HELP PLEASE! Engine swap!
 

I bought at 98 cam from a friend that was getting ready to send it to the junk yard since the timing belt snapped. I made the mistake of buying a 93 Camry engine (5sfe) 4 cylinder. The 93 has a distributor on it and the 98 engine had coils. I didn't notice this until I did the swap. So I ordered a new harness to use on the 93 engine. Will I also need a new computer? I'm thinking yes but I would like to be sure before I sink more money on this.

The engine is non-interference, if the belt breaks the engine is not typically damaged. Did you or the precious owner check the engine for damage?

This swap may not be as easy as changing the harness and finding the right computer. The computer also controls the auto trans shifting and emissions system. Both have changed over the years among other things.

The 93 computer will be looking for 93 components not 98.

Make sure the 93 computer is for your engine year, trans type (auto or manual) and emissions system (federal or California).

Another change was for the 93 fuel pressure was controlled via a valve on the fuel rail that reacted to manifold pressure, excess fuel was routed back to the fuel tank via a return line. The 98 moved the regulator to the fuel pump and did have a return line.

So are we pretty sure the engine and tranny are not going to be compatible?

Not stating the trans will not bolt on. Stating there could be issues such as those below:

The trans wiring harness plug may be different then the 98 but given you will have a new harness it should work. If the harness does not include the trans wiring you may need to do some rewiring.

The 93 trans may have had 2 speed sensor instead of 1 on the 98. The sensor(s) are there to output a signal for MPH.

The 93 emission system would be using 02 sensors, the 98 may have A/F sensors. If you use the 93 computer you will need to use the correct system type as the computer will be looking for this.

You might look for wiring diagrams for the 93 and 98 then compare each for differences in the two cars emissions, engine and trans wiring.