88 Camry All-Trac. Motor Swap Qs/Progress

flyingdutchman

New member
Picking up an 88 Camry All-Trac today with a trashed motor (hole in the block). I was wondering if a 3sGE would swap right in? Or do I absolutely need to get a 3Sfe. Otherwise I was thinking about getting a short block & rotating assembly from toyota and throwing the heads I have on there. Suggestions are appreciated!

Seems like all the importers only have the GEs and GTEs, etc. that'd be an awesome motor for later but right now I just want to get the car running.

Also, I read somewhere that the alltrac blocks had a set of holes tapped into them to mount the t-case to, is this true?
 

88gt4DE

Active member
Bolt up the same being both 4cyl . I would make sure you can get harness and ecu also ... those are prol def different. Short block from Toyota is prol discontinued I'm sure and if they do have it aint gonna be cheap ...
 

flyingdutchman

New member
Hey thanks man, just found a JDM importer which has the all-trac specific motor for $650 & free delivery, so i'm going to take that route. Updates to follow!
 

phattyduck

New member
There are a few of us Camry Alltrac guys on here. Let us know if you have more questions. If you get the right motor, it should be an 'easy' swap. Swapping to a GE or GTE motor would require re-wiring, but not a whole lot of other changes.

-Charlie
 

flyingdutchman

New member
I'd love to throw the GTE in but I don't have the time at the moment, maybe in the future!

Ordered the engine today and almost have the old one all pulled out. Just need to remove the front swaybar and unplug the wires inside the car. Unfortunately shop isn't open until Monday :/ Going to the store tomorrow to get all the engine bits.

In the meantime, found a video on youtube which I'm pretty sure has the same car in it. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA2xxv5HbfU) Sounds like it wasn't getting too much maintenance at the time :pissed:
 

flyingdutchman

New member
No progress to report today, was busy at the shop. Snapped a few photos when I could. Shes a little dinged here and there but mostly good!

Motor also showed up today, seems good. Turns over nice and builds some compression. They really hack those things out of the clips though, looks like someone took bolt cutters to everything which attached it to the car ahaha.

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88gt4DE

Active member
flyingdutchman":n3krx9ve said:
No progress to report today, was busy at the shop. Snapped a few photos when I could. Shes a little dinged here and there but mostly good!

Motor also showed up today, seems good. Turns over nice and builds some compression. They really hack those things out of the clips though, looks like someone took bolt cutters to everything which attached it to the car ahaha.

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Yeah they sure do hack them up :x ... must be nice to be on the hacking end :bangshead:
 

flyingdutchman

New member
Yupp, but I pulled the manifolds/etc today, and thankfully it all looks good. Which means I have spares to play with! Hopefully the engine stand will be free tomorrow and I'll drop it out so yall can get some photos.
 

flyingdutchman

New member
Dropped the motor today after some shenanigans. Does anybody know how to fix a broken captive nut on a swaybar to body mount? The nut is inside a frame pocket with no access.

Started moving parts over to the new engine. The only parts that look like they crossover are the alternator & p/s brackets. Also replaced some gaskets. Hoping to get the trans & transfer case moved over to the new engine tomorrow and maybe start installing.
 

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New Guy

New member
hooooooooooooooly- did you buy that near San Jose? I recognize the vid, he actually maintained it pretty well (at least the one in the vid, assuming they are the same rig) but it did the same thing mine did. It just sorta started knocking and blew up. I almost got him a 5S to swap in but the cheapest way to get it to him from where I was at the time (New Mexico) would be a hand delivery rather than shipping, and neither of us had the time/money to do that.

At least, I *think* I'm thinking of the same rig. But I do know for sure it was the guy in San Jose who popped an engine and was looking at a 5S. That's what I did with mine (same year as yours. ;) ) and I can say the stock 5S is about perfect for a Camry All-Trac. I'm now looking at a future 5S-GTE with my bottom end rebuilt to go under a GTE head. Yeah, I blew my new motor up. :cry: :D
 

flyingdutchman

New member
I picked it up in Richmond actually. The guy I got it from said it blew up while he had it, big oil streak in the street too! Plate number is 3CYG994. I guess I can't really say, but it definitely didn't sound good in the video, and the rod was hanging out of the back of block ahaha :doh: Anyway let him know its getting fixed, would've hated for one of these to go to the scrapper!

Yea I would've liked to do a different motor but with my budget & the time I have available it wasn't going to happen :/ We'll see what the future holds though; I always spend way too much money on my cars :D Sorry to hear about the 5S, what happened? Got any photos?
 

New Guy

New member
I have a bunch available on ToyotaNation under the user name '88 All-Trac.

The 5S just started knocking, I was commuting to/from school and there's a curve in the highway designed to kill S-engined cars. (Steep uphill, with a sharp curve to the right at ~55mph, requiring use of a low gear and high-g turning for an extended period) but I shut it off before the knock got significantly loud.

