I like faster cars, but I hate doing engine swaps. So when I do one, I want it to last. I'm assuming that (like every other turbo'd engine) the 3S-GTE does not have the longevity of the naturally aspired 3S-GE.

Is this a good assumption? How many miles could I expect to get out of each engine? Also, I will only be using motors produced in the US, as I live in California where they frown on JDM motors.

well there aren't any usdm 3rd gen 3s-gte's or 3s-ge's. so you would have to go with a 2nd gen 3s-gte. but since its an older engine, that is also "frowned on" in cali and pretty much everywhere else. i'd wanna do a 4a-ge swap but i'm sh*t out of luck since those are also jdm engines. as for mileage, toyota engines last a long time. you just gotta take care of it.

This post has been edited by j0e_p3t: Mar 28, 2006 - 7:14 PM

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Ah crap - I mis-read the chart. I thought the 2nd Gen 3s-gte's were produced in '95 - oops. Back to the drawing board...

I can't find any Cali legal turbo kits either. Are we pretty much screwed out here or what?

"Due to request, below are the horsepower figures for some of the 3S-GTE engines:
1st Generation - 190 HP(USDM '87-'89 Celica All-Trac), 187 HP(JDM '87-'89 Celica GT-Four)
2nd Generation - 200 HP(USDM '90-'93 Celica All-Trac, USDM '91-'95 MR2 Turbo), 221 HP(JDM '90-'93 Celica GT-Four, JDM '89-'94 MR2 Turbo), 231 HP(JDM '90-'93 Celica GT-Four RC)
3rd Generation - 239 HP(Non-JDM '94-'99 Celica GT-Four), 241 HP(JDM '95-'99 MR2 Turbo), 251 HP(JDM '94-'98 Celica GT-Four)
4th Generation - 254 HP(JDM ST246 Toyota Caldina GT-Four)"

According to this chart from this post, the 2nd Gen 3S-GTE should work 'cause it was in production in the MR2 during the year my car was made (1995).

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think of it this way. there are USDM alltracs and turbo mr2s out there with boosted 100-200,000miles on them. so the motor can last as long as u take care of it.

now comes the real truth. any motor you buy, 3sGE or 3sGTE will be something out of a junk yard or a wrecked car. its going to be coming out of a car that is considered totally worthless to its last owner and has been striped down for parts. there is a good chance that you can get a either motor with a blown head gasket, or other major problems. its a coin toss. it dosnt matter if u go turbo or NA.

good luck trying to find a USDM version of either motor.

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Words of wisdom!

I say pick up a used 3SGTE motor off mr2oc.com or ebay and spend the money to have rebuilt properly. A full gasket kit and new timing belt is like $250. USDM motors aren't too hard to find and are usually a litte cheaper, as people (foolishly) go for JDM motors instead.

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1) I didn't get 230K miles on my existing engine by not taking care of it In fact - it's still running strong... I just know it's days are numbered.


2) I plan on rebuilding, or at least overhauling before doing the swap. I was just wondering if anyone has noticed a significant difference in longevity between the motors.

3) There's a lot of cars that are considered "totaled" because they were in a wreck or something and repairing the body work was more expensive than replacing the car. This doesn't mean everything on the car is useless. The engines can be just fine.

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your missing the whole point im trying to make. the idea is, that you are buying a used motor, that came out of a car that was worthless to anyone in japan. you dont know who drove it, if they changed the oil, or if it was sitting under a rock for the past 10yrs. many people have done swaps, only to end up needing to rebuild the whole motor from the ground up or get stuck haing to fix a brokend headgasket . others get lucky and end up with a motor that lasts them a long time with no problems. i think even coomer said that the 1st 4age motor he bought ended up being blown and he had to exchange it, and thats an NA motor.

it really dosnt matter if you go NA or turbo. either motor could have been not taken care of and give you some type of problem. you also might get lucky and end up with a motor that runs forever, but anytime you do something as custom as a swap, you are taking a chance and assuming what you buy used is going to work out great just because it does/dosnt have a turbo on it .

Garbage of the wealthy; wealth of the poor.

Keep in mind that the only difference with the JDM motor is the lack of EGR and the ECU programming. That is it!!!! You can trade the guys on the alltrac net for thier USDM ecu and I'm sure they through in the EGR for free. I probably have a few laying around the garage.

The lack of turbo on the 3SGE means you dont have to worry about oil seals going out. Otherwise, the motors longevity is about the same. Head gaskets go, its just a fact of life.

Thanks for the advice guys!