6G Celicas Forums

So I went to change my valve cover gasket and found my seals are all blown out with 165K on the whole car. Haven't noticed oil because I park in on grass 90% of time. So I don't know where to go from here.

It is a stock (mostly) 95 2.2 GT Vert Auto.

What would be my best course of action, have it rebuilt? 3GSTE (or other engine) swap? Trash it and start over? Rebuild it for turbo? I've heard the 2.2 if rebuilt is better than the 3gste if you do it right.

Slow down there, let's not put the carriage before the horse. Which seals are blown out, valve stem?

They said seals. So I'm guessing rear main seal? It's leaking a ton near the back of the engine.

Speaking from personal experience I would do a swap to a 3sgte. I have tried to turbo the 5sfe and it is too much of a headache. A turbo'ed 5s is like having a race car you need to run a checklist on every time you get ready to drive it. Check out my build thread to see the nightmares I had before I decided to go 3sgte.

http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=96700

Near the back would be main rear. Thing is though if the engine is in good health otherwise you just need to replace the seal, unless you ran it low on oil and fubared it before finding out it was leaking badly from the rear main seal. If you want more power then just go 3S-GTE or do a 1MZ etc... versus messing with turboing the 5S.

really depends on your overall budget, plan and goals for it. If you're just looking for a dependable daily driver then either change the seal out and rebuild it or yank the whole thing out and toss another 5s in there. they're a dime a dozen. If not, then this is the perfect time to do a swap or any sort. up to you.

Just because the rear main seal is leaking doesn't mean the engine is done. It's not a huge job to drop the trans, replace the seal, and throw a new clutch in. If you prefer a swap, that's an option as well, but it's significantly more expensive than simply replacing the seal.

It's an auto, no clutch to be ruined with oil so even easier/cheaper.

Couple things.

Don't have the know how to drop the trans and replace the seal. Would have to pay for that as well.

It was a slow leak then got worse, so it wasn't ran low on oil. (At least not while I've had it).

Sorry for not replying earlier.This thing is becoming more of a hassle than I signed up for lol. Just finding parts is impossible.

Also, just wondering, how is the Caldina 3sgte? Guess its a 4th gen? Can I put one in here? This guy literally up the street from me has had one for sale for months, so If that is a possibility, that would be awesome.

Don't really know what to do with it, but if it fits, I guess i can make it work?

Was there still oil in the oil pan / did the dipstick read ok? Did you run the motor with a super low amount of oil and kill it?

Like the others said, bad seals aren't a death sentence, and they can be replaced as long as it wasn't ran with little to no oil. My 7afe has a leaky seal somewhere (I think, doesn't seem to burn any), but I've just been putting in a quart every 500-700 miles and its been ok. Just havn't gotten around to doing a complete diag on the problem.

No when i noticed it, it still had oil in it.

That's good. Its probably just new seal time. If its a leak near the transmission, it has to be the rear main seal. Might want to look by the crank pulley too just to be sure your front main seal is not a problem.

This post has been edited by root: Jun 7, 2017 - 2:17 PM

People have started doing the 4th gen 3S-GTE swap in 6th gen Celicas, want to say a few here have and the information is available. Though paying for an engine and swap would be costly not knowing how to do any of it yourself, but if that's what you ultimately want and this engine is a good deal then no point putting money into the 5S.

I mean, installing a new engine and trans has to be easier than rebuilding the 5s and building my own turbo setup correct?

I'm not completely incompetent, I do most of my own work. So I'm not going in blind, but have never swapped motors or trans.

Also props on the f body in your sig. That was my life until someone stole my last 4th gen and I moved on to imports lol. 300zx I blew up then this.

I did a Caldina 3sgte swap and I love the way the car runs. Most of the Caldinas come of an auto transmission car so it may work with your current set up. The best place to figure out what you need is to send an e-mail off to PrimeMR2 with your questions. They were really helpful with my build plus they carry all the OEM parts for all generations of the 3sgte. I tried a turbo build and had nothing but problems. I would advise steering clear of a 5s turbo build.

Most would say to go through an engine before installing anyway, but yes would still be easier than trying to rebuild and turbo the 5S.

Thanks. I like it for the most part, but being so used to Japanese sports cars I hate the solid axle. Oddly enough I've thought about selling it and getting a Z32 300ZX, but it's even harder to find one of them with a hardtop.

So how hard was the Caldina swap? Like i said, there is one less than a mile from my house but with no trans or anything. just engine i believe. I really would rather a 3rd gen, seems easier, especially for a novice like me. I just feel a little stuck in place with this car right now because I know nothing. and it is starting to get expensive already, and its still in **** condition.