We have a customers 1995 SC400 in my shop and it needs an engine or rebuild. We are a Toyota dealer and I have not been able to find anything but used engines. Any leads? Thank you in advance!

 

tell him to do a LS SWAP. Theres a market out there for kits to have the LS MOTOR installed.

 

Thank you...any recommendations on a source for and LS motor? I found the kit.

 

What is wrong with the engine? alot of times it just needs some replacement parts like an ignitor and ignition components.
An LS swap is not that easy and will cost alot. If it is really broken then just get a low mileage replacement online or use used car parts and get it sent from a yard somewhere.

It is odd a toyota dealer would consider an ls swap on a customers car which is alot of custom work, but not a used replacement motor of the same kind.
not a lot of 1995 cars you can get new engines for unless it came with a small/big block ford/chevy.
Maybe point them to a shop that can install a good used engine, they are around if you look for them.

 

^^ Seconding this. Don't get me wrong: LS V8 engines are fantastic, durable, popular, high performance, compact and relatively simple being cam-in-block OHV designs. They have a tremendous amount of GM and aftermarket support. However it is a lot of custom work to install one into an SC or any car that wasn't designed around an LS V8 option to begin with... even if you have the kit parts, a vehicle specific swap wiring harness, etc.

That kind of swap is for a customer who really wants to go all out with their vehicle seriously do a lot of custom mechanical work. The result will be great if done right but it is non-standard and requires time, patience and plenty of money to get everything perfect.

A replacement 1UZ-FE long or short block is what I think your customer more than likely would want... unless they are an enthusiast who actually wants to do a custom driveline build for various reasons.

4.0L 1UZ-FE engines are some of the most potentially long lasting engine designs on the planet if given proper maintenance and oil changes. They've been proven to last 1,000,000 (not a typo) miles or more if cared for. Is there a loss of compression in one of the cylinders? Did it overheat or otherwise blow its head gasket? Was there some oil starvation condition that lead to crankshaft bearing failure? I'm sure there is a good reason to declare it failed but the mechanical parts of the 1UZ's really are tough to kill.

If a new short or long block is needed and Toyota or Lexus does not carry replacement OEM short or long blocks any longer I think the owner would be able to get the same equivalent by finding a good used 1992-1995 SC 1UZ-FE engine and getting it professionally rebuilt at a reputable machine shop to factory specs.

Apart from that there are the electronics, sensors, seals and other bits that can fix an otherwise good high mileage 1UZ-FE engine. Did I mention that they are extremely hard to kill if given regular oil changes and maintenance? The other two common areas that can affect SC's (400's and 300's) are the main engine ECU's which can develop capacitor failures and the Fuel ECU's. For the main engine ECU, if there is a suspected problem following the TSRM testing chart, I'd recommend the rebuilder we tend to recommend here which is Tanin Auto. For the Fuel ECU those are harder to service and a new or good used working one would be the best and easiest fix.

But if the 1UZ-FE engine in that 1995 SC400 really is mechanically kaput then I think, unless the owner wants something custom, barring a new short block from Lexus a rebuild with all new crank, piston, and rod bearings, new crank and rod bolts, etc. would be in order with a local engine machine shop to get a factory-like fresh 1UZ. The cylinder heads would probably do to get the same treatment including new valve stem seals.

Alternatively if the owner is interested in a swap engine with higher performance potential that has an extremely OEM bolt-in path using mostly Toyota/Lexus factory parts there is the SC300's 2JZ-GE engine set up for turbo (which 1992-1997 2JZ-GE blocks can handle very well out of the box) and any flavor of 1JZ-GTE and 2JZ-GTE engine. This is a very popular swap to do and the SC400 is built to accept any of the Toyota JZ inline-six engines as bolt-in swaps. This also makes reliable and very durable turbocharging for far more horsepower and torque a very easy thing to incorporate into a replacement swap engine.

This really gets into what the owner wants to do with their 1995 SC400. These many engine swap considerations are common for us here but your owner may just want a fresh factory stock 1UZ-FE engine.

...

Hopefully there is not bad compression loss on one or more cylinders or a failure of the crank bearings or a bad/blown head gasket. Engine swaps to a totally different engine are very rewarding when done right but they're a lot of work, time and money invested to get there.

