i am in the process of replacing the engine in a 99 es300 due to a hole in the block....no idea how it happened yet.

i picked up a motor which i thought was also from a 99 es300. i bought the replacement engine prior to removing the bad motor and now after pulling the bad motor im worried im going to have problems. The new motor wiring harness has a different amount of plugs (the side that connects to the ecu). the new motor came to me with a cover that said vvt-i but the seller told me it was not the cover that came on the engine.

the vin on the new engine is JT8BF28G9W5029172 and google tells me this is from a 1998.
how can i verify that this is going to work? i put my original vin in on car-part.com and it shows me replacement motors are (EDIT) 99 only (EDIT

any ideas? can i swap the wiring? would i have to swap the ecu also?

you need a 99-01 to be plug & play. Pre 99 motors were non-vvti units and will require some different wiring, as you're saying.

You can get the same motors from either;
99-03 RX300
00-04 Avalon

As well as few others - but to keep it 'vvti simple' those are definately VVTI equipped motors. The camry.solara/sienna from the same years were a hit/miss

u got vvti, replace with vvti 1mz

is there anywhere i can get info on what exactly it will take to get the new motor i have to work in my 99ES? i feel like a wiring swap and even ecu swap would be easier at this point than me sourcing another low mileage motor....(this one has 80k)

the odd thing is, i saw the title for the car i bought the motor from and i swear it said 99...yet when i look up the vin online it says 98. the seller still has the ecu/cluster and various other parts as far as i know. he sold me the engine with the wiring intact.

praying i can figure out something to get this car back together asap!

Also check that the charcoal canister is the same part no. for both years. This at least will tell you that there is a good chance that the evaporative control system, and VSVs are probably compatible. Also check if the transmission is the same for both years.

I hate being negative, but personally I would have waited to get a compatible engine to the original. You could be heading for long term trouble, aggravation and costs by doing what you're doing, not to mention decreasing the value of the car.

Good luck

Phillip

You can't do a straight wiring swap because your replacement engine does not have VVTi. It will be easier to just get the proper replacement engine. An ECU swap will require custom wiring.

i THOUGHT the engine i was getting was from a 99 like my car. The title said the car was a 99 but the vin lookup says it was a 98. i paid 450 for the engine and got the car from a family member for free ( i just paid shipping)....i understand i may be getting into additional costs, i am asking if there are options BESIDES getting another motor.

anyone want to buy an engine?

is the block on the non vvti motor the same as on the 99 motor?

still digging and i just found a thread on Toyota Nation about a non vvti to vvti swap in a corolla, also it looks like at least one other person has done a vvti to non vvti swap in a corolla also.I know its not a 1mzfe but ...interesting read:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/13...under-way.html

some educational pics in case anyone is curious.....