My little Camry All Trac's 3sfe is showing some signs of failing. The rods are noisy on startup until oil pressure builds. It blows a little smoke & has some piston slap.

I'm debating on whether I should rebuild the 3sfe or do some sort of motor swap. I know it's going to be a serious venture either way, both time and cash.

I can get a kit with pistons, bearings, and gaskets for a little over $200. That plus hardware & machine shop time and other incidentals I'd be looking at about $400-$500.

Or I can do a motor swap. I've seen 5sfe motors for as little as $300-$500 without the ECU and other stuff I'd probably need to swap. Or I can go crazy and do a 3sge swap. I've found them on eBay for $800 sans ECU.

My challenge is that I will also need to get a transmission. My syncro's are failing. You have to shift it very consciously to keep it from crunching. I know, a lot of people wouldn't' dream of putting this kind of money into such an old car, but I've never driven anything better on snow. Plus it'd be a fun, unique project.

Just need some help making a decision...

***EDIT***
I also realize I can get a 3s-GTE with wiring, ecu, and AWD transmission for $1500.

 

Only you can decide.

Money is one issue, others are time, trouble and how much will you enjoy the process and car once it is running. Get what you want but be in tune with what you need to do before you start.

What is your goal? To get the car running? To have a stock vehicle in good condition to drive or something beyond this in terms of mods?

All your options are possible. Its just a function of time, effort and money.

Since your asking for input my two cents:

If you can do a rebuild for $500 recommend this route! My own experience is the cost goes up with all the little extras one needs. For 4-cylinders this is $1k and sometimes $1.5K. However given you rebuilt the engine you will know its condition. No need to rewire, etc. as with swapping for another engine model.

The 5SFE engine is a common swap for the 3SFE. Just make sure upfront the wiring and other items items needed for the swap can be found. Your car is 4WD, the 5SFE was made available after the 4WD was discontinued. Will there be a problem in the wiring, ECU, which if trans has electric solenoids will control the trans, etc? Find all this out before starting.

Unless I had a burning desire the 3S-GTE in my opinion is too much. This is a lot of unknown territory and if my goal was driving the car, once in the middle of it I may be thinking, why didn't I just rebuild the engine?

If you can get the gears for the manual trans, get them plus any bearings needed and seals input and drive seals, plus diff shaft. For replacement bearings use the bearing number on the bearing to find third party replacements which may be lower in price.