I'm currently looking for a set of stock 3S-GTE rods, as the crank will proooobably need to be turned so I may as well get some stronger/lighter rods in there. Haven't looked yet to see if my big end got burnt.

I did my entire 5S swap (including new gaskets everywhere, the engine, and a Fidanza flywheel) for under $750.
 

flyingdutchman

New member
Wow! Where'd you get the engine from to make that budget? I was having trouble finding a 3S-FE and ended up giving out $700 for just the engine, dammit. That sounds like an awesome build though! I found your build thread but I've got to get up early tomorrow, so it'll have to be a nice after-work read.
 

phattyduck

New member
flyingdutchman":7h99qckr said:
Dropped the motor today after some shenanigans. Does anybody know how to fix a broken captive nut on a swaybar to body mount? The nut is inside a frame pocket with no access.
Are you talking about the front swaybar mounts? If so, you can just get a new (errr... used) one at the junkyard. If it is the back side (the control arm mount points), you will have to cut in there, repair and then weld it back up.

Keep up the good work. You'll love driving past all the stuck and spinning SUVs in your old Camry. :D

-Charlie

edit: PS. I checked the tires on my white Alltrac - 205/70-14, but they do rub on the inner fenders (both above the tire and at full lock). So stay smaller than that. :)
 

flyingdutchman

New member
I'm talking about the c-clip swaybar to frame mounts. They bolt to a little panel which attaches to the body. I'll keep yall posted. I'm tempted to cut them open, fix it, and weld them back together; but they are a little rusty.

Thats exactly why I got it! I've got a job as a snowboard instructor (whenever they actually get enough snow :cry: ) and couldn't find any cheapish Subarus. Thanks for the headsup on the tires. Mines got 185/70s :D so I think I'll be ok for now!

Heads up though! I'm probably going to need some vacuum diagram shots or info. I've got a few hoses I'm still trying to figure out. I've got one splitting off a tee (on the base of the T) from the intake manifold, passenger side. Its pretty long, I'm thinking maybe it goes to the cruise control canister? Also have a large-ish, maybe 10mm ID, hose coming up from near the transfer case/transmission seal. And there is a green connecter with a vacuum fitting just in the very back driver corner of the engine bay. I'll get some photos if I can't figure it all out tomorrow!

Also, just a few FYIs for future people, maybe it'll help.
1. The M/T will slip off the engine & transfer case without separating the engine & transfer case.
2. The transfer case mounts in a way that blocks access to the intake manifold support & a CV boot shield, so make sure to attach those first.
3. There is no way you're going to separate the engine & transmission in the engine bay. The input shaft to the transfer case is like a foot and a half long.

Anyway, almost there! Hope to be on the road tomorrow.
 

phattyduck

New member
The "correct" way is to keep the transmission in one piece and remove it from the engine. It requires a little sequence to get it off there (pull back 1", rotate transfer case side 'up', pull off another 1" or so, then when the input shaft is free, rotate the trans so the transfer case misses the block - fun, eh?). Then you have the fun of doing that all in reverse to get the engine and trans back together.

I have a manual trans Alltrac sitting in the garage, so let me know if you need any pictures. It has a bunch of extra vacuum lines on it that no other Camry has...

-Charlie
 

flyingdutchman

New member
That sounds absolutely terrible. If I ever have to do it again I'm going to try the 'missile silo' thing I've seen some posts about. Support the engine on its face with the t-case attached, then lower the transmission onto it.

-Anyway, I could use some photos/info of the rearmost (closest to the driver) & middle (the one that is offset to the driver side) coolant lines leaving the bottom of the TB and where they go to.
-And then the 1st vacuum line inwards from the passenger side on the back intake manifold (its a short one) where does that go? I looked around in the area but can't find anything.
-I also noticed what looks like a vacuum port at the end of the front shift linkage, but I don't have any lines near there to hook it up. I've attached a photo of this, kinda hard to get a feel for where it is though. The two booted objects are the shift cables.1220131537.jpg-Finally, on the big canister on the t-case, there are 3 vacuum ports. Do two of the lines cross over each other?

I should have actually used tape that was sticky, and labeled more things. Help would be appreciated! :notworthy: The vacuum diagram doesn't show any of these as far as I can tell, and neither does the toyota EPC.

Progress report is: assembly is mounted in the car, passenger side is all finished up minus the wiring harness through the firewall & the one vacuum line. Still have: clutch slave, airbox, passenger side axle(they sent me the wrong one), and some wiring & hoses. Almost there!
 

88gt4DE

Active member
I've never seen a Vac line going to the shift cable linkage ... Correct me anyone if I'm wrong but I think that's just a moisture drain ...
 
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