Is this mechanic full of crap?, 97 Celica ST needs engine Options

[savepatty]

Hi! I hope you nice guys can help me since I don't know anything about cars... I have a 1997 Celica ST 1.8.... it was leaking oil really bad finally it died. The mechanic said I needed a new engine and it was going to cost me 2500$... I don't have that much money!! Sooooo I called around and found 1994 celica 1.8 engine from a celica that was wrecked in the rear, the guy at the junk yard said it would fit.. so I bought it for $300 no problem. Now the mechanic tells me it wont work because it's not the same..... So what's the deal? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. thanks.

[presure2]

2500$ is ALOT of money to pull a blown motor, source and install a new one.
there are some minor diffrences among the diffrent year 7a's and model cars they go into, but as long as the accessories from your old motor are good, that shouldnt be an issue.
i dont know if the 97 7afe has a crank sensor or not, but even if it does, the sensor mounts to the oil pump, and the crank pully has the trigger wheel on it, both of which are swappable onto another motor so that is not an issue IMO.
if your paying more than 3-500$ for a motor and say ~800 or so for labor, your paying too much IMO.
then again, if your talking a remanufactured engine, new clutch, ect, 2500 isnt out of the question.
~1500 for a remanufactured engine,
~200 clutch ect
~800 labor...you can see where it adds up.
with a 7afe, all it takes is a motor lift, and a set of basic hand tools, and swapping one motor for another is very easy.
there is pleanty of room to work around everything, and once you have both motors side by side, it is easy to tell what needs to be transfered from the old motor to the new.

[soulshadow]

Did you make sure it was the same motor visually? I would go and have a different mechanics point of view first before you do anything else. It shouldn't take no less than 500 to drop in the same motor without changing anything other than fluids.

[hurley97]

The 97 and 94 7AFE do have a few differences. I am not sure if the 94 7A has a crank sensor, like Manny was saying, but the 97 does. The intake manifolds are different. There may be a few other small things as well but that does not mean you cannot use the 94 motor you already bought, it just means a little more work in swapping some things over for whoever is putting it in.

[lilgreenyoda]

OBDII anyone?

[Bitter]

OBDII anyone?

exactly

you'd need to swap the intake manifold and front cover, a used engine is always such a gamble since the warranty is about as iron clad as tin foil. $2500 is about right if he's quoting you a rebuilt engine, which would come with a much better warranty.

[kagemidnight]

there are subtle differences between different year motors even if it's the same motor. I swapped a 94 5sfe into my 96 GT assuming it was the same but my mechanic yelled at me because it was not the same haha. so he had to swap in my old injectors and do some other things like the ignition coil etc. It is do able but you will prob need some parts off your motor.

[nik]

Im in the middle of this swap right now i have a 1997 corolla 7afe engine tha will be going into a 1994 7afe st celica

i was going to check both motors side by side once i got them out