Using this online calculator (Gearing Calculator | RPM and Tire Diameter to km/h - mph with Shift Tracer), I input the current stats of what I know, tire size: 225/45/17, E153 1-5+FD gear ratios and a rev limit of 6500.
using 4.285 FD ratio, 4th gear ratio at 0.918 gives 123mph, which seems about right. 5th at 0.731 showed 154mph, which goes with what I've seen people say.
I modified the 5th gear number to hit 130mph, which ended up being a ratio of 0.82, which turns out is the exact same gear ratio as 5th in an E53/E56 transmission. Are the gears from the E153 and E53/E56 interchangeable?
I'm hoping that might be why, which gives me at least a starting point of knowledge of where my gearbox is at...

 

here you go, posted just 15 days ago, and it is even in your own language (British!)

The E154 they redo is slightly different (from an 4WD Celica), but is similar in many ways to our E153.
Note they say they "rebuilt" it, but they really just disassembled, replaced seals, cleaned housing and re-assembled, so I say "redid", but semantics.

As you can see from the video, 5th gear is sort of on the outside of the transmission, so may be pretty easy for you to get to without going all of the way to a whole teardown like they did.

 

Perfect for what I need! Just need to figure out the parts/part numbers etc... Will watch this video soon as I get back!

 

Hopefully someone will post with information on your second question, about what is the difference between E153 and the later E53 MT gears. I am curious about that myself. Many people say "the E53 has different synchros", but reading the Toyota sales materials from the time very carefully (and the shop manual) it seems that the synchro changes were made in the smaller 4 cylinder MT, and not in the V6 one we are talking about.

 

Regarding the synchro, I've found out that (at least in the uk) '89-' 92 e153 had single synchro gears, 93+ had dual synchro

 

A nice watch for when I convert my build to 4WD (maybe in 5 years)

 

OP, do you know if the previous owner of your E153 used the Quaife LSD for the MR2 in it? Been thinking of buying it, would be nice to have some feedback

 

I'm afraid it's oem lsd

 

Correction to my post #4 above (I got mixed up).

E53 was the Camry V6-MT in '92 and '93, then in '97 when a V6-MT was made available again in a Camry, it was then the E153.

Apparently, after some research today I now understand the MR2 used the E153 the whole time (from at least '92), and in that use it went through synchro changes at times.

 

Do you know if the E153 in the 97 Camry V6 had the same factory lsd as the MR2 and if not, what year has the most up to date synchros + factory LSD for an MR2 E153? Asking for a friend with an '07 Avalon. It's me. I want to swap it.

Edit: From what I understand I could also plate off an E154 and just use it fwd-only, do any of those have factory LSDs and a final drive that would be good for the Avvie?

 

I am pretty sure that no Camry MTs came with LSD.

Here are some links for you:

Toyota E-series transmissions – Ghost XI

aw11.scratchbyte.com

TN forum, search for:
e53 vs. e153

Toymods forum, search for:
E-series transmission interchangeability

Also, here's a link to the thread where I rebuilt my E53 (same transmission as the E153 and E154, except for gear ratios and the 154's 4WD center diff). see pages 11 ~ 13, 16 & 17:

Gen3 Restoration Thread

I didn't start out intending to own a Camry for this long. But when I bought this 1993 Camry SE V6 (3VZ-FE) 5MT, in October of 1992, it seemed to be good enough for my needs. It handled like a pig when new, but finally I found a shop which specialized in race cars and they set up the alignment...

www.toyotanation.com

Page 12 is where I listed up all of the tools required, and all of the seals needed for an overhaul.

 

I'm only interested in an E153/4 with an LSD so I guess I'm limited to the Japanese market MR2 Turbo E153s?

The quaife lsd for MR2 turbo e153's costs the better part of a whole Japanese transmission with the factory lsd (used of course)

Is it possible to just order the lsd from Toyota and pop it in a E153 that never had it? Nothing's ever that easy right?

People put 2GR-FEs in their MR2s I'm just trying to go the other way with a car that never came with the lord's transmission 😂 (and I'm sick of the one tire fires when you stomp it)

 

Is it possible to just order the lsd from Toyota and pop it in a E153 that never had it? Nothing's ever that easy right?

I’ve read that it’s possible. Dunno if it’s as easy as just “popping it in”.

 

Since the gear alignment in an E series transmission is all dealt with by the machining of the cases (there are no hypoid gear alignment issues in one), it should be just that easy as dropping it in.

Though, "dropping it in" would require complete disassembly of the transmission to do it (5th gear removed, case opened, shifter mechanism and oil distribution pipes removed, then gear clusters removed, then the diff can be "dropped in"). Though, if planning to replace the seals on a used one, those steps will all have to be done anyway.

Doubt that Toyota still stocks new LSDs, though, its been a lot of years since it was current. However, if no transmissions are available from salvage yards with one, you could try your local dealer and find out.

 

did the LSD come with the turbocharged 4WD Celicas? That might be another salvage source to try.

 

E154 has AWD front diff, with power shaft to the central diff. I haven't taken one apart myself, but I highly, highly doubt that front diff can be converted to FWD, LSD or not. AWD Celica did have rear LSD, so just go all in and do AWD swap on your project is what I'd say.

Factory LSD diff for E153 has different CV axle splines, so you would need LSD CV axle stubs. The LSD goes for about $400 on the used market, stubs are about another $400, and the trans itself is $400. LSD E153 w/ stubs is thus $1200.

The MR2 E153 is setup for RWD, so shift linkage is different. They can be converted from FWD to RWD and vice versa, but you need the corresponding shift linkage mechanism to attach the linkage from the opposite site.

Can you order a diff from Toyota and drop it in? I'm sure you can, no different than converting a non-LSD box to an LSD box, but read above on axle stubs.

 

I know the shift linkage are a pain and have to be adapted but that tranny is the one I expected to have to use, if I want lsd. Now I'm thinking maybe I can take a Camry E153 and place the MR2 turbo E153 lsd inside of it (and corresponding stubs)? Maybe make things easier

 

Can't awd swap a 3rd gen Avalon. They made the floor flat for more rear passenger leg room. It would have to be lifted or majorly surgery to accommodate that

According to some "sources" The 4WD transmissions can be run fwd, simply by plating off the rear. Yet to confirm that.

If I'm manual swapping a 2007 Avalon with potentially a 10+ year older used manual transmission I'm definitely not going to be squeamish about opening it up and making sure it's in good shape and set up the way I want the first time because that's a big job and only getting done once

 

The Camry E153 diff is a simplified and weaker structure than what was used in the MR2/Celica/Gen3 Camry. But the transmission case itself is the same so it should still be able to take a drop in LSD from one of those other vehicles if they didn't change the machining of the case. When you get to that point let us know how it turns out, though, because I'm curious myself!