My 1994 FZJ80 with 141k miles has been running a bit rough, engine light is on and it failed emissions. Turns out the 3rd cyl. is at 70psi (others at 150). Drip down test shows its' leaking both out the exhaust port and out the bottom. I've been getting better pricing on used motors imported from Japan with 40-60k miles than a rebuild of what I have.

The question - has anyone done an engine replacement on one of these and did you use an import motor? They are supposedly compression checked, leak tested etc... I would only use the top end and block - new timing chain, water pump, therm., seals etc... and my existing Alt, AC etc... The deal has a 12month 12k mile War. on it too. IF you have done this - what did you pay.

Thanks guys!

One of the guys in the Wasatch cruisers had to replace his motor. I don't know the details, or who it was. Maybe BoxRocket knows.
IIRC, he wound up spending $7000 ish to replace the motor with the OEM motor.

Have you thought about having it rebuilt? If you pull the motor and bring it to a rebuilder it should only cost a couple grand.

TAP (gasp!) quoted me $2k for a motor with 46k miles. It was from valve cover to oil pan. I'm going through the same thing, but I'm going to rebuild mine.

If it helps Lance Williams (LanceW@cov.com) bought a nice cheap FZJ80 with a blown motor and replaced it. He said it was plug and play, easier than doing a 2F replacement. You might want to try Greg Bowie at gbowie@uniserve.com who has a good source in Japan for cheaper used Japanese engines... He's up in Canada and with the Canadian dollar you can probably get a pretty good deal...

Well, I might be able to give a little insight, but you might find better options. Darren Webster (member of Wasatch Cruisers) just replaced in 1FZ-FE recently and he bought a new motor through Menlove Toyota in Bountiful, Utah. He spent about $5K in parts which included a short block, head, waterpump, gaskets, belts, hoses, plugs, timing chain tensioner and slipper. His motor had overheated badly and IIRC the head warped or something so he wasn't able to rebuild it.

There is another place here in the Salt Lake City area called All Truck. It's a NICE (a bit of an oxymoron) salvage yard. Seriously it's about the cleanest, nicest salvage yard I've ever seen. They regularly have 1FZ's complete for a around $1600 IIRC. They have become a good source for motors and several motor swaps happening within our club are using motors from All Truck.

It sounds to me like you should be able to rebuild your current motor and be fine. It will likely be much cheaper to rebuild it rather than replace it.

Oh yeah, Darren also got a new radiator as part of the cost mentioned above.