ES300 with 5FSE and 5-speed?

[95corollaDX]

(typo... I obviously meant 5S-FE engine)

I'm sure no one has ever attempted it, but I'm curious how feasible a 4-cyl 5-speed 97-01 ES300 would be? I really love the 2nd gen ES300, but I can't go back to a gas guzzling V6. I found a relatively cheap 97 ES300 in my area with a lot of miles on it, so I figure it would be a good candidate for a full drivetrain swap.

I know the ES and Camry are essentially the same cars mechanically, so does anyone know of anything that would keep this swap from happening? Obviously I'd need to get the ECU, wiring, etc out of a donor car, but I imagine the driveshafts from a 4-cyl 5-speed Camry would drop in if the ES300 shafts didn't work.

Also, anyone know the model code for the 5-speed Camry trans (4-cyl model)? I thought I read "S51" somewhere online, not sure if it's correct.


Thanks for any tips or info, this site is an awesome Toyota resource.


Jamie

Chicago, IL

[BlueFusion6851]

Wouldn't it be an E-series transmission, I know the 5spd for the 3VZ was the E153 transmission. I'll do more checking.

BTW: Welcome!
-I'll add this as a sidenote, but I think that while this is an unconventional way to keep the Lexus badge, it is kind of cool.

[EvoFire]

Isn't the S51 the auto?

[BlueFusion6851]

Ah, nevermind, I'm looking for the wrong gen ES300

[95corollaDX]

Sadly, the Camry wiki page just says:
5-speed manual
4-speed A140E automatic
4-speed A541E automatic
4-speed A540E automatic
I guess no one knew the manual code name

I'm not super-serious about doing the 4-cyl ES300, but it would be a pretty cool (and hopefully cheap/simple) project. I'm currently rockin' a 92 Sentra SE, so I'm plenty used to driving an underpowered / high-mpg car. I just want a bit (ok, a lot) more style and comfort. I'd sport a 3rd gen Camry with 4-cyl and 5-speed, but I'd almost rather just keep the Sentra. But a super-efficient (well, relatively so) ES300 with a 5-speed would be really unique and enjoyable.


Here's the cheap ES I saw near me, they had it listed for $3995, but recently upped it to $4500. Still not bad. Seemingly clean, but has 200k on it.



Thanks for the welcome. Login name is due to me owning a 95 Corolla for a month. Got it for $200, sold it for $2000. Was a nice car, but not worth passing up ~$1500 worth of profit.

[Luckynumber5]

I think the 5 speed for the 5s-fe is the s51 or s54, the s54 was on the MR2 and Celica with the 5s-fe.

You are looking at opening a big can of worms trying to swap a 5s into the ES300, why not look into a 5 speed swap for the 1mz-fe thats already in the ES?

[360glitch]

I guess the question is... how many gallons of gas can you buy with whatever money the swap would cost you?

[xet]

Ahh I have that ES in the exact same color, very nice car 1mz auto though. Very, very nice car regardless of your engine/transmission ideas

[ONE_to_HATE]

don't suffer my pain.. stay with a 6

[95corollaDX]

I currently get around 34 mpg in my Sentra, a friend of mine with a 4-cyl 98 Camry gets around 30, so that got me thinking of an ES300 that got maybe 32 mpg with a 5-speed. The idea of a 5-speed with V6 is very tempting, as I occasionally feel the need for speed, but as I approach the age of 30 (jeez, 5 months to go) things like mpg and feeling noble for polluting less seem more important than beating kids in their Civics. I already had a 5-speed 98 Maxima, that thing was fast as hell. But true pain is putting ~$50 into the tank every time the trip odo reads around 325 miles. Sentra costs me around $30 per tank for that many miles. Hopefully a 4-cyl ES300 would get many more than ~325 miles on a tank.

As for the cost, I would only want to do it in an ES that already had a lot of miles on it, or had engine trouble. Kinda hard to find those though. I could get lucky and find someone with a 4-cyl Camry that wants a V6 and we could do a double-swap...

The idea of an Infiniti G20 is also in my head, which comes with a Nissan SR20 and a 5-speed standard. And wouldn't you know, I found a nice 99 for $3995 in Milwaukee. Not as nice of a car as an ES though.

[MIC0417]

You can't say that about the gas tank because some tanks are smaller than others, a Camry tank is 18 gallons, I highly doubt your Sentra's is that big. It's based on how often you have to fill up the big ass tank.

[95corollaDX]

Originally Posted by MIC0417

You can't say that about the gas tank because some tanks are smaller than others, a Camry tank is 18 gallons, I highly doubt your Sentra's is that big. It's based on how often you have to fill up the big ass tank.

I know, that's why I involved miles per tank instead of just tanks. This one friend of my GF's got mad when she went from a ~96 Cutlass Supreme to a 2001 Alero, cause the Cutlass got ~350 per tank, and the Alero got ~280. She was all pist and called it a gas guzzler, but when I asked her how many gallons either car held, she was like "I don't know, I just know I have to get gas more often in this new car, I'm pist." Needless to say, she isn't that smart.

Sentra claims to hold 13 gallons, but if I drive around more than ~20 miles or so with the gas light on, good chance I'm gonna run it dry, or perhaps it ends up sucking up water or something. I've never put more than 11 gallons in it for a fill up.