Used Supra engines from Japan. Are they OK?
 

I am thinking of replacing my whole engine (150,000 miles) rather than just changing the head gasket on my 1991 Supra. For $1,400 I can get a low mileage (40 to 60 K) engine from Japan. But I still will have to deal with the head gasket somewhere down the line.
Any advice? Anyone bought one of these Japan specials? Are they any good?
Thanks,
Stan

Why not just cut the middle man and replace it with a 1JZ they have no problems with head gaskets and plus the beauty of 11 PSI from the factory and a metal head gasket to boot. You can put 18 PSI through the stock turbos for a whilw before the fail and the motor can handle 700+ without internal mods. Plus being that you have a 91 then you got the right crossmember and they usually run about the same price as what you are looking at.

japanese engines are usually very good i heard somewhere that the japanese are encouraged to get rid of their old cars at certain mileages and buy a new car to boost up the economy, and they barely even drive their cars they ride bikes and trains most of the time, the japanese man i bought my 1jz from said supras are considered japanese muscle cars and the owners usually ride bikes and trains by day and cruise in their supras at night

Good idea, I guess
 

Well, that defintly sounds like the way to go, but I don't know anything about 1jz engines. What car do they come from? Will they swap out with the original 1991 mk3 without much of a fuss? Or are there modifications that must be made?
Thanks

They are a 2.5lt twin turbo. Standard about 206Kw. They came out in a few toyota's including the Supra 90-92 but only released in japan. I imported 1 and have been very happy with it. Just bought a single turbo conversion to replace the stock twins so hopefully i will be even happier with it soon...

When you look at a 1JZ next to the 2JZ in the mark 4 supra they look almost the same. This is because they are from the same family the 1JZ was the start of the 2JZ. Most of the parts for the 2JZ here in the states will fit the 1JZ and they have a metal head gasket from the factory. Pretty much from what I have seen most of the turbo kits for the 2JZ also say they are for the 1JZ as well and I have pulled the manifolds and the bolt hole match up. But there is actually a lot of stuff out there for that motor just have to go to the right place like here www.RHDjapan.com .

I mean that's what I'd do.
I would listen to someone that has around 100 posts or less.
They aren't going to be there to help you rebuild the JDM.

You can't run jdm engines without a complete rebuild before installation.
If you do it's a crap shoot.

Inevitabley you will be sorry for not going USDM.

Hmm, who told you that? Unless you know from it personialy happening to you, They have low milage i have never heard of anyone having to rebuild a jdm motor, my manager fixes imports and he replaces the engines with jdm and has never had to rebuild one, you better do some research before knocking jdms... im sry if you got ripped off on your jdm motor.

not necessarily a rebuild is needed but more like maintainence like replacing gaskets and seals here and there making sure theres no leaks, they do sit for a long time, and new fluids. it would be easier to rebuild a 7m with new headgaskets while its out of the car whether it jdm or usdm right?

i got a jdm engine, i bought it with the big turbo on it and the forged pistons
new rods, all arp studs, hks metal headgasket, hks cast iron exhaust manifold
it was ported already, the intake manifold wasnt sold to me cuz it was a jdm FFIM, plus more to list all this was with the jdm motor that i bought
somebody was playing with the motor i got at japan b4 they junked the car

and guess what, i ddnt rebuild the motor, and its running fine

All these JDM motors are ran hard as hell. It really is a crapshoot like 2nr said. I've seen so many people install a JDM motor with a blown head gasket or rod knock already.

I havent seen anyone yet that has bought a 1JZ or 2JZ from JDM that has had a problem. 7M's are a older motor and yes the head gasket thing is a known problem. With somthing like a 7M yes I would do the top end before I dropped it in because you never know. Plus with a 7MGTE you can find one of those for like 800 bucks so with how little you paid why not do the top end.

mine ran fine, no rebuild needed, thats why i got so far ahead with my project
so easy, now its jus a matter of getting the proper electronics so i can get as much hp as i want

i bought a jdm 7mgte motors and didn't do the top end before i installed it and absolutely no problems yet and i have ran it for at least 50k to 60k miles. the only thing i had to do was put another knock sensor on it cuz it was missing and some routine maintenance along the way. but i'm very happy with mine but i've heard of some not being so lucky so you really never know honestly.

And if you never really know......, why take the chance.

I sure wouldn't buy one and drop it in straight from the box. The people doing this and not having problems are just getting lucky.

You guys thinking that the mileage is low. That's flucking hysterical.
Because they off load all of these engines. Then they proceed to tear them apart and get rid of what is visually no good.

So maybe your block has 40k something on it. But you have no idea what you are getting.

It's just not smart to put one in without going through it first.
It's not the right way to do things at all. You are just creating the probability for failure.

When you already have the engine out. Why not take a week and rebuild it.
It's just not good sense.

