LX470 swap into Land Cruiser engine bay question..... (1 Viewer)

[jaimero]

Hi guys, Toyota fan here. Ive loved the cruiser since i was a kid and so purchased a brand new 2001 Land Cruiser. After 328,000 carefull and lovingly serviced miles it finally gave up. The engine needs total overhaul. My independent suggested I purchase a "low mileage" engine, so I was able to purchase a 5th digit "T" engine with 120K on e.hay. The donor engine is from a 2002 (one year younger) LX470. It came with engine harness ready for transplant. However, Today I'm told the engine is in, but having some driving problems. It turns on nicely, idles nicely, very smooth, but having transmission gear changing problems, sometimes pushing the accelerator does not rev the engine. Bizzare! Sometimes won't go into reverse.

I did some research and I think the engine harness from the donor 2002 LX470 is not compatible with the 2001 Land cruiser. Has anyone done this transplant or know what can be happening? Its like the Cruiser's ECU is confused from the info its getting from the harness of the LX 470 engine? Can anyone shed some light here?

Oh, btw, the throttle bodies were exchanged but no dice.....

thanx in advance

 

[GTV]

I would agree, the wiring harness is likely different as the '03 had a 5 speed and the '02 a 4 speed. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a handful of small changes between the two. To eliminate variables use your original harness.

 

[sr5pickup]

Have they tried switching harnesses or comparing the two side by side to see any differences. Might start there. My guess is the plugs are probably identical but they could’ve added some wires somewhere. 01-02 is still on the 4spd trans

 

[Rhetoric]

Absolutely sounds like a model year / harness difference causing issues. But… I will bring up the elephant in the room

328k lovingly cared for miles and it needs an overhaul? 300k is just broken in for the 2UZ so I am curious what exactly broke.

 

[neoworm]

328k lovingly cared for miles and it needs an overhaul? 300k is just broken in for the 2UZ so I am curious what exactly broke.

Spoken like a true internet expert 328k is still a lot of miles even for a 2uz-fe. Ya sure a few go further. Most don't. A lot depends on how it's driven to. Mud is a very small sample of the total number of 2uz's out there in the "real world" lol.

 

[Rhetoric]

Spoken like a true internet expert 328k is still a lot of miles even for a 2uz-fe. Ya sure a few go further. Most don't. A lot depends on how it's driven to. Mud is a very small sample of the total number of 2uz's out there in the "real world" lol.

Never claimed to be an expert. Nor was my post an attack. Post said “lovingly cared for” so I had to ask.

What broke or wore out? I am sure others are curious.

Usually it’s one if these, but maybe my internet expertise is lacking:

Overheat?
Timing belt component failure?
Loss of compression after starter change?
Spark plugs walk out?
Run out of oil?

 

[jaimero]

Hi, Thank you for the replies. So, it blew a head gasket which resulted in overheating twice. After the first overheat, I thought it was a bad water circulation problem as I was keeping an eye on coolant temps. It would steadily climb to about 3/4 up which had never happened. i'm mechanically inclined since i was 17 working on several engines, so I started by replacing usual culprits like coolant thermostat, wound up doing the slippery slope: new radiator, new water pump, new coolant thermostat, new coolant after careful flush, new belts (while i was in there), all oem (expensive) parts. No resolution. I could drive maybe 3 blocks if I put my heater on full blast to help cool the engine. Finally gave in and took cruiser to my independent who diagnosed blown head gasket as there was high concentrations of hydrocarbons/combustion gases in the coolant. I thought maybe a top end job with change out of both head gaskets was in order, but luckily I had the independent do a leak down test. It looked bad, hissing sounds in the crank case indicating worn rings and other noises indicating a spent engine. compression test also showed low pressures at several cylinders. Yeah, spent engine. It doesn't owe me anything, the engine fought the good fight and im impressed with breaking the 300K. I do wonder if the final damage was due to the over heating twice. They will change out the engine harness tomorrow, I will report results. Thank you all for your thoughts, seems this is a common engine swap right??

thank you
Jaime

 

[jaimero]

Update: Yes, it was the engine harness! So the replacement engine was from a 2002 Lexus LX470. Even tho its the same engine the wire harness is internally different enough that it will not work with the land cruiser. Not interchangeable. I post this incase somebody runs into same problem.

thank you all

 

[MongooseGA]

Spoken like a true internet expert 328k is still a lot of miles even for a 2uz-fe. Ya sure a few go further. Most don't. A lot depends on how it's driven to. Mud is a very small sample of the total number of 2uz's out there in the "real world" lol.

The reason we don't see more 300k+ 100s is largely because they crash, or get traded in to non- enthusiasts or shippedoverseas, not because the engines give up. I'm at nearly the same mileage as OP and would be 120% shocked if my truck had anything close to a catastrophic failure within the next year. 328k for a 2uz to go out is in fact worth asking about.

Mud is also a concentration point for problems to be discussed. Using your same logic, most 100s don't experience a lot of the same issues we discuss here because we're only a small sample of the real world.. nobody joins a forum to tell everyone their car is running fine.

 

[neoworm]

ok