 and we was going to put it in his 4Runner but now it's not really worth that with how much stuff would need to be transferred over.

 

[SIN-Japan]

For the most part as others have said, a 5VZFE is the same 4 runner or surf.

In fact I commonly order most of my parts from the states as buying them in Japan is usually x2 or x3 times the cost.

Some differences I have noticed;
*Most of the 3rd Gens over here do not have cruise control
*I have a 96' and 97' and neither one has an ODB II
*The reflectors in the headlights are opposite of the T4Rs for obvious reasons.
*Mod'ing is a bit more difficult as the JCI inspections are every two years and if the car fails and can not be corrected, that car can not be driven on the road anymore. (This includes cutting or welding anything to the frame, is a NO Pass)


The low mileage claims are in part due to the culture over here, Japanese upgrade cars pretty often, a car with over 100k Km on it is considered old and not so reliable. Given that seems crazy as it is very low mileage to the U.S. but that is just the way over here.
As for people taking care of the engines, that is a universal thing, some do and some don't.

 

[michael33r]

My brother was able to get it all running great today while I was at work. The spark plugs were't tightened all the way, the valve covers needed tightened as well (what the heck??), and the oil filter needed moved back to it's original spot where it was when we received the engine. There's still a check engine light though so I'm going to drive it to a parts store and get that checked out. Hopefully my O2 sensor is still good.

 

[kolelt]

Make sure you use your old fuel injectors of the USA motor. The JDM and the USA injectors are different. Combined with our ECU it will throw a code for misfire and will run like shit. I know this because when I did my JDM swap. It ran like shit , rough idle, and had check engine light. Swapped the fuel injectors and that solved the rough idle, and check engine light. The JDM and USA injectors have different amount of holes through which the fuel goes. Guess it flows in different ratio.

As for white smoke, since my old engine had blown a head gasket. I had coolant in my exhaust. Which caused white smoke. After the JDM swap, the white smoke was still there , but only for like 5-10 min after it burned up and evaporated.

 

[Rock_Rat]

The spark plugs were't tightened all the way, the valve covers needed tightened as well (what the heck??), and the oil filter needed moved back to it's original spot where it was when we received the engine.

Simple stuff first

- vacuum lines connected correctly
- plugs gapped correctly (Off the top of my head I think it's .44 or .45)
- Everything torqued to specs
- Ignition wires and coils connected correctly
- Electrical connectors clean (electrical connector cleaner)
- All connections secured correctly

Unintentionally left a "0" off the plug gap. Someone jumped on the opportunity to bash me on that. I guess I deserved it. BTW I've seen .043 up to .045.

REMEMBER: Do the simple troubleshooting first. 50% of maintenance is due to 50% of maintenance.

I'm glad the engine worked out for you so far... "Fingers Crossed." PM me and I'll get you in touch with someone over in Japan who can talk you through the serial number v. the VIN number. Here's a little something he sent to me in regards to JDM:

"Most JDM engines are well built to high tolerances and tend to last long with just basic maintenance. Some are better than others, even in the same family: A Toyota 1G-FE will go forever, but the turbo 1G-GTE has an issue with spun bearings. A turbo 2JZ-GTE, on the other hand seems to last pretty well as long as an NA 2JZ-GE; at least it lasts a heck of a long time....

So you can get some real winners in buying a second hand JDM replacement engine, but you can score losers, real losers, too. He's been in the JDM business for a while. I'll send you the rest of the email if you want it. I've only done one JDM engine swap on my 2002 Camry and it runs like a champ. My wife and I owned four Japanese vehicles during the ten years we were there and they ran great. Still no guarantees though. Just my own experience.

What's great about this forum is you have tons of different opinions and folks who are willing to reach out and help each other. I thought [MENTION=4043]O2SE[/MENTION] and [MENTION=120090]SIN-Japan[/MENTION] were pretty helpful and spot on. Put together all of your "lessons learned" and pay it forward. Good Luck!!

 

[michael33r]

Make sure you use your old fuel injectors of the USA motor. The JDM and the USA injectors are different. Combined with our ECU it will throw a code for misfire and will run like shit. I know this because when I did my JDM swap. It ran like shit , rough idle, and had check engine light. Swapped the fuel injectors and that solved the rough idle, and check engine light. The JDM and USA injectors have different amount of holes through which the fuel goes. Guess it flows in different ratio.

As for white smoke, since my old engine had blown a head gasket. I had coolant in my exhaust. Which caused white smoke. After the JDM swap, the white smoke was still there , but only for like 5-10 min after it burned up and evaporated.

That's just what I'm suspecting. It's running great other than random misfires that are very faint and soft and hard to notice. I'll see about swapping the injectors.

 

[michael33r]

Today I drove it over 100 miles (maybe I shouldn't have with it misfiring) and the check engine light shut off on its own. I have injector cleaner in the tank and put seafoam in the vacuum line so that just have fixed it. I guess the injectors were just dirty rather than the wrong kind for my vehicle.

 

[slides]

did you replace the injectors prior to installing the JDM motor?

