Pajero Lexus 3UZ conversion.

[Madman1221]

Hi all, I am very much new to this whole forum thing. Still I have found many useful bits of information searching through posts on various forums while tuning my bikes so I think it's time I give something back.

So my story is this, I bought me my first car as well as my first 4x4 in one car because go big or go home hey? It's a 1997 Pajero Exceed 3.5 V6 GDI LWB that I got for a steal, the engine was in boxes and pieces but the car looked pretty new inside with only 135000km on the clock. Long story short I was so excited to drive it I figured screw rebuilding it myself wile still busy doing my apprenticeship and just send it to people who know what they are doing right? Ya now I have a spun con rod bearing on piston number 2 not even 1800km after rebuild.

So to save all of you the swear words my solution part consolation is simple, why go V6 if you can go V8. So i will be ditching my R20000 paper weight and building in a lexus 3UZ-FE into the car. I figured I would post my progress as well as prices/info/drawings and such on this forum to help others the way forums helped me out, so I'll post updates here as I go along with this project.

So to begin with I am still sourcing a good engine to use for this build, they range from R20000 to R23500 at the moment. Most at that price are complete with 5 speed box and ecu ( not unlocked ) but not wired to start. Some will have it wired to start for between R22000 to R26500 with unlocked ECU's ( immobilizer bypass and other magic I have yet to uncover ) and OEM fly by wire pedal and MAF sensor. You can buy little chip boards to solder in to bypass the OEM ECU or just buy a unlocked one loose. Spitronics can build you an engine or spitronics ecu unit with harness to fit your engine. From what I understand the older 3UZ's came with the 5 speed boxes and the newer ones have 6 speed boxes. Depending on the car it came from. The vvti system apparently needs the gearbox to function otherwise you will loose 10-15 kW from the engine but the engine will work just fine, I have yet to research a fix for this. The spitronics system seems to be able to run the vvti with out the box just fine. So from everything I have found so far the gist of it seems to be that the OEM ECU is more reliable and the engine runs smoother. The spitronics is easier more flexible and definitely the way to go if you want to do some DIY or boost modding. They can also provide you with software and cable on request.

I would like to use the 6 speed box in my car but I just don't think it would fit so realistically I am just going to mount it to my OEM gearbox with adapters. My engine is 6G74 GDI and my box is a V5A51 5 speed auto. Unfortunately with the whole corona virus thing I am not having a lot of luck finding a good engine ( none of them are the 6 speed box to ) in cape town and the measurements they give me for the boxes are all 730 which won't fit on paper since my box is 550 and 660 with the transfer adapter mount ( the bit in between the actual gearbox and the transfer case on a married transfer case ). But I will be looking at an engine with 5 speed box to get some info and measurements in person this weekend and the other guys are all talking about having stock by next tuesday ( customs willing ). I also need to look at the gear ratios on these boxes compared with my current mitsu box to keep a good economic cruise speed without loosing that lekker pull. Would like to have that mythical 8-11 km/l consumption myself far better then the 4,5 km/l I was getting before the bearing spun.

This will be my first conversion so I am by no means clever or a know it all so I will appreciate any help or corrections.

PS: Anybody need parts for there 6G74's well let me know since I'm stripping myne for spares.
https://www.gumtree.co.za/a-car-replace ... 0205955209

[Lock]

Wow Excited to follow your build

[Madman1221]

Now time for an update!!

I am now the proud owner of a not so new yet new to me Lexus 3UZ with 5 speed box complete wiring loom and ecu and all the other accessories to.

Ya I am aware that the whole plan of checking it out and taking measurements also went flying out the window apparently, one because I got tired of everybody giving me excuses or just not even bothering in replying or calling back. So my DIY instincts kicked in and I found a good engine literally on the other side of the tracks, pretty much walking distance. I have heard a few people mention that the lexus bell housing will fit the pajero auto box just like that but there is a twist. The pajero's in question is the 6G74 multipoint injection with 4 speed auto boxes ( V4A51 ), they work as mentioned. I have only found one case of a guy doing a conversion with my type of pajero, myne is the LWB Pajero Exceed with the DOHC 6G74 direct injection with 5 speed auto box ( V5A51 ). As it turns out the lexus bell housing does not fit this box neither does the shaft swap work. Now my car is a japanese import and was never sold in south africa as far as I understand which explains why no one can find anything in any system about it or for parts, finding things for this engine is a task that will drive you mad hence my reason of abandoning the engine after all ready trying it once and failing. The japanese VIN and engine numbers don't help either neither do the ones they embossed so kindly at the police clearance station.Now I don't plan on using the gearbox but I will still be trying to see if it is true that the bell housing doesn't fit and if it doesn't well maybe it can be used along with the pajero bell housing and mated together to make an adapter but I will have to see.

These engines came from the following cars:
2003–2006 Lexus LS 430
2005–2007 Lexus GS 430
2005–2010 Lexus SC 430
2004–2007 Toyota Crown Majesta UZS186

Here is some information on gear ratios.
The lexus 5 speed seems to be a A650E and the gear ratios are:
1 gear = 3.357
2 gear = 2.180
3 gear = 1.424
4 gear = 1.000
5 gear = 0.753
Rev = 3.431

The lexus 6 speed seems to be a A761E and the gear ratios are.
1 gear = 3.296
2 gear = 1.958
3 gear = 1.348
4 gear = 1.000
5 gear = 0.725
6 gear = 0.582
Rev = 2.951

The 5 speed auto mitsubishi V5A51 on 6g74 DOHC gear ratios are.
1 gear = 3.789
2 gear = 2.057
3 gear = 1.421
4 gear = 1.000
5 gear = 0.731
Rev = 3.865
High range = 1.000
Low range = 1.900
The diff ratios are 4.636

