2000 Toyota Avalon

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A GOOD longtime friend/customer was letting his step-daughter borrow his Avalon because she destroyed her car, Took her a little over 6 months to destroy this one! The radiator developed a leak & she kept on driving it for who knows how long? I went to his house for some BBQ & beer a few weeks ago & to diagnose the issue......
So much water/coolant had been ingested that the engine was hydrolocked & a oil/water mix was flowing into the air-box, Antifreeze jugs littered the back seat floorboard & truck (At least 20 of them).

I have taken care of this car since it was new & has 144,xxx miles on it now, It was in need of valve cover gaskets (seeping) & a high pressure P/S hose the last time I saw it at 110,000 miles but declined as he didn't drive it much it being a third vehicle & all. It wasn't leaking bad yet.
I had put 4 new OE struts, Rebooted the CV axles, Brakes all around, Timing belt, Water pump, Idler, Tensioner, Drive belts, Cam & Crank seals, Thermostat, Trans service, Differential service & some things I forget 6 years ago at @ 90,000 miles.

Enough with the rambling......I asked him how much he wanted for the car.........He gave me the car outright, Dragged me to the sub-courthouse & paid $45 to transfer the title (Gifted) into my name the following Monday. I must admit that I HATE people giving me anything, Makes me feel uncomfortable as I've worked for everything I own & don't ask for hand-outs! He's a very good guy & KNOW it's nothing he would bring up later.....He's just sticking it too the Wife & her daughter!

Bought a JDM 1MZ-FE VVTi/A541E package from another friend that I've known for 25+years (about the same time he immigrated form India to the US on a work visa) since he worked as my apprentice at a Cadillac/GMC/Pontiac dealer, He started importing JDM engines as a hobby about 15 years ago & grew it into a full time flourishing business. He sold it to me "raw" right out of the container from Japan without the pressure washing & brightening salesmanship bling.

Had the car towed to my work, As it sits in "The Pen" .........


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A gold Avalon?
37.gif


Should have sent it to that great junkyard in the sky where it belongs and put it out of it's misery!
 
Very nice. Do you plan to lower the subframe onto a hydraulic table and do the swap that way?
 
Cool. I have a 2000 Lexus es300. Very similar car. Same engine. It's very reliable. The engine is not a power house but it's fun to wring it out.
 
There are two knock sensors on this engine under the intake manifold under the air intake plenum. Mine need to be changed. There is also a knock sensors harness that connects the 2 knock sensors to the main harness. Sometimes those wiring harness go bad. Might want to give it a visual while the motors out. Also there is a coolant bypass tube under the intake manifold. It's made of the same rubber as the other radiator hose. As much as it sucks you might want to change that hose so you know it won't leak or blow and leave you stranded or worse overheat the engine.
 
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Originally Posted by clinebarger

I had put 4 new OE struts, Rebooted the CV axles, Brakes all around, Timing belt, Water pump, Idler, Tensioner, Drive belts, Cam & Crank seals, Thermostat, Trans service, Differential service & some things I forget 6 years ago at @ 90,000 miles.


Is that amount of work @ 90,000 miles normal?
 
In addition to what joegreen suggested, pull the oil pan and check the engine for sludge before installing it (these engines were known sludge monsters). I would also change the sparkplugs, PCV valve, and do a timing belt/water pump/idler pulley service on it while it is out of the car. A couple of hundred dollars worth of maintenance now will save you a lot of hassles later.
 
Originally Posted by 2015Corolla
Originally Posted by clinebarger

I had put 4 new OE struts, Rebooted the CV axles, Brakes all around, Timing belt, Water pump, Idler, Tensioner, Drive belts, Cam & Crank seals, Thermostat, Trans service, Differential service & some things I forget 6 years ago at @ 90,000 miles.


Is that amount of work @ 90,000 miles normal?

Twenty years ago sure. About half those parts are not that uncommon today on the last of the TB cars. Some of that stuff aged out (like the seals).
 
We had one of those several years ago, same year and color! That thing would definitely scoot around for being such a large car. Unfortunately electrical gremlins were popping up left and right and we sent it on its way at around 70K.
 
