Neemox

Hey all, long history on a new rebuild of mine. The builder/installer screwed it up real bad and the rings never seated, and they didn't honor their warranty. Fast forward, and now the head gasket is getting ready to go. I've got oil in the coolant, not the other way around yet (thankfully). I've got oil blowing out the valve cover through the PCV (replaced twice), so I'm guessing what I actually have is bad head gasket on the exhaust side, letting oil in.

So, I'm looking at my first rebuild, and planning on doing it myself. No sense in song just the headgasket when the rings are so bad. I found a running complete 22re donor with an ecu and wiring harness from a 1985 4runner with a little over 200k. Can I do a direct swap into my 1987? I think I would need a new exhaust header, right? But do all the plugs match up?

I'm planning on rebuilding mine once I have it out, but it would be nice to swap in a running motor.

Thanks.

thefishguy77

iTrader: (1)

The exhaust wont really matter if its re to re. But some or many plugs may be different. I honestly don't know. The engine compartment wiring harness is easy to remove if pulling the whole motor. Not sure if you need to swap ECIs but with some searching you can probably find out.

Good luck I am sure someone on here will know more than me.

old87yota

Most plugs are the same, but a few are different.

However....

The easiest thing to do is to leave all of the 1987 EFI stuff (intake, ECU, sensors, injectors, exhaust manifold, etc) with your truck and just swap the 1985 long block engine itself into your truck. Then just bolt up your existing 1987 parts (intake, sensors, injectors, exhaust manifold, etc) to the 1985 engine.

ev13wt

This is the correct answer. And it works. In my case a 93 RE will work in a 86. On the block - only the installedknock sensor had a wrong plug, so I used the one off the old 86 engine.

Neemox

Great, that's what I thought but wanted to make sure. I'll swap the long block and go from there. Thanks!

arlindsay1992

iTrader: (8)

Yeah, long blocks are the same from 1985 to 1995 for R's and RE's. There are various minor changes to sensors, intakes, and exhausts between various configurations. Long block swap is the way to go.

Neemox

This is my first swap, and I already know I'm planning on cleaning the engine compartment real well and relocating the fuel filter to the sidewall, are there any other tasks I should plan on completing while I have the engine bay empty?

Also, is there anything I should be doing with my new (used) motor before I swap it in? I was planning on doing a leakdown for sure, but what other best practices should I do (besides pulling off the old EFI components) before putting it in? History on the motor says it was running when it was pulled a couple years ago.

arlindsay1992

iTrader: (8)

Replace leaky gaskets and seals. Definitely the rear main since you don't want to have to deal with that after it's in the truck. Also, replacing the transmission input seal isn't a bad idea. Clutch is worth considering. Timing chain if you don't know the age. Oil pump and water pump are pretty robust on these engines and easy to replace if they do go bad, so I wouldn't bother replacing those unless there is an obvious problem.