'96 engine into a '95 (1 Viewer)

[C6H12O6]

Long story very short: my 205,000 mile 1995 1FZFE is a leaking mess. The HG needs to be done sooner than later, it's burning/leaking a quart of oil in about 5-600 miles, the oil pans need resealing, the power steering pump is leaking, the oil pump cover leaks, the distributor o-ring leaks, it has the original everything, nearly every hose needs to be replaced... You get the idea.

I've been going back and forth on just doing all the jobs one by one with the engine in the truck versus pulling the motor and doing all the work on an engine stand. Only real problem with that is I'd still have a 205K mile engine going back in and there would be a few weeks of downtime.

There is a guy locally that has a complete 70K mile 1FZFE out of a 1996 80 that supposedly ran great when removed. I'm thinking that might be a better solution. I'm looking at buying that motor, doing the HG as PM before it goes in and swapping it out with my 1995 205K motor.

My 80 does have the OBDII plug inside the cab. Any issues swapping these out? I've been searching for days, and it sounds pretty straightforward. Most of the threads are focused on the differences between the 93-94 and the 95-97 engines. Anything going to bite me in the butt when I attempt this swap?

 

[jlg32281]

If your 95 is OBDII, it should swap just fine without any surprises. Everything should be identical.

 

[Grench]

Long story very short: my 205,000 mile 1995 1FZFE is a leaking mess. The HG needs to be done sooner than later, it's burning/leaking a quart of oil in about 5-600 miles, the oil pans need resealing, the power steering pump is leaking, the oil pump cover leaks, the distributor o-ring leaks, it has the original everything, nearly every hose needs to be replaced... You get the idea.

I've been going back and forth on just doing all the jobs one by one with the engine in the truck versus pulling the motor and doing all the work on an engine stand. Only real problem with that is I'd still have a 205K mile engine going back in and there would be a few weeks of downtime.

There is a guy locally that has a complete 70K mile 1FZFE out of a 1996 80 that supposedly ran great when removed. I'm thinking that might be a better solution. I'm looking at buying that motor, doing the HG as PM before it goes in and swapping it out with my 1995 205K motor.

My 80 does have the OBDII plug inside the cab. Any issues swapping these out? I've been searching for days, and it sounds pretty straightforward. Most of the threads are focused on the differences between the 93-94 and the 95-97 engines. Anything going to bite me in the butt when I attempt this swap?

So, you would rather lay out the $$$$ and swap in an engine with an unknown history than do a HG and fix a couple of leaks?

Have you ever noticed that used engines are always, "I know a guy who knows a guy who has this engine out of a X vehicle with 70,000 miles on it that ran great when it was lightly rolled on a field of marshmallows."

IMHO you have a known working unit. If you want to do a lot of work, pull it out, have it bored, put in new pistons & rings, new seals, oil pump, etc... 'rebuild' it, and run it. Likely would be about the same price with fewer unknowns going into it.

If you want a bit less work, change the HG, fix the leaking pans, tune up (wires, plugs, rotor, cap), run it another 100K with regular maintenance.

These engines were pretty much built to burn a bit of oil. If you keep it from leaking on the ground, it isn't as traumatic.

IMHO YMMV I'm not a mechanic.

 

[C6H12O6]

I'm hearing you, and that is exactly my cause for concern. I'd much rather just fix my junk and be done, but I'm getting partially seduced by the idea of 1/3 as many miles (if that's accurate).

The leaks have been steady since I've owned the truck (5 years) but are getting worse and worse. You start adding up the time involved in the HG, the oil pans, the oil pump seal, the power steering, all the firewall hoses, etc., etc... Pulling the motor sounds like a net gain as far as time goes. I'd much rather be able to just pull it out, slap it on a stand and have room to really do everything at once. Therein lies the problem, however. That's all going to take time.

My idea with the donor motor was that I could get it all prepped and ready on the stand as I have time over the next few weeks, then yank the current engine out and do the swap at the same time, all with very little downtime. Then, sell my engine, either fixed or not, to recoup some of the cost. If my logic is flawed (and it sounds like you think it is), I figured I'd hear it from the masses here on 'Mud.

