goodbye dear camry, hello es250

[galaxee]

we've been 2g camry nuts since 2001. started with a dark blue 87 4cyl, body rusted out with the engine still running strong at 250k+ miles. then moved to a light blue 88 4cyl with 350k+ (!), had a great time fixing that one up and eventually sold for the same color 89 v6 that needed some work at ~135k. fixed that one up and it ran like a dream! not a single drop of oil leaked from that engine, trans was beautiful, man we were set. for 8000 miles. which is when someone smashed it while parked on the street.

the rear was toast, car wasn't really drivable. looked and looked for another 2g with a decent price, a good fixer upper, couldn't find anything under $1000. damn the resale value comes to bite you when you least expect it!

bought a 1990 es250 (with dead engine) off ebay a few weeks ago for well under the $1000 and we're getting ready to drop the camry engine and trans in it. going well with a couple minor changes and stuff, intake manifold had to be swapped, knock sensor from the es was put on the camry engine, and the engine wiring harnesses had to be swapped out. that's all.

this is our first non-toyota in ages, but it's still a toyota. in fact, it's even still a 2g camry and it's never getting parked on the street!!!

anyone need parts from a camry le v6? heh.

[nuron]

Take some pictures!

[PhatRoyale]

[nutyysqirrels]

what year did ya say ?

[galaxee]

engine and trans swap finished last night, car runs like a dream minus check engine light thrown by knock sensor. they didn't have a port in the block for it on the 89, it's new for the 90 MY. pics coming when i've got a minute. life's real hectic right now

the camry we're parting is an 89 le v6, light blue in color, dark blue interior. engine is out (now in the lexus) trans from the lexus seems to be ok but we preferred to use the one we knew and with fewer miles. (143k vs 168k)

should hopefully have pics loaded up to the computer and photobucket early next week for forum posting.

[es250nut]

The knock sensor port that is/is not there, couldn't you just use the ECM from the 89 to eliminate the CEL from coming on?

[galaxee]

here's an abbreviated overview:

lexus with bad engine in it.


engine/trans removal.


engine/trans sits outside engine compartment.


empty lexus.


camry with engine.


camry and engine, separated.


recipient, donor, and engine in question.


engines side by side, after swapping wiring harnesses, intake manifolds and front valve covers- the one on the left is the bad one out of the ES.


engine dropping in


engine hanging by a couple motor mounts and the bar


enter the transmission


ready for the first drive


and the cause of the knock in the old engine: a rod bearing. the thing was toast anyway, the block was a real mess. he saved the heads, and the rod bearing for amusement value of course.

needs some suspension work and a couple other minor things, but otherwise it runs really well

[Kingdom934]

Wow...looking good.

How much did it run for that?

[atobe]

that's a nice shop

[galaxee]

to respond to questions/comments:

yeah we could swap ECUs and such but he's pretty much had enough of this for now, just happy it drives and we have 2 cars again. maybe he'll relocate the sensor one of these days but not now.

total cost ran up to about $1200, plus about $4k in lost value of the camry if you count that.

hubs works at a real big toyota dealer, hence the nice shop. glad they let their techs work after hours like this.

[camryfour]

Nice es250 you got , I like your shop too