wfeagley

I'm rebuilding a junk yard motor for my 97 LS400. The VIN for the junk yard motor makes it a 97 model year; the sequential build number is 009386. I've been trying to determine if this build number makes my junk yard motor an 01/1996 - 07/1997 series or an 07/1997 forward series.

The various OEM parts sites I've tried aren't consistent with the ring sets they list for an "97" LS 400:

• Houseoflexus.com and Parts.com tell me to use part number: 1301150100
• lexussouthatlantaparts.com says 1301150100 is for a 95-96 engine, but they also list a 95-96 with a 5 speed tranny. Their site wants me to use part number 301150120 which I believe is for the 07/1997 forward series motor
• lexusoftucsonspeedway.com says Part Number: 1301150080 ; 1301150100; 1301150110 will fit a 95, 96, 97
• lexuspartsnow.com lists 13011-50110 for production dates 01/1996-07/1997. If I can establish this is when my junk yard motor was made, I feel this part number is the most reliable

Any insight I can get on this dilemma is appreciated.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Made me curious, the VIN on ours is a 6/97 build 0096XXX. There were slight changes from the beginning of the year to middle of year so after July is when there were additional changes leading into the '98's. Can't advise other than I've also had dealers misquote a few parts for ours.

Yamae

Attached is just for a JDM. There was a change at January 1996.

YODAONE

The VIN of the donor car will allow the Lexus dealer to assist you with selectipn of correct engine parts

wfeagley

Thanks for the info gents. I checked the door sticker on my original LS400 when I got home last night. It was manufactured in 09/96 with a sequence number of 072xxx. This means my donor car motor with sequence 009386 was built much earlier in 96. I'll go with the 13011-50110 rings.

wfeagley

After checking with my local Lexis dealer I learned I had an invalid VIN on the donor motor. After double checking the block tag I found the sequence number is 093986 and the donor car production date is May 23, 1997. For future reference to others who might have donor motors without a door sticker, here is a short timeline:
Sequence numbers Production Date
0725xx 09/96
0939xx 05/23/97
096xxx 06/97
By my calculation Lexus was building approximately 2350 LS400s per month.

Lastly, I did confirm with the dealer that the proper rings for my donor motor are 13011-50110, as Yamae's pic above shows. This is unfortunate for me in that they are the most expensive set of rings in the 96-98 time frame, but I'm not going to cheap out now after all the machining, head rebuild, and other parts have been paid for. When I get time I'll post a thread on the total cost for the rebuild and share my progress.