thinking about swapping an st motor into my gt...., does better on gas Options

[95gtschick]

i'm moving soon to another town, and i'll be driving on the hwy twice every day and my gt does terrible on gas. im lucky to get 300 hwy miles to one tank.

so my fiance and i were talking yesterday and he suggested swapping an st motor into my car.

is it hard? how's the wiring and all that crap?

[Batman722]

I don't think anyone has done that before

if you are serious about it, just find another member close to you with an ST 94-95, and see if they want to trade engines/mounts/trannys.

[Bigmeanbulldog55]

Might be cheaper to just tune up the 5sfe. I get close to 400high way miles per tank. I get low 30s on the highway. I get mid 20s around town though.

[ummmx2]

im lucky to break 220 on a full tank. =(. all city miles..but still..

[CelicaZR]

I think your better giving it a tune up.
Check if the motor is running right.
To swap an st motor, you'll be looking at $$$.
But how much money are you gonna save on petrol?
Compare to how much it cost to do the swap?
It will be a long time before the money you save on petrol,
and the cost and effort of the swap is even out.

[Dr_Tweak]

Why don't you find someone with an ST and just trade cars? That would be a lot easier.

-Doc

[azian_advanced]

^^ well she's recently spent 4-grand on her paint job plus the other mods that she's done. so i don't think she'd be willing to trade.

anyway, where are you gonna find an ST engine? i've never seen a single ST here.. like everybody has said, a tune up would be best.. but if you're willing to go even further, some people have changed their 5th gear ratios in their transmission to drive at even higher speeds although i'm not sure how difficult that would be, or even if parts like that would still be available...

[95gtschick]

i don't know, was just wondering if it was a "good" idea.

and by tuning my engine, what do you mean? what would i have to do?

my engine has like... well i don't even know how many miles. right now it says 118k miles, but i did a carfax, and in January of 2003 it had 130k miles (my odometer has been rolled back) so it probably has a ton of miles on it, that's another reason i was thinking about swapping...

[Silver94CelicaOw...]

No reason to really swap....a well maintained 5SFE would get you good gas mileage. I drive back and forth to college about 35-40 minutes each way and I probably get about 30 mpg, or about 370-400 miles per tank. I now have at least 180,000 miles on mine and its given me no problems at all.

About 2 years ago I did a tune up and that would consist of things like a new timing belt and accessory belts and misc. hoses, distributer, plugs and wires, all new fluids, new water pump, gaskets that are worn, fuel filter, air filter.....etc. etc.

Its a really good idea to do all those sorts of things to keep the engine running how it should. When my car was finished it ran like new, and still at least 2-3 years later with alot of miles its still fine with only regular oil changes and topping off coolant when needed. Your money is much better spent not downgrading and just maintaining what you have.

[Rjb23]

^^ well she's recently spent 4-grand on her paint job plus the other mods that she's done. so i don't think she'd be willing to trade.

anyway, where are you gonna find an ST engine? i've never seen a single ST here.. like everybody has said, a tune up would be best.. but if you're willing to go even further, some people have changed their 5th gear ratios in their transmission to drive at even higher speeds although i'm not sure how difficult that would be, or even if parts like that would still be available...

Yea no one has an st on this site!

[zachattack15]

I believe she was talking about where they live, not on this site.

[lagos]

let me get this right... you want to spend a few thousand dollars just to save a few bucks on gas?

[presure2]

really, you should in reality just be thinking about a good tune up.
i can get almost 400miles to a tank on the highway, with 460cc injectors, and turboed.

[lagos]

or just check your tires to make sure they are inflated correctly and take out any extra stuff you may have in your trunk.

[jess_i_74]

Drive conservatively. A good 5SFE is able to average very high 20's around town and just break into the 30's on the highway.

[95gtschick]

this is something that has bothered me about my car since i got it.

i drive SO nice, and i've changed my plugs, wires, fuel filter, fuel pump, check my tires consistently (every week), etc....

but yet i can't even break like 250 miles to a tank in town driving (driving only 5 days a week to work and back, no extra trips).

^^ well she's recently spent 4-grand on her paint job plus the other mods that she's done. so i don't think she'd be willing to trade.

anyway, where are you gonna find an ST engine? i've never seen a single ST here.. like everybody has said, a tune up would be best.. but if you're willing to go even further, some people have changed their 5th gear ratios in their transmission to drive at even higher speeds although i'm not sure how difficult that would be, or even if parts like that would still be available...

Yea no one has an st on this site!

Yes, he was talking about where we live. They didn't make the ST in Canada. Only the GT and GT-S', so the ST's are very hard to come by, especially in Manitoba where there's only like 10-15 6th gen celica's in total.

[celicaST]

i wouldnt swap, i would think the difference in mpg would be marginal at best, hardly worth the hassle and cost of swapping. my solution... buy a moped and a big heavy coat, problem solved

[pokemeintheeye]

I don't get how you people get 400 miles to a tank. Best I've done is only 350 with all hwy miles. Driving like a grandma too. Other than that I've never had trouble reaching 300 city and hwy.

[creis]

eh i can pull in a good 370 on a tank, but its pushing it, I alway fill up at half a tank becaues i worry i'm gana get stuck in traffic for 8 hours and run out of gas, or just because i think the gas station is a good place to meet single girls my age where my car can start the converstion for me. (yeah I'm that desparate.)

and I hope your kidding, the little money your gana save on gas is not gana cover the cost of having a motor swap, just get a variety of fuel cleaners and injecter cleaners and a maybe a nice tone up.

[95gtschick]

just so you get an idea of how bad my car does on gas....

i have just over 1/4 tank left, and i have 155 miles on this tank, mostly city, some hwy...