6G Celicas Forums

wondering what a fair price is i am looking at a 97 gt with 146k with a thrown rod..what is a good price?what would a new engine likely cost me..newbie thanks

Depends on condition of the body and interior. Do you have any pictures of the car so we can give you a better estimate?

the body and car are in good shape..i just am wondering what it will cost for a low mileage new engine and what the car is worth to buy as it..all service has been done on it they ran without oil i would guess..

Running rate around Houston is about 500-600 for an entire running engine set at one of our local scrap-shops. typically comes with everything from the intake manifold to the ex. manifold. Most of the sensors/bungs/fitting and depending on where you get it from the harness as well.

You can get them cheaper but you get what you pay for. (one guy tryed selling me one for 200 flat once, but wouldn't let me do a compression test on it before i bought it 0_o

Make sure it has good compression before you lay a dollar on the table and you should be alright.

~ as for the car itself- if it was in pristine shape, i wouldn't pay more than 1500 cause it's still alot of work to swap in that new engine. And if it's a 97~ and you get a 95-94 engine, then you'll need a different wiring harness and ECU (because of the ODB differences/ignition timing control)

I'd assume 3K all together (if you're doing the work yourself) because other little stuff will pop up here and there. I guarantee it. Not to be alarmed though, it's all part of the process.

Dig threw the search features/stickys and do your research, (and eat you a big breakfast the day you intend to tackle the swap ) And You should be fine.

ok..so about 1500 to put a new engine in with the necessary comonents and 1500 for the car i would be ok?i think i might be able to get the car for 70..so it sounds like i would be doing ok?no reason to rebulid the current engine?

if the car (chassis is solid, IE: no big rust or body damage issues) is solid anything under 1k for the car is a very good deal IMO.
make sure you get the complete engine with the car, your probably gonna need some of the parts off it depending on what year replacement motor you get.
your best bet is to try and get a 97-2000 5s out of a camry, or solara, and just swap over the external accsessories from the blown motor (things like intake manifold with TB, exhaust manifold, powersteering pump, wireharness ect.
if you get a motor that is pre 96, your gonna have to start swapping over more important stuff, like the oil pump (which you dont want to reuse if the engine has a thrown rod or spun bearing) because of the crank sensor, and the cam sensor ect.
prices on the newer motors vary wildly depending on location, i've seen them listed as cheap as a couple hundered in southern states, but for some reason, they are alot more expensive up here by me, i cant get a 98+ motor for under 800 or so locally.
shop around a bit, and dont just hop on the first deal you come across.
if you can, go see the motors in person, and take pics.

just FYI, a 97 celica in decent condition is prolly worth somewhere in the 3-4k range...so if you can come out under that price, your good IMO.

WOW..YOU GUYS ON HERE ARE GREAT!! thanks for the info..

here is the better news, if you bring me the car ill swap the engines out for you for much cheaper than any other shop

I see no reason it should exceed 1500 provided that you're doing the swap- in a worse case scenereo. Like Pressure2 said, If you can get a 97+ 5s motor, then you wont start having to worry about other components- that may be needing replaced.

Last engine swap i did pulled out at about 500 bucks... (that's utilizing my assets though- i got a motor in pristine shape for 300- and we had like 2 parted celica's laying around for any little BS extra i needed) that 500 also includes the food and beer

So you may not even come close to that number if you play your cards right!

EDIT: Pressure- it's not the south that has cheap motors as much as it is Cheap for us guys living near one of the biggest import/export citys in the country. (Baytown and Trinity) Same reason Gas is so cheap here too. roughly 70% of america's gas comes in and is refined in my back yard. lol.

This post has been edited by D-Man: Feb 6, 2011 - 2:55 PM

thnx smaay for the offer might taek you up on that..do you have a shop??..LOL ...well looking at the car yesterday in the morn and omg the inside looked like it had been through a tornado..crapp all over door panels falling apart..no vins stickers in the front on on the rear trunk..i left the girl a message saying not sure what to offer..she should pay me to take it away..

Was it a burgandy one?

YES..it was in pacific beach..did you take a look at it OMG..

No i saw it on craigslist and it looked clean on the outside, too bad the inside is havoc apparently