1997 5S-FE Camry Engine Locked Up

Reply 1 : 1997 5S-FE Camry Engine Locked Up

Over 1000 for a used engine is just ridiculous.



I would say pull it and then see how it looks like inside. If its been run really low on oil for a prolonged period of time its probably not worth the money to rebuild.



However, you can use a 5SFE 2.2 from any year. Its been done before and the swap is not hard at all. The newer (96-01) 5sfe engines have the distributor hole plugged so you can just do this mod to the new engine (pre 96'). It also needs a couple other small things but it has been done before successfully.

Reply 2 : 1997 5S-FE Camry Engine Locked Up

Easiest would be to get one from 97-01 years, that's just a simple drop in. But keep in mind, I only paid $1400 for a brand new engine...so I wouldn't pay more than $500 for a used one. I sold a perfectly fine used 5SFE for $400, and would have accepted $300 for it.

Reply 3 : 1997 5S-FE Camry Engine Locked Up

The engine is still froze up so I pulled the Oil Pan off the other day.

The balancer assembly was missing one of the bolts. 4 of the 5 remaining bolts were finger tight. I could feel fine sand like metal in the bottom of the oil pan.

After removing the balancer I still was not able to turn the engine over by hand.











I decided to pull the engine. I just need to remove the axel shafts and 2 electrical connectors that I can not reach until I remove the motor mounts.



When I get the motor out, I should be able to figure out what went wrong.