It's like finding a dildo and telling your wife to go ahead and use it.
Only for her to find out that it needs new batteries.

yeah i agree its a smart thing to rebuild it or at least do the headgasket before dropping it in. i got mine 2 or so years ago and i didn't know as much as i do now so if i could do it all over again i would rebuild it right away.

my uncle lives in japan,
the reason why there's so many front clips and jdm engines being sold over here its bcuz its useless to them, and financially stupid

at 30k a car motor is considered a high mileage motor in japan
they pay an extra fine, and a higher insurance for driving a high mileage motor
over there,
so the only smart thing to do considering how cheap cars are over there,
is just to get a new one,

were recycling their engines,
and ordering one and dropping them right in, and running is not jus luck
its called a "reputable shop"
a shop that has a reputation of providing excellent parts and service,

ordering one from an uknown shop and dropping it in and running,
now thats lucky,
but if it f***s up on you, you dont have anybody to blame but urself
since your the one that ordered it on the first place

now in my case, i ddnt get mine from any shop, like i said, i got family that lives there, and i get my jdm stuff, from a private source


and for the dildo thing;
i think if you find a dildo somewhere and gave it to ur wife to use
it, not having batteries is the least of her worries
there are things called Vanerial Disease, you know.

Gotta admit it was funny.

I'm not arguing with you guys.
To be honest that is the most logical argument I have heard for jdm engines right there.

My 88's previous owner dropped a JDM into it.. ran it for about 7000 km, had a rod knock, the turbo folded and then he spun the bearings. Now it has a fully rebuilt orginal motor (they just rebuilt the old 7MGTE and turbo from the car) in it with about 22k km on it. The only issue I have with the engine is that he didnt look under the hood .. so the hoses all needed to be replaced and pretty well anything rubber as they were all seemingly original (200k km on them).

Now.. if the valves didnt leak while sitting over a day or so.. it would be an excellent engine. That is my only complaint... blue smoke startup.

JDM Portland OR local source
 

Does anyone know where in Portland the shop is that imports these? My mechanic roommate says he knows there's a place here but can't remember where he saw it.

Otherwise I'll have to (groan) get one from ebay. Not the end of the world, but dang, 395$ for shipping.

Thanks for your help, other Supra owners.

Paula

1988 Supra (mine--needs heart transplant) and
1987 Supra (his--needs more than heart transplant)

It has to due with the Japanese compulsory insurance and inspection cycles. A new car goes for 3 years and then it is every 2 years. The inspectors are real picky and it gets harder to get the car to pass as it gets older. There comes a time when it is cheaper to get rid of it. Especially the small cars.
As for "millage" distances are less in Japan and the toll roads there are expensive. You can take the "bullet" train for the costs of tolls from Tokyo to Osaka. Then there is the price of petro. After that is the lack of parking at work.
Oh unlike America the cars themselves are insured for a basic amount. It goes with the car and can not be refunded while the car is tagged. So when you register the car the insurance is paid up for the time frame upfront.

Having worked in the automotive industry (and even in this specific maket) for a number of years I would NEVER just drop ANY used engine in a car.... even if I hated the person. You have absolutely NO idea what it's been through and trust me, low mileage means NOTHING with a 20+ year old engine which has possibly been beaten to hell in what road life it has seen. I've dealt with plenty of "bulletproof" engines which have died terribly with less than 20K on them (even after testing out just fine prior to installation).

Mostly bicycles? You think it's China huh? They've got more technology open to them than that. ;) It kills me how people think it's that hard for kids to find open road upon which to beat the shit out of their cars on anywhere in the world. Even if it's not driven daily it doesn't mean it's not run low on oil or over heated every weekend; It only takes one screw up to start the time bomb ticking.

A JZ install isn't a straight drop in and many people dig themselves into a hole because they can't do what's needed or afford a competent mechanic. It's a bad idea to just throw it out everytime without explaining the pitfalls. I've seen a lot of these projects sold for pennies because they couldn't afford to continue or just gave up.


And 100 posts doesn't mean much, when I came here I had over 2000 posts on most of the other forums I participate in... Low post count != newbie.

As Cre said.. it would be silly to drop a JDM import straight into the car. You want to replace seals first.. EVEN if it doesnt need them.
Salt corrosion is bad and thats what you are going to find. Cheap engines really.. but there is a reason for it.

I looked at getting a front clip and dropping it in. My mechanical abilities are not what they should be since I haven't torn out engines and rebuilt them in over 20 years.. so I ask the experts. For me to do it the way I want, is going to take a minimum of 10,000.00 (more like 14,000+)

I can pull the engine, I can put the engine in.. but I don't trust myself with finessing things and generally I like doing things once only. From all my research I will be sticking with the 7MGTE solely because its the most cost effect way to reach my modest HP desire of approx. 400 at the wheels. If I wanted above 400 I would go with a 2jz swap and single turbo. My initial estimate for doing this with a single turbo was slightly over 14,000.00. You cant just drop it in and hope for the best.

JDM imports are great if your prepared to redo the engine prior to popping it in. If your not.. your gambling. (which isn't too bad if you can pull the engine and rebuild yourself later on)

100,000 miles out of a properly built/properly maintained 7M or 1JZ or 2JZ is simple to do. I only drive my car 2000 - 3000 km per year.. so the car should outlive me :)

Supera engine is strong enough, i feel your engine is not bad with 150,000 miles.