JBrady

At least is isn't MINE :eek:

This is the engine they pulled out of a near identical LS400. It is a 98+ 1UZ-FE VvTi. Car was accidently driven into high water an it SUCKED in water :eek: The result was hydrolocking a rear cylinder. For those unfamiliar, water does NOT compress. If enough of it gets into a cylinder, and the engine TRIES to compress it, it is like trying to compress steel, something HAS to give. In this case, it is a connecting rod, snapped clean in 2. Say bye bye to $12,000+++

The rods are of new style construction that uses powdered metal that is forged into shape. The end caps are literally BROKEN in 2 creating a near perfect seem that the rod bolts hold together, better than conventional machining can produce. I don't think the powdered metal is as strong as a good conventional forging but I think it creates a high quality part for less than a true forging costs to produce.

The crankshaft IS forged Very nice piece. You can usually tell a forging by the wide parting line vs. a very narrow on on castings. Pistons are cast. Block main bearings use 6 fasteners: 4 studs going into the block and 2 crossbolts through the crankcase. This creates a VERY rigid main cap assembly, GOOD STUFF!

Anyway, a picture tells a thousand words:

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

VERY educational for me, thanks. I'm pretty clueless about engine design.

LOTC

Jbrady your pics wow me again.:eek:

TomWahjudi

$12,000+ huh ?

I'd like to get ahold of the engine if it was possible. All you need is to replace the broken rod to get it running again, granted that there is not part of a rod tried to get out of the crankcase

Anyway, that is a very good design. The best American V8s only have 4-bolt main bearing caps and no girdle at all. The extra two bolts that tie the caps to the case form a girdle. No wonder these engines are very reliable even with forced induction.

Now, if only I could locate a pair of tuned, equal length headers that don't cost $900+ *sigh*.

TFW

JBrady

The cost for a factory short block (they actually call it a long block even though it doesn't have heads ) is $8500. There is 50 hours of labor ($90/hr) plus many new parts needed like gaskets, TTY headbolts, plugs, oil pan (old one has a hole in it) and a bunch of misc stuff.

I tried to get this engine but was NOT the only one thinking it is rebuildable. Actually, I would like the block and crank, I would have the block re-sleeved with overbore sleeves. Not certain how much bigger I could go but probably a good 5mm and that would yield a 4.43 liter engine and would be good for 10% more torque with NO other changes.

As far as US V8s... don't forget the LS1 and LS6 Corvette engines, these also have 6 bolt main cap as do the Ford 32v V8s and I believe the GM Northstar 32v V8s.

As far as headers go, I have NEVER seen a proper set of equal length tuned headers with real collectors for under $900. I am planning on building a set of shorty headers with a target of 5+% torque increase (across the board = hp also) but if I offer them for sale they will be probably $1000 for the set... sorry, it just takes a BUNCH of effort and materials to do a PROPER Lexus part. Yes, I remember the days when a set of LT headers for a small block chevy were under $100 and yes they were MUCH better than the factory manifolding BUT we are talking a different environment and very low production numbers meaning every on is basically a custom built part.

Lextreme

Hey John,

I wish you are closer to me. Maybe you can get some after market forged JE dish Pistons and along with custom rods, ARP head studs. I wonder how much PSI that engine can handle. I would be very interesting to find out.

dc

JBrady

David, as I aluded to... I am not going to get the engine. Actually, I spoke with Mo at SRT and he was thinking the same on the re-sleave but said there is not enough material around the bores to do it. He said the 4.3 block uses the same crank and rods with a larger bore for the displacement increase.

Curiously, the 4.3 is tuned for lower speed power, this is usually better accomplished with a longer stroke. Oversquare engines (bigger bore than stroke) are usually better high RPM power producers. Our 1UZ-FE limited to 6250rpm is a joke. 2 valve heads can work very nicely up to 6500rpm and often make more low speed torque than do 4 valve heads. The real benefit for 4v/cyl engines is the high rpm breathing ability and low individual valve mass. These engines should be allowed to turn 7000rpm with a fuel cut of 7300 instead of 6250. Truth is very few people would EVER rev that high and in fact the exhaust system would kill high rpm power anyway.

So, options, find a way to remove the rev limiter from our engines + build a REAL exhaust to take advantage. Do the preceeding but use the 4.3 engine with 4.0 electronics.

---OR---

Something I have kicked around for a while... swap an all aluminum GM LS1/LS6 engine and tranny in place. Bone stock this is a 350hp/350tq engine that can EASILY make 450hp/400tq on engine alone. Smaller, lighter, MUCH better aftermarket support. Mutiny??? Maybe. Fast? Definitely. I am thinking about a 95 LS400 (lightest LS, big brakes, great aero) with HIGH miles, pull the 1UZ and tranny and sell. With proceeds buy and install the LS1/tranny. Bone stock engine.... 13.8 et @ 103mph. Heads and cam mod 12.8 @ 110mph... from there, the sky (actually bank account) is the limit!

JBrady

Additional short block pictures

JBrady

Front of the short block

LexLS

Ahhh that's nothing a little super glue can't fix . Hhaaaha, J/K!

Seriously, I think "Engine Guru" belongs under your name jbrady, you know your stuff. Thanks for posting the pics & descriptions, it helps me learn more .

JBrady

Earl, thanks for the props.

Actually, regarding the rods, I was refering to the actual factory manufacturing process not the broken rod pictured. The breaking of the big end to create the cap assembly is the way they actually make the piston rods. By cracking the cap off the casting you create an uneven but perfectly (relatively speaking) matching pair of surfaces. No super glue required

retrodrive

sweet...you got a new toy to play with then?

guest

I ran into the same problem you did w/ hydrolocking. blew the engine the same way yours look to be blown. I have a few questions for you jbrady....we got a used 1uz-fe engine so we would have a long block to work w/. and transferred everything else from the blown engine. Replaced all the seals, timing belt, water pump, etc. Got everything back together....try starting it up....it cranks and it momentarily wants to start....but then floods itself out. I figured maybe the MAF meter got damaged from the water getting into the induction system...so we replaced that. It still floods the car out. Compression is good @ about 110psi (cold). There's no hard codes. As I stated before...we changed out all the seals. When we got to the cam seals....we accidentally disassembled the timing tube assembly. We got the spring back in and reassembled it. Would this be a problem?..b/c we later found out that once disassembled....you must replace the entire assembly. Not familiar w/ lexus...but why must you replace the entire assembly if that were the case? any help would be apprectiated.