 

[freshspecbluegt]

I'm hearing you, and that is exactly my cause for concern. I'd much rather just fix my junk and be done, but I'm getting partially seduced by the idea of 1/3 as many miles (if that's accurate).

I understand time being what it is, but if you pull it and do the bottom end work then you essentially have a zero mile motor.

 

[Impreza]

If it's local and cheap enough, nothing wrong having a spare motor around

 

[jlg32281]

I say swap them and fix up the original as a spare.

 

[General Sherman]

I put a 96 motor in my 94. Just used the 94 intake and exhaust manifolds and the 94 wiring didn't use the Crank sensor plug (at least i think it was a crank sensor.)

 

[C6H12O6]

$1500, so not über-cheap. I'll have to search around and figure out what's reasonable to expect out of a '95 motor with 205K on the clock. This project basically boils down to time and money. I have more time.

 

[Grench]

$1500, so not über-cheap. I'll have to search around and figure out what's reasonable to expect out of a '95 motor with 205K on the clock. This project basically boils down to time and money. I have more time.

If it is still running well, then it's the right time to check and maintain it.

A compression test will tell you if your rings are still good. If it passes, I'd skip doing anything with the lower half.

If the head gasket hasn't been done, it's a decent PM at this point. Do it as a big project. Anything that you remove in the process that is rubber (belts & hoses) or a wear out part (brushes for the alternator while it's on the bench) or a water pump, fan clutch, FUEL FILTER, starter contacts, etc... If you have the budget, it's a good time to do them.

Also, I noticed in an earlier post that you were concerned about the firewall heater hoses. Do them while you have the intake off (same as fuel filter) and it's a 10 minute job from above.

IMHO you'll spend $1500 in parts and have that new engine feeling.

IMHO, YMMV, not a mechanic, etc...

 

[Grench]

I re-read your post and realized that you really wanted an answer to how long a 4.5 liter inline 6 will last.

Mileage difference between blocks comes down to the lower half (short block) wear. Does anyone have any documentation of a lower half failure, in an engine that got oil changes regularly, that was not 'blown HG' related?

I saw one thread that someone had found an extended service recommendation for the Toyota inline 6. IIRC it specified hone new pistons and rings to match at 300K, sleeve pistons and rings at 600K and then hone new pistons and rings again at 900K. So, in theory it's a 1.2 million mile engine block. I'm not aware of anyone who has had theirs sleeved yet.

I've never heard of/seen anything that dictates changes to the lower main bearings - though you would want to do those if you're doing rings & pistons I think. This excludes diesels - apparently there is one diesel engine that has a specific bearing that gets tired, but that's outside of this conversation.

IMHO, YMMV, the above is rumor and innuendo.

 

[96r50]

I re-read your post and realized that you really wanted an answer to how long a 4.5 liter inline 6 will last.

Mileage difference between blocks comes down to the lower half (short block) wear. Does anyone have any documentation of a lower half failure, in an engine that got oil changes regularly, that was not 'blown HG' related?

I saw one thread that someone had found an extended service recommendation for the Toyota inline 6. IIRC it specified hone new pistons and rings to match at 300K, sleeve pistons and rings at 600K and then hone new pistons and rings again at 900K. So, in theory it's a 1.2 million mile engine block. I'm not aware of anyone who has had theirs sleeved yet.

I've never heard of/seen anything that dictates changes to the lower main bearings - though you would want to do those if you're doing rings & pistons I think. This excludes diesels - apparently there is one diesel engine that has a specific bearing that gets tired, but that's outside of this conversation.

IMHO, YMMV, the above is rumor and innuendo.

I believe it was either beno or brian894x4 who posted that info. I do recall that it was in kilometers though, not miles.

Steve, if you have the time, I'd pull the current motor and just rebuild it at your leisure. They are a durable platform, so the cost-to-benefit ratio of buying a lower mileage unit isn't really worth it IMO.