Getting ready to roll over 190k in my 04 xb and have been having some motor problems for a bit. Cylinder 1 is not sealing to well (compression check 0-30psi max...160 across the board for cylinder 2-4), pretty sure its in the top end. I have a lead on a motor with 11k for less then $500, so I figure it would be cheaper to pull the current lump and swap in a lower mileage unit.

I would be doing the swap, any tips or issues i will encounter? Access to a lift is a possibility but more then likely be doing this in the drive way with jacks and a hoist. The engine I am looking at was bolted to a auto... swapping my flywheel (after machining) and a new clutch would be all that is needed to bolt it up to my 5spd correct?

Thanks!

 

sounds bout right to me

 

The motor and trans can be pulled as one piece once every thing is removed included radiator and a/c condensor. I did my removal by myself with the aid of and engine hoist in about 2.5 hours. Not bad, considering this was my first motor I have ever pulled and I had no help.

Just make sure all of your motor mounts are fully disconnected, and your wiring harness is tucked out of the way and your golden.

 

Wow! A new engine already? Some of you put some miles on your xBs...

 

yeah i'm surprized that a handful of ppl already have 300K miles on their orginal engine

 

thanks for the info. The xb has been great, spent 1 night at the dealership at around 25k for a knock sensor but other then that its just been oil changes and plugs for the last 165k until this popped up...used engines are pretty cheap otherwise I would definitley look into repairing this one...

 

any more input on this? Picking up my engine saturday, probaly start the swap in the next week or 2. As of right now I am planning on pulling the engine and trans out through the top and dropping it back in as 1 unit. Thinking about bolting on a aftermarket clutch and flywheel while its out...have to look at the budget...

 

I'd suggest you leave the transmission in. The drive axle's aren't the easiet to remove without the slide hammer Toyota uses. I've had to replace one already and was fortunate to be able to borrow one from the dealer (our club chapter pres. works at the dealer).

I also have done the motor swap, leaving the transmission in. You will need some kind of engine hoist, along with two jack stands and the jack. Once the car front end is up, you will use the jack to support the engine to remove the motor mounts. Take the crankshaft pulley off, along with the water pump before pulling it out. This will give you enough play to seperate it from the transmission.

I left the radiator and didn't touch the A/C piping, only unbolting the compressor from the engine. Only things I removed were the front bumper, upper bar where the hood latch is, and driver's side headlight, and of course the hood. You may want to also pull the fill neck on the radiator, I bumped mine and it cracked.

 

TTT...I'm also going to be pulling my hydro locked motor out in the next couple weeks or so and would appreciate any info,tips, do's and dont's,pics,anything

 

just a quick follow up...

Got the engine installed friday of last week. Ended up getting access to a lift and shop. Originally I had planned on going out the top but ended up dropping the subframe and going out the bottom (not as bad as it sounds). Took me about 10.5 hours (disconnect front steering/ axles / lower arms, drop subframe, remove engine & tranny, swap alt/ps pump/ ac comp to new motor, install fidanza flywheel and new clutch, install header, mate the tranny, reinstall motor, reconnect harness, add fluids, start up and nut&bolt / double check everything). After doing this in a real shop with pnuematic tools I cant even begin to imagine what a pain this would have been in the driveway...

Really like the new flywheel, suits my driving style well. Lots of people have negative things to say about lightweight flywheels on street cars (rpm's drop to fast, need to shift quicker / rev match, difficult to start from a stop...ect), while these are true it definitley doesnt make driving the car unbearable or really require to much extra effort.

 

My input... Pull the K member as a whole unit. it was a lot easier to separate the engine from the trans on the floor than in the car... make sure that the you disconnect everything... found that one out the hard way...

Best of luck to ya

 

i will be doing this in my driveway soon

 

i got my engine out a couple of days ago. i placed rags in places where parts would contact. i disconnected two mounts and left the rear transmission mount. i removed the radiator and moved the AC condenser as far out of the way as possible. i removed the header, alternator, and intake. i disconnected the AC and PS units and left them hanging. i removed the four bolts holding the k member which gave me enough play to wiggle and tilt the engine and transmission enough to separate them. the engine came out pretty easily at that point. once all of that work is done, there is a lot more room to work in. i expect the replacement engine to go in more easily than taking the original out.

very time consuming, but not as difficult (thus far) as i had expected.