1GRFE Engine Swap

Good job!

 

I know this thread is a bit older, but to answer a few things that came up, for the North American market, if you're needing an engine for your 2005-2015 Tacoma, you should be good to get one from the following vehicles:

2003-2009 4Runner
2005-2010 Tundra
2005-2015 Tacoma
2007-2009 FJ Cruiser

There may be some external differences like the air injection system or the wiring, carefully inspect for any differences and use original parts when needed.

Jeff

 

Does anyone know who makes engine loft brackets for 1gr-fe. I’m wanting to put a replacement engine in my 05 Tundra.

 

You can get them from Toyota. For the 1GR in a 2005 Tundra you need:

12281-31060
12282-31040
90119-08A87 (Qty: 4)

Jeff

 

Thanks Jeff.

 

probably answered already, but do you remember which bolt size did you use to mount the engine on the grey engine stand pictured?

 

Found it!
For those needing future reference:

M12x70 with 1.25 Pitch + 12M washer

 

Good list developed by @Jeff Lange.

I don’t know if the malady runs across all model lines, but a 2005 and early 2006 4.0 from a Tacoma should be avoided unless the head gaskets have already been replaced

 

A question for you knowledgeable folks:
When searching for 4.0L 1grfe motors on car-part dot com, they differentiate between the regular and x-runner 1grfe motors. From what I understand, there is no difference in the motor unless the dealership installed a turbocharger on the motor (which is not a factory option). Is that correct, or are there other differences?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.....

 

They use a different oil pan.

Jeff

 

@Jeff Lange. Thanks for the clarification. Am I correct that the block is the same, so I can just swap the oil pans if I need to?

Philip

 

Good find.

 

To help answer my question from a few posts up, about whether you can swap the oil pans, I got my answer from the post that @Torspd posted in another thread. If the donor motor comes with the inferior shallow oilpan, you can swap the deeper 4x4 oil pan over, but you have to swap BOTH the aluminum upper AND the lower steel pan. I've quoted the relevant post that shows more pictures and that mentions doing this below.

Thanks to @07 sport 4x4 for pointing me to this post, and @Torspd for posting it and the side by side pics!

Philip

 

Wow, used 1GR-FE motors are going for high prices!

Anything less than 100K miles seems to be going for between $2500 and $3500, and then you have to add shipping onto that if its not local. My guess is that the high price is due to the high demand caused by all the head gasket issues of the pre-2007 motors which caused many of these motors to overheat to the point the open deck blocks warped. I'm not a fan of these completely unsupported open deck motor designs for this reason....

That is what happened to the one I am working on (a 2004). The original owner had a shady shop replace the headgaskets without verifying the block was straight and the new MLS headgaskets failed within 6 months. When I measured the block surfaces, the areas between the cylinders were between 3 and 4 thousandths lower than the outside surfaces on one side, and between 2 and 3 thousandths lower on the other. It is still less expensive to find a used motor than to completely tear down the block, have it surfaced and rebuild the motor.

After trying to find a "bargain" motor for about a month on car-part dot com and on craigslist, I got inspired to take a look at Ebay, and found one for a lot less. Supposedly 92k miles from an FJ Cruiser. I called Ebay customer service to double-check that it would be covered under their "30 day money-back guarantee", and they assured me that it will. Since the motor is listed as "used", according to Ebay policy it has to be fully functional and usable. If it isn't, then it is considered "not as described", and the seller is obligated to do a refund, including shipping, and if they want it back, they have to pay for the return shipping as well. If the seller won't do this willingly, then Ebay steps in and gives the refund, and then goes after the seller for it. We made sure to also process the payment through Paypal, and on Paypal credit, so we have two additional layers of purchase protection beyond Ebay's. Ebay offerred a one year squaretrade warranty on this as well, so we added that as well as a belt-and-suspenders protection.

Hopefully the motor will show up and will be in the condition it was advertised and will work well. I'll be doing a leakdown test as soon as it gets here. If I can figure out a way to get/borrow a bell housing so I can mount a starter and do a compression test, I'll do that too before I start working on it to get it installed. I'll update the post once it arrives with the results.

Due to what I've learned here, I'll be swapping the camshaft gear assembly that has the VVT system inside it and the oil pan due to the difference in years and application, I'll be using the existing motor wiring harness and whatever sensors don't match that harness. Since the timing cover will be coming off to get the camshaft gear assemblies changed over, I'll change out the water pump, timing chains and guides while I am in there.

I will be priming the motor before cranking it under compression or starting it. See the post below for the reasons and explanation.

Thanks again for the shared knowledge and experience in this post!

Philip

 

A few ideas that might be helpful to others contemplating a motor swap for the first time:
I will prime the oil system prior to running it or cranking it over while the plugs are in and the cylinders have compression. This is extremely important to preserve the bearings in a motor that's been sitting for a while and is basically dry of oil, and also for a freshly built dry motor (I don't recommend just relying on assembly lube).

