Engine is done. Options

[anon1ski]

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.

[HardHead93]

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.

I spent a lot of time d**king around with trying to turbo my 5s and it was pretty easy compared to that. The hardest part is getting the engine out of the car and there is a good instructional video for that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBHJZ_x0neI

It is a video of taking a 5sfe out of a Camry and it was really helpful for me. After that I sent my wiring off to Wiregap to get done. It made the harness completely plug and play. You may need to pull parts off the 5s to use on the 3sgte so it is a good idea not to get rid of any parts until the build is complete. I would say the most challenging part of the build is the intercooler piping routing, if you chose to go with a front mount, which is a good idea. Also, check all the exhaust manifold studs because the 2 closest to the alternator tend to strip out and it is easy to re-thread with the engine out but a pain in the butt with the engine in the car.

The 4th gen 3sgte is advertised to do 256 hp on 13 psi. You will need to install a boost controller to see those numbers because the factory boost controller does not work with the swap and you will only get spring pressure (7-8 psi). I am going to the dyno tomorrow so I will post hp figures after that.

This post has been edited by HardHead93: Jun 8, 2017 - 7:39 PM

[anon1ski]

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.

I spent a lot of time d**king around with trying to turbo my 5s and it was pretty easy compared to that. The hardest part is getting the engine out of the car and there is a good instructional video for that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBHJZ_x0neI

It is a video of taking a 5sfe out of a Camry and it was really helpful for me. After that I sent my wiring off to Wiregap to get done. It made the harness completely plug and play. You may need to pull parts off the 5s to use on the 3sgte so it is a good idea not to get rid of any parts until the build is complete. I would say the most challenging part of the build is the intercooler piping routing, if you chose to go with a front mount, which is a good idea. Also, check all the exhaust manifold studs because the 2 closest to the alternator tend to strip out and it is easy to re-thread with the engine out but a pain in the butt with the engine in the car.

The 4th gen 3sgte is advertised to do 256 hp on 13 psi. You will need to install a boost controller to see those numbers because the factory boost controller does not work with the swap and you will only get spring pressure (7-8 psi). I am going to the dyno tomorrow so I will post hp figures after that.

what about trans? do i need a special one for the caldina? for some reason every where i search people say "dont do the 4th gen its so hard and not worth it get a 3rd gen." what is so much harder than a 3rd? and is thetre any downside?

[HardHead93]

The "I don't do 4th gen" statement is probably coming from people who try to do their own wiring. The best thing is to get wiring sent off to PrimeMR2 or Wiregap. As far as it working with an automatic transmission, I do not see why not. My 4th gen came with an automatic transmission flywheel attached to it. I swapped it to a manual flywheel for my car. Like I said before, the experts on 3sgte swaps is PrimeMR2. Send them and e-mail with all your questions and they usually get back to people within 24 hours if it is during the week. You can make a decision once you get all you questions answered from PrimeMR2.

[anon1ski]

The "I don't do 4th gen" statement is probably coming from people who try to do their own wiring. The best thing is to get wiring sent off to PrimeMR2 or Wiregap. As far as it working with an automatic transmission, I do not see why not. My 4th gen came with an automatic transmission flywheel attached to it. I swapped it to a manual flywheel for my car. Like I said before, the experts on 3sgte swaps is PrimeMR2. Send them and e-mail with all your questions and they usually get back to people within 24 hours if it is during the week. You can make a decision once you get all you questions answered from PrimeMR2.

I think i am going to looks for a 3rd gen full swap to buy. If i dont find anything maybe i will do the 4th gen. But i want to go to manual anyway, and most 3rd gens i see for sale come with everything i would need. this 4th gen near me is just the engine. nothing else. that is why the price is nice.

going to try to do it by myself, even though ive never done anything of this scale, but i have to learn somewhere. and unfortunately the only place close to me that really does swaps, at least for our cars, has already said they arent doing any right now because they are booked.

[HardHead93]

I posted my dyno numbers on my build thread. 238 hp and 233 torque to the wheels running 13 psi. No bad for a 4th gen 3sgte. I probably could have went 14-15 psi and picked up another 10-20 hp but I played it safe. The 4th gen is a very capable motor.