Maybe a full replacement engine is the easiest route to set this customer right. I'm just wondering if its more of a top end electrical/sensor/gasket or head related issue. Unless the 1UZ is absolutely full of oil sludge and/or has coolant in the oil which has caused crank and rod bearings to fail then it's at least possible that this engine needs other help rather than a complete outright replacement.

Then again I don't know how the estimated work required due to what has failed stacks up against just finding another engine at this point.

Hope we can help.

 

I owned a Chevy Avalanche for 12 years and almost 200,000 miles. The LQ engine (similar to an LS) on that was fantastic. But I'm not sure why replacing the 1UZ would be needed unless you're going to seriously build it. You're going from a 4.0L DOHC engine to a 5.3 (or 6.0) L single overhead cam engine. The driving dynamic would be very different.

 

Also kind of odd that a Toyota shop would even take the car in for service. This customer might be on to something, taking our cars into Toyota for routine maintenance because the cost might be lower. Have to agree why would a Toyota dealer even entertain an LS swap, why not diagnose the issue and start looking for replacement parts? Something just seems weird about this situation.

Hell you would be better off getting a 2JZ and putting in the car, at least it is a Toyota owned engine and you should be able to get parts within the Toyota network.

 

For what it's worth in my current city when I am not working on my SC myself I take my SC300 in to a local Toyota dealer that I trust and they will work on Lexus models. I have a longtime service manager whom I work with and I know a couple of the mechanics there as well and the entire parts department staff.

I have found that only some Toyota dealers will work on Lexus vehicles. This sometimes has to do with policies relating to nearby area Lexus dealerships and it can get a bit political in that sense. Depends. I found this to be a problem in Los Angeles but not so much in Florida.

Side note, my local Toyota dealer may justify their service of Lexus vehicles because through the late 1990's their service department actually was the original site of the local Lexus franchise dealership. I think their argument may be that enough local customer relationships go back that far and so they want to keep the option open for servicing Lexus models in addition to Toyota models.

I think it varies with each Toyota dealer. Some will work on Lexus models and some won't. They all have the same access to Toyota's TIS Techstream system with all Lexus and Toyota model TSRM documentation. The only thing Toyota dealers cannot do is look up Lexus models and part numbers in their own internal parts computers and networks... even though both dealer systems use the same style of databases and EPCs for their respective brand models. They'll usually call in a parts quote from a Lexus dealer or look online if an aftermarket part is to be considered.

.....

Regarding the issue of how to best service or replace the customer's SC400 engine I agree that it makes more sense to sort out or replace the stock 1UZ-FE V8.

Even a JZ inline-six swap (for which it would be a waste to not consider adding a turbo to in the process) will take more work and custom small adjustments versus repairing or replacing the original 1UZ V8. And an LS swap is even more work than a JZ swap. These are valid options for an enthusiast who loves their SC and is willing to make some big changes to the driveline themselves in pursuit of serious high performance... or have a specialty shop build the special configuration for them.

But I'm going to assume that this SC400 customer just wants their coupe working right again as it is currently configured in original trim.

 

x2 what KahnBB6 stated. I was just messing with the SC400 last night. Amazing engine. My SC is 27 years old yet the engine seems to run like new even with 237,000 miles.

 

^^^ this, I bet just one of the ignitors failed or something common. The engines themselves are pretty hard to destroy unless you run them without oil for extended periods or time.

 

Seconding both perfctreig and Ali SC3 ^^

I also drive on the later VVT-i version 1UZ-FE 4.0L semi-regularly in an LS400 and at 155k miles it's barely worn at all. One replacement remanufactured A650E automatic transmission was needed a couple of years ago but the engine itself is solid as a rock. The oil is changed at regular factory prescribed intervals along with a timing belt, tensioner water pump and spark plug change. It's had its starter motor and valve gaskets replaced once and one new alternator. Solid as a rock.

As Ali said, the only way to really kill them is to never change the oil and filter or to run them without much oil. In my experience with the 1UZ I use frequently they don't tend to use excess oil either.

 

For those old people like me who remember the advertisements for the LS400 in 1990, there was one where they stacked glasses on a LS400 hood.
I thought I'd try a similar experiment with the engine on the 230,000 mile SC400 I now own. It came out quite good:

 

I remember those commercials. I was a kid but they played a lot back then. I did not see these competitor follow-up commercials however-- funny!

It's a very smooth engine, the UZ V8!