SmokeLex

Greetings to all from Dallas,

Unfortunately, I'm in a position that I have to consider letting my mechanic brother replace the engine in my 132K mile Lexus, or just junk the car.
All is in order other than the engine, which comes along with a long story of why it's finished at such low mileage.

But to my question. There are two engines for sale I've been looking at (sans the intake, TB, etc, but including the heads, and front components.)
One is a 1998 with a touted 72K miles, and the other out of a 2000 with a touted 92K miles.

Should I be considering the 1998 engine at all? Does anybody know of any differences between the two years which make the swap problematic?

Thanks and I hope all is well, Steve.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

wow sorry to hear such a low mile engine die, sounding like it was premature!

to answer your question, I would swap the engine with the same year engine as there were some minor differences between each year such as the ORVR (on-board refueling vapor recovery) only on the 2000.
there differences may be minor but I'd rather not risk it myself. I don't like leaving stuff unplugged or seeing unnecessary dash lights lit. I am unsure if certain things can be swapped over to the older engines.
so grab the 2000 engine for your 2000 model vehicle.

see the difference in engine between years here:
http://www.lexls.com/info/lsgenerations.html

Sherl

I dont know the difference but there are some 98 variants that where 4 Speed as well I guess. Also look carefully and ask questions about the VIN and run carfax on both.
You should pick something
Newer. Rubber is known to brittle with age. [As timmy said LS always had minor tweaks in each year and often difficult to spot something at ECU level]
Highway Miles. Less stress on the engine.
Decent service records.
Lookup on the carfax and zip. Often if you dont know about the owner but research about the zipcode.

Tugrol67

i am in the same conundrum, i have a i bought a 98 ls400 which needs an engine and i bought a 2000 ls400 engine for cheap. If i swap over the wiring and remove onboard fuel vapor lines swap it with 98 fuel lines. Everything else should be the same right?
if anyone has done this swap please chime in.

YODAONE

If you are transplanting a 1998, 1999 or 2000 LS400 (1UZ-FE VVTi).engine into a 1998, or 1999 or 2000 LS400, simply reuse the wiring and vacuum lines from the recipient vehicle.

Consider obtaining a master gasket and seal kit to refresh your engine...all are age hardened no matter the mileage.

Tugrol67

Thanks for clearing it up yodaone.

mikaelse

Concerning rubber getting brittle with age. I agree it often does. However on my 1995 and my 1998 all rubber hoses seem original and
they feel soft and fresh still when I have had to remove and put them back. Seems to be very good quality rubber.
I will not change them out any time soon.

Tugrol67

my 98 ls400 with 200k neglected miles. Most hoses need to be replaced, either they are cracked or hard like a rock. I will be replacing all seals on the other engine with 120kmiles. I used my current engine as a mule to do maintenance on since its my 1st 1uz vvti. I replaced timing tubes, cam seals, waterpump, timing belt according to service manual and it didn't bend valves. Engine will be arriving this Friday, i will make a engine swap thread.

KKOG

Same here, must be something with the Swedish climate

Hälsningar från Stockholm

basilpluss

So I actually just finished doing an engine swap on my sister's LS. Her motor had 358K and was going out so I bought a salvaged LS with 99K miles on it. But my sister's car was a 1998 and the parts car I bought was from 2000. As far as putting a newer motor into the older car everything was the EXACT same, there was nothing different between the two motors, we were worried that the EGR system was gonna be different but everything was the exact same, all connectors and harnesses were the exact same. We actually ended up keeping the car's old harness we didn't even need to use the new one. But as far as putting an older motor in I am literally 98% sure that you will not have any problems, only differences were in the older generation motors (1990-97). You might want to change the vacuum lines as a precaution since they are probably brittle and will most likely crack as you try to remove them You can even use Car-Part.com and it'll give you all interchanges on what vehicles and models the engine will work for. It should all be the same for 1998-2000. I have never in my life seen a 1998-2000 ls400 with a 4-speed transmission. The last year to have the 4 speed was the older body style all the newer ls's have the 5-speed.

Just my $0.02, but if you do end up doing the motor swap I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend that you pull out the Alternator and Power steering pump before you pull the motor out because there's a very small amount of room on the passenger side of the motor and the frame. And if your A.C. system currently works fine the way it is please do yourself a favor and just unbolt the ac compressor from the motor and let it rest somewhere near the from the subframe. We managed to do the motor swap without breaking open the A.C. system. These cars are old and tired so when you break open the AC system and then refill it with freon the system is weak and you can have terrible AC in the future. I attached some pictures below if you would like to entertain yourselves on the motor swap. Overall its a fairly easy motor swap to do, once you remove the fan clutch and radiator there's so much room to work within the front. if anyone has serious questions ill keep an eye on this topic and will answer any questions you guys have. if anyone wants me to list out any preventative maintenance we did on the motor ill list them out also.







YUCKY

OLD MOTOR

NEW MOTOR

NEW MOTOR TIMING BELT, IT WAS DONE AT 77K MILES IN 2014.

HAD A DATE NIGHT WITH MY PRESSURE WASHER










WE COULDN'T AFFORD A SHELBY GT500 SO WE SETTLED FOR A GT400

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

Great info and amazingly well done work. Thanks for sharing.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Tell me you did not do all that work and did not change the motor mounts.

basilpluss

haha, yes we ended up changing the motor mounts. I just placed them in the picture because we were putting the motor in. But, I don't know why everyone says that changing the motor mounts is difficult on this ls. It takes me an hour to change both mounts.

Losiracer2

so that timing belt only lasted 22k miles on the new engine before cracking like that? Must be aftermarket.

basilpluss

ppppffffttt. Tell me about it. I think it was a gates brand belt but, I’ve never seen a belt get so cracked in that little amount of miles. But I think it has a lot to do with the fact that it’s been quiet a few years since it was changed... a lot of people who I talk with swear that gates is the #1 brand of water pump and timing belt on the market but you couldn’t put a gun to my head to ever uses gates brand again. I have done 3 water pump/timing belts because of their crappy gaskets and water pumps. I only use AISIN from now on, I’ve never ran into a cracked timing belt issue this bad.


p.s. Hopefully this thread doesn’t die.