Daughters car spun the number four rod and she kept going (don't ask) so I'm trying to find a plug and play for her 5sfe engine as a replacement. Toyota made a lot of these 2.2 four cylinders but I need to find what will go in the car year wise that has the countershafts for anti=vibration as well as the wiring being negotiable since this is apparently the last year of the distributors and the first year of the crank triggers? Any help would be appreciated. I'm having a hard time finding a 96 only Camry engine.

 

Suggest you review posts and if necessary ask at the Toyotanation website where more then one member has spun a bearing or thrown a rod on this engine model and asked what years engine could fit. My guess is at the very least you will need to swap parts off the old engine.

Toyota used the 2.2L from around 92-2001. They all will bolt in. The issue is the engine ign system, block design, etc changed along the way.

Toyota gradually revised the ign system. It does appear the crank sensor (I think) and distributor combo was for 96 only, in 97 Toyota eliminated the dist.

The 95 did not have any remote cam/crank sensors.

All the above is going to make finding a drop in engine of another year difficult.

The 96 engine may have also been offered in a California or Federal emissions design. The engines may have different heads, fuel injectors, ign system design and some other things. A sticker on the under side of the hood would state FED, CA, or something referring to what emission standard the car was built to.

Another issue is the computer is specific for the engine type, emissions system, ign type (remote or distributor), etc.

The balance shaft gear teeth number count changed mid 94 thus a crank from an older engine can not be used with a newer counter balance design. All the engines had the counter balance shaft system.

You might look into a short block and swap parts off the old engine. Short block listings appear to be 92-97 and 98-01. I suggest you CONFIRM this with short block vendors, then look for a 95-97 complete engine and swap parts or a short block. A lot of work yes.

Have you tried Craigslist, often owners are parting out cars too damaged from accidents?

 

Yes, I tried craigslist as well as the Japanese engine importers. Craigslist didn't have it and the importers say a 3sfe engine will work. I don't know how with the differences in the ignition. I am going to keep looking but may end up replacing the crank and 1 or 2 rods on the engine I have. I am mostly worried about the amount of metal in the pan and it being thrown onto the cylinder walls as well as the piston possibly hitting the head and bending valves when and if it did. Car has 114,000 on it.

 

Strongly suggest against using a 3SFE (and maybe any import engine) for many reasons.

-The 3SFE is a smaller engine
-Resell value of car will drop
-This engine was discontinued for US Camry around 93.
-The engine will bolt up be connecting all the wiring and getting it to run OK can be difficult (note:this swap has been done).
-Japan engines can be the same model type but have slightly different parts/systems such as no EGR system, etc.

How long was the engine operated prior to stopping? You dropped the pan, if so how much metal and what type? Did the engine seize up?

Doubt if the rods or valves are bent unless the rod came apart.

Again around mid 94 there was a change in the number of teeth on the crank gear used to turn the balance shafts. You might find more exact info on the Internet such as the number of teeth the revised crank gear had. The issue is it has happened someone buys a crank and the gear has the wrong number of teeth for the balancer on their engine.

 

Yeah, the direct interchange with a 3sfe was what I was in doubt of. It appears that the engine in the 96 is the 95 cylinder head with the 97 shortblock but I'm not sure. I only own one. If I had a lot of 90's era Camry's to look at I could figure it out. Anyway, The rod didn't leave the crank but ALL of the bearing from the number four rod is in the bottom of the pan, steel backer and all. The engine still ran (amazing!!!). I would put a crank kit and two rods in it but the cost starts to approach a used engine (if I could find one). What do you think? Either way it comes out and appart for a thorough teardown this weekend. Repair may not be possible if the head is damaged too.

 

If you are doing the labor a used engine is most likely cheapest.

If you can find a crank and rods a few hundred, rebuilding it yourself may be cheaper then buying an engine from a commercial rebuilder.

The engine is a non-interference type, meaning if the timing belt broke and the valves were open the pistons would not hit them. As such there is some clearance given in your case the bearing was no longer there and the rod was now banging up and down.

It is pretty easy to put $1500 into rebuilding engine. You can though use aftermarket parts.

When taking the balance assy off, make note of how it was installed. The assy has shims to adjust balance shaft gear backlash. Also take note of how balance shaft gears are aligned with the crank gear. The gearing has a certain alignment.

 

with that, you'll surely have a good rebuilding engine.

 

I agree with toyomoho ideas..

 

Found an engine in Arizona with 94k on it. Got it here and still had to pull it all the way down because someone thought rain wouldn't hurt it. Cylinder walls are etched too deep to hone but all of bottom end is pristine standard. I'll get the block bored and put in new oversize pistons and go through the head (valves were water logged too but cams were fine). Might use the 114k head I had from the bad engine but I have a lot of measuring to do. It sure isn't a big or small block chevy but the daughter doesn't need that either. No matter how good the car is broken is still broken but it wasn't the cars fault the oil got low.

 

Had the exact same experience with one of those low mileage Japan imports. Engine had low mileage but needed boring, pistons, rings. A waste of a good engine by someone allowing water to get into it.