1998 Tacoma 5.3L Vortec (LS) Engine Swap Thread

Nice work so far. Obviously have mechanical skills. Look forward to your progress.

 

Disconnect fuel lines


Disconnect engine wiring harness from computer in the cab


Remove heater lines at firewall (try not to crush the tube, doh!)


Remove alternator, hang to the side


Remove power steering pump, hang to the side

 

Support drive shaft with jacks and loosen the bolts at the rear diff, center carrier bearing, and transfer case



Drive shaft removed

 

Remove driveshaft between transfer case and front diff (4WD), also remove automatic shift lever while your close to it


Loosen bolts at transmission crossmember (PB Blaster might be required)

 

Subbed

 

Disconnect anything else connected to the engine that is also attached to the body (air cleaner, throttle cable, cruise control). Loosen engine mount bolts. I will be pulling the engine, transmission, and transfer case all together!


Bring in engine hoist and load leveler. I believe I attached to the power steering and alternator mounting points in the front. There is a factory lift point back right. Back left I went all the way to a bolt near the transmission.


Make sure to unbolt the exhaust at the coupler left side of engine, cat back exhaust can stay in during engine extraction

 

Start the lift and tilt


Keep an eye on the back end, support with a floor jack


I made the mistake of not removing the 4WD transfer case shifter first, make sure to do that before starting the lift.

 

Start to inch everything forward, slowly (view of transmission)


Kinda tight at the back, make sure to clear the automatic shift lever


A pretty extreme tilt is required, factory lift point visible in this image

 

View below the transmission oil pan, down to the front diff, caked in oil from the leaking head gasket


View from the back, guiding the transfer case over the front diff


Almost out, just need to clear the front support

 

Max out the crane and a few extra pulls and she is out!


And then on to a pallet where the transmission and transfer case can be easily separated.

 

This is going to be an awesome ride when you're finished. Thanks for sharing!

 

Empty engine bay


Transfer case separated


Transmission separated

 

Comparing the two engines side-by-side

 

Time to mate the 4l60E to the 5.3. I went with a stock torque converter, shown here installed on the transmission.


And mated up, the engine stand worked nicely and allowed me to use the crane to guide the transmission into place.



Before bolting the torque converter to the flywheel, you need to make sure there is a small gap (1/16" to 1/8") between the two. This verifies the torque converter is seated properly in the transmission. Pump rotors get broken when the converter is not installed all the way.

 

I've done that before.

 

For the first test fit, I left the front diff in place to see how much room I would have to work with if I wanted to try and get 4WD back in the future. The truck oil pan really sticks down far and the first fit was a fail, I couldn't get the engine over that front rail.



So I took the oil pan off and tried again.







The bellhousing was hitting here and would likely need some shaving to make it work. A shallow oil pan might fit but it would be tight. The engine needed to come down a little more in order for the alternator to clear the hood. A body lift would make it a lot easier.

 

So I went ahead and removed the diff from the top.


Engine bay without diff

 

Subbed!

 

Exhaust removal was next.

 

For engine mounts, I went with these from LSXinnovations: https://www.lsxinnovations.com/product/ls-swap-motor-mounts-adjustable-universal-steel/

Now I just needed to figure out what length to cut the two tabs and how to mount them to the stock tacoma engine mounts.




A few places on the tunnel needed a small amount of massaging to make some room for the back of the heads and a few bump outs on top of the transmission, but it wasn't bad at all.