My 89 NA broke down again, told needs new engine

[JoeyD]

I made a topic about this situation a few weeks ago in another section of the forums but have decided to post this one here.

Basically, about 2 weeks ago my car seemed to 'break down' while i was driving on the freeway & had it towed. Took it to a Toyota dealership near me(Toyota Carlsbad - California) & they ended up charing about $450 to replace the timing belt, some new engine seals, etc...

Last night i was on my way home from dropping off my gf at her friend's & then all of a sudden i heard some weird pop/bang sound & then followed by weird banging/grinding & the car started to lose acceleration and so i pulled over to the shoulder while i was still able to & then had it towed.

Anyway, i just decided to take it back to same Toyota place since only 2 weeks had passed & was pissed at them.. they now tell me that they had found some issue with the "rod knock(sp?)" and that there was no oil in the car and that the engine needs to be replaced.

I defenitely cannot afford to get a new car & also worried if i'll even be able to replace the engine. It is currently a 7M-GE engine(has nearly 164,000 miles on it). Thinking about going with a 1JZ-GTE engine although would that be a big deal to do? Does anyone know of a good(decent/honest) place i can get this done at for a reasonable price around San Diego North County?(or at least where i could get the engine)

thanks

 

[staticpat]

Same thing happened to my old NA, threw a rod and was toast. You can get a low mileage JDM 7mge for like 600 bucks and swap it if you just want to get running again. This will probably be cheaper than a rebuild if money is your primary concern.

This is decision time, if you want to go Na->T, 1JZ, or get a new car nows the time to do it. Turbo swap is fairly straightforward while the 1JZ is pretty involved and costly. If its your daily driver your best bet would be to just swap in a new 7mge.

 

[JMDigital]

How much can you spend? Sounds like you want a place to do it for you. So swapping in the exact same engine would cost the least. But like it was said before 600.00 for an engine. Then find a place to do it. You are in CA. There are a lot of SUPRA guys in your area, It may be time to make some friends and have a build party! Support the members in your area; I am sure you will find more than a few guys that have done full installs. I would rather pay a member here to help me then a dealer or auto shop that may charge upwards of $1000.00 maybe more. (Someone correct me if I am high). Going to a 7MGTE will be more labor and other parts to buy.
So you have really 3 choices and will most likely depend on your wallet.
1. Install another 7MGE (the least expensive way to get it running)
2. Install a 7MGTE or 1JZ (1JZ will be even more money I don’t know how much)
3. Part out the 89 and start looking for another supra to buy

GOOD LUCK!

 

[johnathan1]

Call Aaron at driftmotion, they can do ANY swap you want...you can talk to him about your options, and they are also VERY reasonably priced...They work exclusively on Supras, and IMO they do the best work in Socal.

www.driftmotion.com

Aaron's cell #:
(909)630-8969

Tell him Johnathan referred you.

 

[JoeyD]

should have checked for replies before going off to get this taken care of.. but anyway, Toyota offered to pull a 7M-GE out of some wreck in a junk yard and install it for me for like $3100(no warrenty either) so i pretty much said f-that and ended up finding a place called "AutoMan" here in Oceanside. they got me a JDM 7M-GE /w just over 30k miles on it and are going to install it for $1600. they are also going to put in a new radiator to... am told that it should be ready by next friday.. weee... so i'm on my mountain bike till then.

 

[fiyota]

Might have been better off to source the engine for yourself and then get some members together and give em a couple hundred each for helpin you out... but ya.

 

[tte]

Might have been better off to source the engine for yourself and then get some members together and give em a couple hundred each for helpin you out... but ya.

Yeah, dont take it to Toyota...
Contact some members close to you.
You will get it done alot cheaper and make new friends.
Cheers,
Roy

 

[starscream5000]

Sounds like it's a little too late to do anything for him now guys... You send your car over to that place already?

 

[JoeyD]

Sounds like it's a little too late to do anything for him now guys... You send your car over to that place already?

yes the car's been over at Automan since tuesday i believe. i stopped in yesterday to check up on it & they had the new engine on some crate & were cleaning it up. not sure why it won't be ready till next friday but oh well.. at this point i just want it done & have my fingers crossed that nothing else happens to the car. still want to properly fix the dents/rust & get it painted but with how much i've been dumping into repairs i doubt i'm going to have the $$$ to do that stuff for awhile.

 

[phoenix6]

Advice if I may, ask them (if u can afford anything more) to replace the oil pump. With only 30k on it it shouldnt be a problem but this is one of the things you want to look into replacing while its out.

I had rod knock last year, for a different reason but I ended up with a blown rod bearing, completely torn to shreds. I tore the engine down, rebuilt it with lower end parts from a GTE. 3400 miles later she still runs good.

I just need an 02 sensor, my car is killing me on gas right now haha.

 

[Tanya]

lol.


I dont know why everyone is always so quick to throw "go buy a JDM 7M" into these kinds of threads. What is the diff? Is there even one besides that one is being shipped directly from Japan?

There's tons of fine 7Ms right here in the US. The "low mileage" JDM engines are such bullshit.

 

[GotToyota?]

It's about that JDM piece of mind, that everyone wants.

-Matt

 

[Tanya]

bleh. I am all about JDM badging and whatnot, I have my own set of JDM only badges. But why waste your $ on the shipping from Japan on the same engine you can get here?

All M engines are "JDM" technically. Common sense > *

 

[tekdeus]

Average mileage on a JDM engine is usually much less.

 

[Tanya]

that's advertised yes. I tend to not believe everything I read though.

However, I've heard that the reason they supposedly have these "low miles" is that they sit around for years. Doesn't sound like anything I would pay extra for personally, but do your own thing. I still see it as being completely senseless. If you're a smart person, you're going to rebuild the engine regardless, so mileage is no longer a factor. I sure as hell am not trusting a junkyard engine, especially not from another country.

*shrug*

 

[suprarich]

Tanya is correct, unless you buy a whole front clip with the odometer intact that shows the kilometers as a low milage set, do not believe that your imported motor is 30-50k mile motor.