Replacing the 2LTE on a 3 door Prado 1990

[kash]

Hello,

I got bitten by the 'overheat' bug on the 2LTE and am looking to replace it with an engine from a Toyota 4 Runner (gas version) 5VZFE

Reasons

1. There are plenty around
2. Parts are cheap and readily available
3, More horses


The transmission on the Prado has problems too the gears won't shift and is stuck ( high rev) change and does not change after touching 80 KM/hr

I wanted to do a 1KZ but the engines are expensive and parts availability again a problem


What do you guys recommend

Has anybody done this change / Any references will be helpfull




J

 

[FJBen]

There is a wrecked prado with the 1kz in the classifieds. The whole truck is $3000k. Not sure if sold yet

 

[JimmyPrado]

It has been done, not sure if it's been done in N.A. or not. @GTSSportCoupe has mentioned it a number of times as a potential replacement. My son had one in a Taco that he put nearly 300,000 miles on before he sold it.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

The Russians do these swaps in their sleep; us Canadians gotta step it up!

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Your transmission probably needs some new shift/OD solenoids. These cross over to other A34x transmissions and can be had from Ebay etc. You probably should also give it a trans fluid flush etc.

The 4Runner/Tacoma 5VZFE transmissions have a non cruiser compatible t-case. So you might need to retain your Prado transmission/tcase anyhow. Use the 5VZFE bellhousing though. Or find a way to bolt the Prado t-case to the 4Runner/Tacoma transmission - this requires some tough stuff like swapping output shafts etc. if I remember right.

To learn more about these swaps, carefully search through this website, and use the google chrome browser translate option. The Russians have done lots of swaps into LJ78 and KZJ78s. Lots of them spell out how they have done it. Scroll down a bit to see the start of the various builds: Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 70-series. Opinions of the real owners on DRIVE2

Really I do believe the 5VZFE is one of the most practical gas swap options available for the Prado 70 series trucks. So it would be nice if someone broke ground on it. If you have the donor truck on hand, the wiring should be not to difficult if you label everything and take it step by step as you remove the harness/electrical bits. There are schematics availble for the Prado LJ78 (translated by @AirheadNut). And I'm sure there are schematics available for the 4Runner/Tacomas out there.