Seems like you know your way around them. Toyota Avalons/Camrys always did well for my Family members with ownership. Good luck with it & keep us posted please.


Dale
 
Originally Posted by The Critic
Very nice. Do you plan to lower the subframe onto a hydraulic table and do the swap that way?


I have access to a lift & a engine table......Though I haven't decided if I'm going to pull it out the top or drop the subframe. I'm leaning toward pulling it out the top, That way I can push the car off the lift & have time to clean-up the engine harness, Replace any connectors with broken lock tabs & re-wrap it with Tesa Tape. The Texas heat combined with underhood eat kills Toyota electrical connectors for some reason.
 
Man, some people should only ride a bike, take the bus or use Uber if they can't maintain a car.

Looks like you have a project on your hands, the MZ series Toyota V6s might not have the same power as the Honda J-series V6s, but they are a good motor as long as they are maintained.
 
Originally Posted by wag123
In addition to what joegreen suggested, pull the oil pan and check the engine for sludge before installing it (these engines were known sludge monsters). I would also change the sparkplugs, PCV valve, and do a timing belt/water pump/idler pulley service on it while it is out of the car. A couple of hundred dollars worth of maintenance now will save you a lot of hassles later.


I'm fully aware, It will be tore down to a long block & completely re-sealed, And the pistons soaked with GM Upper Engine Cleaner.
Spark Plugs, Water pump, All new OE timing components (even the plastic cover packing), Clean & flow the injectors, New radiator, ALL coolant hoses, Thermostat.

This will be my wife's car & must be mechanically perfect, My middle daughter is getting the Corolla....Which was supposed to go to my oldest daughter but I found a cheap 2009 Honda Civic for her that I had to rebuild the transmission on, I just hope the R18 doesn't [censored] the bed anytime soon!
 
Originally Posted by dishdude
A gold Avalon?
37.gif


Should have sent it to that great junkyard in the sky where it belongs and put it out of it's misery!


If I can make a reliable ride out of it for $4000, I win! It's not for me.....It's for my wife & she doesn't care as long as it's reliable, Has good A/C, & doesn't leak fluids.
 
Progress has been a little slow.......

The engine passed a Leak-down with flying colors & Soaked all the pistons with GM upper engine cleaner....Though it probably didn't need it.
Pulled both valve covers to see if I had a slugded engine on my hands.....One of the cleanest 1MZ-FE's I've seen in a while!! The spark plug tube seals are in like new condition, So I left those alone & changed the valve cover gaskets.

This engine is out of a Camry or something similar (Different than a Avalon chassis anyway)......I have to change the Oil Pump as this engine uses a different timing belt tensioner set-up to clear a engine mount that the Avalon doesn't have. Special order from my local Toyota dealer.

It has a broken (Rear Bank) VVT solenoid from the engine removal, Probably going to order a new OE one cause I don't trust the one's in the car after being exposed to coolant.

I need to sell the U140E trans that came with this JDM engine (My Avalon has a A541E), No big deal if I don't as this package was cheaper than any high mileage wreaking yard pullout around here.

Some parts pics......I got the Radiator in after these were taken, $133 from the Toyota dealer which I thought was really good considering what OE Japanese radiators usually cost! Right now......I have $700 in parts & $550 in the engine package.

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i was driving my moms 2008 Avalon for 4 years she is in a care home. it was a good car. but i had to sale it. the ride was a bit to soft for me. had lots of power. i was putting 70% high way miles on it. about 700 miles a month. didnt need to many repairs. an Avalon is a good car if you like a soft ride. i tryed running the tire pressure up to 45. but that didnt work as the suspension didnt match.
 
Originally Posted by red7404
i was driving my moms 2008 Avalon for 4 years she is in a care home. it was a good car. but i had to sale it. the ride was a bit to soft for me. had lots of power. i was putting 70% high way miles on it. about 700 miles a month. didnt need to many repairs. an Avalon is a good car if you like a soft ride. i tryed running the tire pressure up to 45. but that didnt work as the suspension didnt match.


Not a bad thing in this situation, This is for my wife & she still misses her old 1996 Pontiac Bonneville that rode on the soft side.
 
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