 

[kolelt]

Today I drove it over 100 miles (maybe I shouldn't have with it misfiring) and the check engine light shut off on its own. I have injector cleaner in the tank and put seafoam in the vacuum line so that just have fixed it. I guess the injectors were just dirty rather than the wrong kind for my vehicle.

I'd replace the injectors with old ones. JDM injectors are different then USA model. Believe me !

 

[michael33r]

did you replace the injectors prior to installing the JDM motor?

I'd replace the injectors with old ones. JDM injectors are different then USA model. Believe me !

No I did not change the injectors. They are the ones that came in the JDM engine. It runs perfectly now with no check engine light. You both agree that I need to change them? It seems like the injectors were really just dirty from being in storage.

 

[SIN-Japan]

Not sure which ones the 4 runners use but this is what I found for a part number for injectors for the Hilux Surf 3.4L VZN185
1995 - 2000/08 = 23209-62030
2000/08 - later = 23209-62040

This is just the info I found, feel free to fact check and all that.
That's my 2 yen worth

 

[jhfleet]

Not sure which ones the 4 runners use but this is what I found for a part number for injectors for the Hilux Surf 3.4L VZN185
1995 - 2000/08 = 23209-62030
2000/08 - later = 23209-62040

This is just the info I found, feel free to fact check and all that.
That's my 2 yen worth

Same p/n's as US spec 4Runner 3.4.

 

[SIN-Japan]

Awesome, well there it is then
The Google-Foo is strong tonight

 

[michael33r]

Not sure which ones the 4 runners use but this is what I found for a part number for injectors for the Hilux Surf 3.4L VZN185
1995 - 2000/08 = 23209-62030
2000/08 - later = 23209-62040

This is just the info I found, feel free to fact check and all that.
That's my 2 yen worth

Same p/n's as US spec 4Runner 3.4.

Awesome, well there it is then
The Google-Foo is strong tonight

Alright so the Hilux Surf is the Japanese version of the 4Runner? My JDM engine came out of a Japanese van, not a Hilux Surf. It was the earlier version of the Hiace. The Granvia I believe.

 

[TheDurk]

Alright so the Hilux Surf is the Japanese version of the 4Runner? My JDM engine came out of a Japanese van, not a Hilux Surf. It was the earlier version of the Hiace. The Granvia I believe.

What year? A '99 Gran Via 5vz-FE takes the 23209-62030 just like a '99 US 4Runner, for example. toyodiy.com has the p/n's if you have the info on the donor. VIN would be ideal.

I'm guessing that the ECU and the injectors have to match, but that will depend on the year/model of both donor and receiver, and not simply all US versus all JDM. toyodiy can answer that question, ideally using both VIN's.

 

[michael33r]

What year? A '99 Gran Via 5vz-FE takes the 23209-62030 just like a '99 US 4Runner, for example. toyodiy.com has the p/n's if you have the info on the donor. VIN would be ideal.

I'm guessing that the ECU and the injectors have to match, but that will depend on the year/model of both donor and receiver, and not simply all US versus all JDM. toyodiy can answer that question, ideally using both VIN's.

I think it's from a 98 Granvia. My 4Runner is a 97. Japan doesn't use VIN numbers according to the company I bought my JDM from. They said they only use the engine serial numbers. I've been trying to figure out how to decode the serial number from the block. It's 1292051.

 

[TheDurk]

I think it's from a 98 Granvia. My 4Runner is a 97. Japan doesn't use VIN numbers according to the company I bought my JDM from. They said they only use the engine serial numbers. I've been trying to figure out how to decode the serial number from the block. It's 1292051.

I get 23209-62030 for both a '98 Japan Granvia with 5VZ-FE and a '97 North American 4Runner with 5VZ-FE. Lacking a VIN, toyodiy asks for a frame number. Engine s/n is no help. But I believe they both take that same injector.

 

[michael33r]

I get 23209-62030 for both a '98 Japan Granvia with 5VZ-FE and a '97 North American 4Runner with 5VZ-FE. Lacking a VIN, toyodiy asks for a frame number. Engine s/n is no help. But I believe they both take that same injector.

I'll ask the company for that then. I doubt they'll have that information though. I can also do a 0-60 test and see how good it does. If it's a little slow I guess I can change them out. And I'll see what my gas mileage is on this tank. What's a normal 0-60 time for a V6 Manual 4X4? I'm thinking anywhere from 7-9 seconds.

 

[michael33r]

I get 23209-62030 for both a '98 Japan Granvia with 5VZ-FE and a '97 North American 4Runner with 5VZ-FE. Lacking a VIN, toyodiy asks for a frame number. Engine s/n is no help. But I believe they both take that same injector.

They don't have the frame number from the vehicle. When I asked for the frame number they messaged back saying, "We don't have the VIN number". Is the frame number a different number?

 

[Rock_Rat]

Just sent you the email contacts for Dave and Scott

They don't have the frame number from the vehicle. When I asked for the frame number they messaged back saying, "We don't have the VIN number". Is the frame number a different number?

From Dave in Japan: The chassis number is just our key identification number that we use when shipping or inspection a car. Other than that, each maker has his own system to some degree, and any serious search for knowledge and wisdom will have to begin by knocking on the hallowed doors of the Great Toyota.