I am looking to source a engine for my 94 Mini-Cab 4WD, 3G83 / SOHC. 1991-1998 should work. Please advise if you have a lead on a replacement motor or have a donor truck that is being parted out. I am located in NC. Thank you
Amayama has engines that you order and they are built to your VIN about $3200 plus shipping and tariffs so maybe it wiill cost you $4500 to get it to your porch. Or so or 500 Yen Shop I see them all the time for mostly in the low $200 thru mid $4's (used complete engines). I bought a complete 5sp trans from them and it cost $200 to ship it
Thanks The issue is that by the time everything is sourced, shipped, installed, and finished, you end up with nearly $6K invested in a truck that is worth maybe $10K on a good day. So, this one is going to get parted out and replaced.
I get that but it is the nature of the beast. My Sambar had 99,000Km (61k miles) on it when I got it. It is '99 and came factory with EFI. I replaced the timing belt and water pump and the engine runs well BUT the compression is 130,135,130, 130 - thats the minimum compression spec. so I have been planning ahead looking to either rebuild mine or buy an engine from Amayama. I'm leaning towards the Amayama engine. I'm already "upside" down on my Sambar so another engine is not going to make that much difference except in my household budget
There is no way to make any of the finances on these rigs make any sense. The best you can hope for is to stop the bleeding as quickly and painlessly as possible. In my case, this truck only had 21K miles on it; the timing belt, water pump, tensioner, plugs, wires, and so on were all locally replaced about six months ago. The truck was running great, and out of the blue, the new belt shredded, and no one can offer any explanation as to why it did what it did. So to me, rather than investing another $6k into the truck with an older engine that could be no better or maybe worse, it makes more sense for me to put that money towards another rig and move on.
You won't get an argument out of me that these trucks extract their pound of flesh out of each owner. "In for a penny; In for a pound". But honestly, what really needs to be changed is the relationship between the Car Auctions in Japan and the Auction Vehicle Inspector. There is way too much incentive for the Auction Inspectors to give out "Inflated" Auction Grades. I'm upside down because my vehicle, loaded with corrosion, a poorly finished dent repair was given a Grade 4. There are several Kei Car Forums and they should get together and put pressure on these auctions to clean up their act
Its too bad these don't end up in junk yards much. Pull-a-part was always a go to for my rx-7 (until recently anyway)
And when the parts do end up in some boneyard, they are outrageously overpriced because your only option is to import something from Japan, which is more expensive. Capitalism in its purist form. If I were out on the West Coast, I would seriously look into installing an electric motor and lithium batteries and be done with it. However, all that type of work seems to be centered mostly around Southern CA and not so much in the Southeast. The rig is presently sitting over in Mayberry's storage yard. Everything works except the motor...