Here's how I will do this (and this should work for most all motors):
1. take out the oil pressure sensor on the motor and install a barbed fitting in it's place.
2. hook up a hose from a pressurized fluid dispenser to that barbed fitting (see below for how to easily build an inexpensive home-built pressurized fluid dispenser).
3. Pre-fill your oil filter to speed up the process and to make sure the motor doesn't have to fill it when it first starts up before it can build oil pressure. (Hint, if the oil filter is installed upside down as it is on some of these 1GR-FE motors, just spin the motor over on the engine stand and put the pre-filled filter on it then. There is a fluid-retention valve in the motor that will keep the fluid in the filter when you flip the motor back over.)
4. Leave the valve covers off and the plugs out. That way you can see when the oil has filled the pressurized oil passages and is flowing into the top of the motor. (See note about boxer motors below).
5. open the valve on the fluid dispenser and let the oil flow into the pressurized oil passages on the motor until you see it oozing out of the camshaft and rocker assemblies. Keep going until the bubbling of air stops and you see just oil flowing.
6. After you see just oil oozing out of the camshafts and rocker assemblies continue to keep the oil flowing and work the crankshaft around a few times (in the direction it normally turns). Doing this gets the oil distributed onto the entire bearing surfaces -- not just the areas next to the oil passages. (Since the plugs are out and there isn't any compression, the crankshaft will turn easily).
7. I use this system to add most of the 5 or so quarts needed to the motor -- that way you are sure to get the oil worked thoroughly through the motor and you don't have as much air space in the pump that has to be pressurized. Make sure you don't completely empty the tank and start pumping air into the system, or you'll need to drain the oil and do it all over again!

Building an inexpensive pressurized fluid dispenser:
I built my pressurized fluid dispenser by using:
1. a pump-up $9 lawn and garden sprayer,
2. a small 3/8" pex ball-valve,
3. a 3/8" Tee, 2 3/8" male flared adapters or 2 3/8" male pex adapters and an inexpensive low pressure pressure gauge with 3/8" male connection,
4. 5 small screw-type hose clamps
5. and a 10 foot roll of inexpensive vinyl tubing (1/4" inside diameter works well and fits tightly).
(Hint: if the tubing is proving to be too stiff to press and wiggle it onto the fittings, use a hair dryer or heat gun to warm the tubing up so it stretches more easily).
I can't remember where I learned of building one this way, but I did find a youtube video showing how to build one (though he doesn't mention using it for priming a motor, and he doesn't mention installing the pressure gauge).

Here's a youtube video (a bit long-winded) showing how to (mostly) set up this system:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbNhswhnvuA

Some notes on this video:
1. The comment made about only using 10 pumps of the handle isn't really necessary or true. Most, if not all, of these hand-pump sprayers have a built-in over-pressure release valve so you don't need to worry about something blowing apart -- especially if you use hose clamps on every fitting. For priming a motor, you need sufficient pressure to do it, and so you need to pump it up enough times to build up that pressure.
2. I did add a ball-valve as shown in this video to control the flow. While you could use the valve on the wand that came with the sprayer, you would have to manually hold it open to keep it on, and they are of questionable quality.
3. I also used new vinyl tubing instead of relying on the tubing that came with the pump up sprayer (which is also of questionable quality and is too short).
4. I added an in-line pressure gauge on a tee between the ball valve and the sprayer tank just to get an idea of how much pressure it has. It has the added benefit of giving you a way to see how much back-pressure the system you are pumping into maintains.
5. One other mod might be to drill a hole and add a bulkhead schrader valve to the top of the tank. That way you could use compressed air instead of pumping -- just be careful of how much pressure you put in the tank -- I wouldn't go over 30 or so pounds -- especially if the tank doesn't have a pressure relief valve. The hand pumping isn't all that much work, so I haven't bothered to do this to my setup.

As a bonus, this system can be used to pump other fluids -- for instance to pump gear case oil into differentials or manual transmissions. This could be also be used to fill up an automatic transmission via the transmission cooler line too, or to flush out a power steering system.

I hope this explanation of motor priming and building a pressurized fluid tank is helpful to some folks.

Philip
P.S. Would it be helpful to start a thread elsewhere discussing this for others doing motor swaps with different motors? If so, where do you suggest I put it?

 

Is this the thread pitch on the rear of the engine for the engine stand mount? I'm using this hoist / stand from summit and have 2 of them.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-905222

 

I got a 2015 motor with 3k miles for 2500

 

I’d wait till you get the hoist to get the right screws. Pitch is correct but depending on stand you may need to decide on length. I ended up taking one of the 4 base attachments with me to ACe hardware . I got one that rotates the engine so I could work on the engine lower seals.

this is my engine stand
https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/80102/10002/-1

Engine hoist was from HF. It’s a top heavy sucker. Getting a good stand is important.

 

Nice low mileage.