CheeseRind

While it's already been covered as far as what you can and can't use from a JDM-sourced 5VZ for a swap, I thought I'd document my trip to JDM Engines Chicago to show what I looked for, what I found, and some tips if you're going this route for an engine.


Background

I purchased a complete 1998 4Runner as a donor for my 5VZ swap project. The 4Runner came to me with 300k+ miles and a blown head gasket, however I was mainly purchasing it for the ECU, wiring harness, and some engine accessories. 1998 was my holy grail year, as they use a universal connector ECU, no EGR, 4 wire MAF, 3 wire TPS, regular throttle body, and some other stuff that makes things a little easier. I stripped everything I needed out of the engine bay and sold the rest of the parts basically making back what I paid for the rig. Long story short, I had everything needed for the swap, but the engine would need a full rebuild if I wanted to use it. I wanted to split the difference between the cost of a full Yota1 rebuild (very expensive for me given I am in the midwest) and a high mileage US donor motor, and a JDM engine would cost me about the same as it would to do a full rebuild in the caliber I wanted.


Advantages

• Mileage - A JDM engine is going to have just about the lowest mileage for a factory original engine that hasn't yet been cracked open you're going to be able to find. Everything in the US at this point has hundreds of thousands of miles, and while JDM engines don't always have as low of mileage as the sellers claim, they are going to be lower mileage than anything USDM you're going to find used at this point. Are you going to find one in the stack that could have over 100k miles on it? It's possible, but it will likely be much newer. Japan has stringent inspection requirements once vehicles start ageing and getting some miles on them which begins to make them cost prohibitive to own. This is why many examples have lower miles. It is a misconception and myth however that the Japanese govt makes folks scrap their vehicles when they hit 50k miles. I have seen plenty of JDM vehicles imported that have 80k miles on them, however they generally have lower miles than a US vehicle would.

• MLS Headgaskets - Pretty much all the JDM engines I've found have were manufactured after the switch to MLS head gaskets in late 1999. Every one I found at this particular retailer had MLS gaskets installed.

• Cost - A JDM 5VZ can be anywhere from $1k-$2.5k. This is a lot more than one pulled from a wrecked 4Runner, but it is going to be much cheaper than a quality long block rebuild.

Disadvantages

• Unknown history - Despite bullet #1 above, you still don't know where this engine came from, how it was maintained, when it was removed, where it sat, how it was stored, etc. There are some clues you can use to date an engine like the serial number or a compression test (more on that below), but you're still taking a bit of a gamble.

• Lack of compatibility - A good chunk of the dressed engine package is not compatible with US. Biggest thing here would be the exhaust manifolds, crank pulley / harmonic balancer, and parts of the wiring harness. Basically, the long block is usable with the intake manifold, injectors, and plenums, but you'll need almost everything else from a USDM motor.

Compatibility

Here is a list of parts you will need if using a JDM engine as per Offroad Solutions (this used to be on their site but the link is busted, so Derek emailed it to me):Donor parts normally not found on a JDM engine that you will need to source for a swap

• Throttle body - if the engine came from a Granvia (most likely), the throttle body is completely different on the cable side down to the molding of the body itself. The IAC valve and throttle position sensor are identical and interchangeable, though. Hilux Surf throttle bodies appear to be usable
• Battery cable harness
• Engine (injector) wiring harness
• ECU
• Igniter assembly (flat, square shape, near intake box)
• Intake and MAF
• Evap vapor pressure sensor, vapor pressure VSV, purge VSV
• Oxygen Sensors or Air/Fuel Ratio sensors

Stuff you can use from your JDM engine

• intake manifold and plenums
• power steering pump
• ignition coils
• plastic timing covers
• alternator bracket
• alternator if swapping pulley
• injectors (Most of the JDM engines are later models thus have the Aisin brown injectors that are prone to problems with age. One of the engines I saw had the better Denso grey topss)
• fuel rails
• exhaust manifold heat shields
• lots of plastic clips, bolts and nuts, wire loom brackets, hose clamps, a full set of engine harness connectors

Stuff you can’t use or will need to change

The exhaust manifolds are different from any US-model. This may or may not matter in your case. While most JDM exhaust manifolds look like the US-type used in 95-00, they are actually different at the flange and will not bolt-up to an aftermarket conversion crossover pipe, which are all based on US-manifolds. In this case you would need two manifolds from a US or Canada-based model w/ gaskets and hardware.On most JDM engines you'll find the oil filter is mounted toward the rear of the engine block with a blockoff plate on the front mount point. You need to move the oil filter to the US-style front-mount location and either block-off the rear port with the existing block off plate or add an oil cooler to the rear port. To move the oil filter to the front, you'll just remove the block off plate to the rear and swap the oil filter union to the front, along with new gaskets for the block off plate.Here are the parts needed if you also want to add an oil cooler in the rear block port:

• Oil cooler
• Oil cooler bolt
• Oil cooler O-rings
• Oil cooler coolant union - 90404-53070
• Oil cooler hose - 15778-62030
• Oil cooler hose - 15777-62020
• Oil cooler hose clamp

Generally the JDM alternators have an offset and belt ribbing that will not work with the majority of the engines you'll find from Granvias. You can use the alternator itself if you swap pulleys. Same goes for USDM AC compressor/bracket.

