Looking for a rebuilt engine for an 80 Series 1997 Lexus LX-450

[COYS]

There is no trustworthy shop that stocks ready made 1FZs that I’m aware of and I can see why. It’s a major time and expense suck for all involved. Toyota doesn’t sell a long block. This means you buy a new OEM short block and everything in the head necessitates pouring into a parts catalog and getting friendly with your local parts counter rep.

You don’t have the time or energy? People generally don’t want to spend the necessary $30K to have a reputable shop take your key and return your 80 with a brand new beating heart 30-60 days later. Does that seem like a long time to wait? Sorry, most of these legit 80 shops are in such high demand that many won’t be able to fit you in until 2024.

In 80 world, gratification takes a loooooong time. If I was in NorCal, I’d submit a contact us form with Valley Hybrids in Stockton and go from there. They’re the only ones I trust in that area.

Measure twice. Cut once. There’s a thousand ways to skin a cat. Gl!

 

[Zjohnsonua]

View attachment 3241456

She's hot for sure. The fan should have been screaming, even at these low revs. Was it?

An overheat to this level will have other symptoms. I would strongly discourage an engine swap until you know what is kicking off this condition.

 

[calokie]

I was going to recommend Yota1 also
He quoted me 5k for the engine about 2 years ago, $3600 for install, didn't mention anything about porting or polishing unfortunately

I know it doesn't matter since you trust your mech but does that big radiator have a fan shroud?

Side note
Bought a used R151F from Nick @ Yota1 about 4 years ago, he actually ate some cost on the shipping Great guy

 

[PeterTheBeater]

Was recommended yota1 Yota1 Performance Engine & Machine - Your Toyota needs all in one place! - https://209yota1.com/ from Valley Hybrids.

 

[Augustiron]

From their site...

"Due to heavy volume, our current lead time on rebuilt engines is 7-8 months. This is for all Engines that will ship, be picked up or installed."

 

[MPolley]

For what it's worth, I had overheating issues after I rebuilt my engine, particularly low speed, high load on the trail. My fan shroud shattered into pieces when I removed it, so I ran without one. My initial thought was that I'm smart enough to not stick my hands in the fan, so it won't be a big deal.

I installed an upgraded blue hub fan clutch and an electric aux fan in front of the radiator and those helped, but it would still get hot. I did some reading here on Mud and found out how critical the fan shroud is on these trucks for air flow

Once I replaced the fan shroud all my issues went away. Without the shroud, the fan was just blowing hot air everywhere instead of pulling cool air through the radiator.

Before you drop $$$$ and a ton of down time with an engine rebuild, make sure your fan shroud is installed correctly with the foam around the edges, replace your fan clutch, and see how it goes.

As mentioned before, a lean condition can cause overheating as well. I'd drive up that hill with a scan tool showing live data and watch the short term and long term fuel trims. Both should be within 10% if things are running well. If you are seeing large numbers on the fuel trims, the engine is running very lean and causing the overheating.

A clogged catalytic converter could cause overheating during high load scenarios as well. If your cats are original, they probably need to be replaced. You can temporarily replace them with straight pipe and test drive to see if the overheating goes away without the cats.

I'd also have your mechanic perform a compression test and leakdown test, as well as pressure testing the cooling system. If the engine passes those 3 tests, you probably have another issue and don't need to rebuild the engine.

If you have another issue going on with the truck that goes unaddressed, you will kill the new engine and likely not get it warrantied.