Lexus Ls400 98vvti Swap To 95

[Paulius]

Hello i'm new new here, ive got 95 year ls with direct inj lpg system for 4 years but decided that i need some more power and 5 speed gearbox so ive bought right hand drive vvti 98 with low milage and want to swap engine. In my country u cant drive with right side steering wheel and u cant convert the console. So i want to ask are the engine transmision mounts identical? Ill put all wiring from newer one also.

[Exhaustgases]

You are going to swap way more than just engine and transmission. It will be a lot of work. You will need the ecu and all the other electricals that plug into the harness that is required for that engine. Even if the mounts aren't the exact same, the mounts are the easy part of the whole deal as you can always make an adapter plate or what ever for them. The electrical will be a night mare.

In the 98 there is a whole lot more going on with intercommunication between all the various control modules than in the older stuff, even the instrument cluster maybe something that is needed in the swap as well as the climate control system, and all the controlers for the doors abs, and on and on it goes. Maybe I'm wrong and someone else knows more. But I think electrically it is almost impossible to do that transplant. Now if you use an after market engine control and transmission controller then you can do it. But

if the emissions are checked using the obd2 port your out of luck. And even then I'm not sure how the 95 would work electrically without the ecu and transmission controller that lexus put there. I'm sure they communicate with the climate ecu and abs ecu as well, if you have trac and a cruise control they need communication to the engine controller as well. Good luck.

[Paulius]

I got whole donor car i mean all parts will go in straight forward from newer one to 95 body, thats why i ask are the mounts identical?

[Paulius]

I know that diff and prop shaft is different so ill take whole rear end and put it in 95 does the mounting point are the same? Ecu, climate navi tc wont be problem, but how about power stearing does the high presure lines are the same? Coz the lhd and rhd got different mounts or i'm wrong?

[Exhaustgases]

I don't know much about 98's. You need someone else for that.

[Exhaustgases]

If they are not the same who cares? That is how engine swapping is. Since the crossmember bolts in, you could fab a new one from either Al or steel plate, I could make the engine and transmission fit way faster than rewiring the whole car. To rewire it the dash and pretty much the whole interior has to come out.

The thing is if you are considering a drastic engine swap then its a who cares about factory stock, right? If you can't make the mounts work on the crossmember in the car now, then just like the ecu's and wiring stuff, you will have to modify it or fab a new one. It would help having a milling machine to get the suspension holes in the correct place, but its doable with out one.

If it doesn't fit you will have to make it fit, like you mentioned with the drive line. Problem there is instead of adding untold hours of work to swap stuff for the drive line, its so much easier to take it to a drive line shop and they will cut and add what ever is needed to make the existing one work, then you don't have to worry about "is the rear end going to bolt up". If you worked 8 hours a day on this project everyday, your going to have 2 months plus into this project. And please keep us all posted on how it is all going.

[Paulius]

Well i dont mind taking out whole center console to change whole ecu navi and other blocks incl taking out rear window for the antena in it. I dont think that whole drive line is so different when the cars body is exacly same size and dimension except boot lamp and full front end. Ill try to keep u all posted in how its going to work out. Gonna tow the car to work tomorrow hopping to have atleast 4 hours a day to work with. And i freakin love 95-97 front end....

[Paulius]

Now few fast questions
What OIL i should use ?
98 VVTI engine and how much i must buy:
98 Gearbox what and how much ? and what should i look for ? filters or what else should i change while its out of the car:
98 rear differential what oil and how much ?

gonna do full timing belt/water pump/tensioner/ hidroulic tensioner / idler bearing set. What i forgot ? spark plugs are ok and coz it wasnt missfiring while i was trying her out. but after LPG conversion i guess they might need change aswell.

btw what do u think about http://www.vetoil.eu/en/bardahl/bard...ne-inside.html in my country and EUROPE its well known stuff how about America ?

[Exhaustgases]

Look in the manual.