These parts would need to come from a US-based 3.4L 5VZ application:

• Alternator Pulley -for US belt (for US AC)
• Alternator slide lock nut
• PS Pump Bracket
• PS Slide Bracket
• PS Block Bracket
• PS adjuster Bolt
• PS adjuster slide
• 10mm flange nut, PS adjust & pump bracket
• A/C Bracket
• Crank Pulley - US - new - re-mark
• A/C tensioner pulley w/ slide adjuster
• A/C tensioner bolt
• Fan Pulley (alt) - for US belt (for US AC) - same PN as 3VZ pulley
• Fan Pulley Bracket

Evaluating engines

Some of the JDM engines I found had a VIN/chassis number written on them in paint pen which gave some info on what it came from. They do not have a VIN tag on the block like USDM engines. I plugged this chassis number / VIN into Partsouq to find a manufacturing date and trim info. Other engine blocks did not have a VIN or chassis info, but they all have the engine block serial number on the left side of the block near the alternator. Using a few where I had both the engine serial number and the VIN/mfr date, we can roughly guess when some of these engines were made.

• 0549910 - this is my USDM donor engine that was mfr'd in late 1997
• 1024682 - Came from a March 2000 mfr'd Hilux Surf
• 1189606 - this is the serial number of the engine block I purchased
• 1405632 - Came from a November 2001 Granvia HiAce

The other clue I had was a timing belt sticker on the timing cover. This was really interesting.

Mine showed that the timing belt was changed in December of 2017 at 48k kilometers (~30k miles). Using the engine block serial number and some other serial numbers where we do know the manufacture date as a reference, I can roughly calculate my engine was likely made in late 2000 for a 2001 model year HiAce. Given the low mileage when they did the timing belt (48k kilometers), this means they only put about 1,750 miles on the engine per year. Assuming the same run rate of driving, and assuming the engine was pulled no more than a year before I bought it (5 years since the timing belt change), it's safe to assume they probably put around only 9-10k more miles on it since the timing belt change, meaning the engine probably has about 40k miles on it. This is a guess, but an educated guess.I also keep an eye out on engine photos looking for other signs of age or climate. While these engines are often pressure washed before photos are taken, certain areas like the flex plate and water bypass valley blockoff plate in the rear of the engine can tell some stories. Is the plate rusty? What condition is the foam in? How does the flex plate look?Keep in mind this is just visual stuff to guide you. You could have a well cared for engine that spent a lot of time in a seaside town that looks rusty but was well cared for, and another that looks brand new but has low compression and high miles.


Compression testing

If possible, compression test your engine on site. JDM Engines Chicago let me do this which was pretty cool. I had an old 3VZ R150 bell housing, 5VZ starter, charged battery, jumper cables, and a starter trigger. With this I was able to make a "compression testing rig" to bolt up to an engine and hook up a compression tester right there.

Keep in mind, you're compression testing a cold engine that's sat for god knows how long, but it might give you an indication of health. I lucked out and each cylinder on the engine I ended up buying tested a little over 180psi cold. FSM specifies testing hot with the numbers below:

• 178psi+ is the normal range
• 127psi absolute minimum
• 14psi delta between cylinders max

Bringing a borescope would have been a good idea, but we didn’t have one. Would be good to look under the valve cover for carbon buildup or in the cylinders for scoring, etc.


TL;DR - A JDM engine is a great option form certain circumstances. If you are looking to 5VZ swap and can find a donor truck with a bad engine for cheap, you can use it for basically everything you need and use the JDM motor for a good low miles long block, which also gets you lots of extras. Also a great option if you just need to replace an existing 5VZ, and want something higher quality than most rebuilds or used engines but not as expensive as a quality rebuild like Yota1 or Yotatech.

I’ll note that I did a lot of shopping around and checking for referrals before I went with JDM Engines Chicago. They happen to be close to me geographically (I’m in southwest Michigan) and I talked to a couple JDM vehicle dealers in the area that had used them successfully. Dealers in your area may not be as reliable or trustworthy, YMMV.


Loaded into the smallest U-Haul trailer in the world

Original timing belt sticker

Loads of engines