Fitting a JZ to a Lexus F.A.Qs
I get a lot of questions regarding fitting my JZ engine onto my Lexus so I thought I would type up the answers to the most common questions asked.
Engine:
What engine do you have? I have a 2001 1jz-gte Vvti single turbo from an Automatic Toyota Crown Athlete.
Does it fit ? Yes perfectly because the engine has front facing sump so its clears the IS200 subframe.
What engine mounts are you using? I’m using the crown metal engine mounts with IS300 subframe mounts. You can’t use the is200 mounts as they are too short and the chaser/ crown don’t have correct studs on the bottom. (I have attached a pic that shows the different size between the IS200 and the IS300 mounts.)
Drivetrain:
What gearbox are you using? W58 from a Supra MK4 non turbo I did have to trim the tunnel to make room for the shifter.
What Clutch are you using? Supra Mk4
What prop shaft and Diff are you using? IS200 prop shaft, is200 Automatic Diff and Drive shafts (no modification needed to any of the IS200 parts)
Wiring:
What body Wiring Are you using? Standard Lexus body wiring
What engine Wiring? Standard JZ wiring
Do the Plugs fit? Because Lexus and Toyota are the same company and the body and the engine are both the same generation (2001) the Lexus body plugs physically fitted into the JZ ecu but we did have re pin a few wires so the ecu would send the correct signals to the dials, fuel pump, diagnostic plug, etc
Do all your dials work? Yes by re-pining the ecu wires into the correct body plugs we got all the dials working. The Diagnostic plug also worked but due to the engine being an imported engine we had to use an expensive snap code reader as the cheaper small hand held ones wouldn’t read the codes.
What wires did you bridge? The Crown ecu has 2 fuel pump wires because apparently the ecu has 2 speeds on the fuel pump for the kick down and cruise control. We bridged these 2 wires so that the fuel was feed the full 12v constantly.
What engine codes came up? Yes the engine management light came on. Of course it did we wired in an automatic ecu into a manual car. Every code for the gearbox came up because the ecu thinks the gearbox has been dis-connect.
Do you need to modify the auto wiring? Yes. We need to make the ecu think the gearbox was in park so the engine would start but we also made the ecu think the gearbox is in 2nd gear because apparently the give’s the engine the most torque when in 2nd gear (Im not sure how true this is thou)
We did this by giving a 12v volt feed to the correct wiring on gearbox plugs.
Fueling:
Do you need to modify the fueling system? Yes you need to fit a bigger fuel pump and a return fuel line as the IS200 doesn’t have a return line. In order to fit a return line you need to modify the plastic fuel cover to feed the fuel back into the tank. We also needed to replace the Jet pump which controls the follow of the fuel between the 2 chambers of the fuel tank. I managed to source a SARD one.
Cooling System:
Did you have to modify the Cooling system? No I ran with an Alloy IS200 radiator using chaser radiator hoses that I had to cut down a little. The radiator worked well and I had no overheating issues. Yes she got hot while drifting but never while driving normally. I did need to fit slim line electric fans to replace the IS200 fans and shroud was too close to the JZ pulleys they didn’t touch but there was only millimetres of a gap.
Power steering:
I’m using the JZ PAS pump but because it lives on the opposite of the engine from the IS200 one I had to get a new longer high pressure Pas Line made. I used a company called Hydraquip that were very helpful.
Exhaust:
I had to make my own exhaust system as I local company quoted me £2,000 to make a full system so we bought a TIG welder and piping and made our own. It’s not pretty but its sealed and makes.
Costs involved:
How much did it cost to fit the JZ? Without putting a figure on my labour as I did all the work in my workshop at evenings and weekends then I probably spent about £4,000 in total buying all the parts needed to get the engine in and running, including engine, gearbox, exhaust piping, fuel pump, lines, etc, etc.