So I will be keeping my old box since the gear ratios are good enough for highway cruising and still low enough in first and low for some 4x4 crawling around. Taking into account my 10% ( worked it out with some maffs but you can use this website https://www.errolstyres.co.za/odcalculator ) gearing up due to my 31" tires ( might actually be 32" ) my engine will be sitting around 3000 rpm at 140km/h which is perfect since I don't plan on going faster then that ( at least until I pull up next to my friend in his cherokee ). For now it's going to be figuring out the wiring and modifying the ecu till I have cash to buy the service parts and new pulleys, water pump, belts and thermostat plus 2 broken sensors. The rest of the stuff I have stockpiled from other projects of mine. After that it will be stripping and some painting and figuring out what I will be using for the throttle since the pajero exceed uses a fly by wire throttle so might not even need to buy a pedal. Then I can prime the oil system and bring this beast to live on the engine stand to test it and listen for noises. First things first tho need to sort out my garage first, having two engines and gearbox takes up a lot of space never mind all my other projects.

I have my work cut out for me so it will be a wile till my next update. By the way I basically have all of the gen 2 pajero engine and gearbox manuals so if anyone needs manuals for pajero's give me a shout.

[HBannink]

This is the build where the pajero bell housing was swapped for the lexus one plus the input shaft. this guy was very successful with his build

https://www.pajeroclub.co.za/forum/view ... ilit=lexus

[Madman1221]

Yes I have seen that post but there is another guy that did try a conversion with my exact pajero and it didn't work at all. Turns out the four speed mitsu box is different from the 5 speed mitsu box. Well I have everything so will test it out and post my results here.

Small update.

So as it turns out I have actually scored quite a bit and bought a 3UZ with a 6 speed box which seems to be still running the factory spark plugs so less then 50000km on it and I payed the same price as a 5 speed. So in other words I saved R4000 on this one. Payed R21900 for mine by the way.

Apparently if the ECU has that 3f360 bit at the end then it is a 6 speed engine and box which is the newer slightly more powerfull version.

Now I still need to find a way of bypassing the standard ECU since the places I have contacted so far including the referral numbers I was given all don't seem very keen on doing business of any sort, like have I missed some sort of grand nation wide lottery and I am the only one that still needs to work for money? Now that being said it would appear that the 6 speed box ECU's are a little different then the 5 speed boxes since the " solder in a board and pre programed EEPROM " method doesn't work on them. Apparently the immobilizer needs to be turned off in the software. I am still researching the truth behind all this since what I have found so far is that you can buy the little board you need to solder in online along with the pre programmed EEPROM. Some say that the little board and EEPROM trick will work on the 6 speed as well, others say it will only work in software.

Now the way I understand it they separated the immobilizer bit of the ECU into a separate control box that then tells the ECU when your key is in the ignition that the codes match up. So when you loose the master key they only need to replace that immobilizer control box with a new one and it's master key which would work out far cheaper then replacing the ECU. My guess is then the little board they sell you is an emulator to emulate the immobilizer control box and the pre programmed EEPROM has the code on it that the emulator has. I will still need to keep looking into this tho.

Well if it all go's bust I will probably find an EEPROM with virgin file, change that out with the one on the lexus ECU. Upload the pajeros key code on that and then tap into the pajeros immobilizer circuit and boom running engine with immobilizer but I have no idea if the pajero's immobilizer control box (or if it even has one) will work with the lexus. But it is an idea I will keep one side.

So far I have been quoted R7800 for a spitronics ECU and the two controllers to make the engine run, roughly the same price for a dictator as well. Honestly what I have read and found about those two and lexus ECU's I am now trying to avoid them like the plague. Why you ask? Well for my build they just aren't going to work, they are very simple A and B ECU's. The have the bare essentials to get an EFI system to run and they are very limited in what they can do. If you are trying to build a EFI race engine on a budget then they are perfect. If you are trying to build a series fire breathing monster then a Haltech would be better. I however am trying to build a reliable camping cruiser. So my money would go to a Link ECU instead. They price around R25000-35000 depending on what model you get. They even have speedo calibration, ABS integration, launch control, stability control, cruise control, traction control gps speedos, touch screen headsup display compatibility, the power to control the factory dual climate control system.

It is a direct OEM ECU replacement on steroids!

LOOK HOW HAPPY THAT DORK IS!!

Other then that it appears I have the older MAF sensor instead of the newer cartridge type but on the schematic drawings they have the same pinout descriptions just on different pin numbers so in theory I can save myself the money and just rearrange the wires to make it work since the plug fits perfectly but will test this out as soon as I am ready to start this engine.

That is the part number for the older torpedo looking one.

That is the part number for the cartridge type one for the 6 speed engine, The 5 speed engine's MAF sensor part number is 2204 22010. Weirdly the 5 speed one is more expensive then the 6 speed one.

The other thing is the accelerator pedal. I have been told that a kzte or hilux d4d pedal will work fine but honestly looking at the diagrams any old pedal will do in fact two potentiometers will even work. It's just a mater of matching the resistance in them. From what I can tell from the schematic it does seem to be two pots in one housing to make up the 6 wire pedal tps, the ECU seems to cross reference between the two so that if one go's wonky it has something to compare it to to pick up a problem and go's into limp mode or just plain idle. My plan is to see if I can connect the two together so it thinks there is two and just use one pot. The pedal tps on the pajero is a 4 wire so it only has one potentiometer circuit. I will have to test this theory as well tho, will first need to check the voltage specs on both and see if they will reach the same values.

For now I have odds and ends to tie up before I can start this engine on the bench but the main problem right now is bypassing the immobilizer in the ecu. I would love to just bin it and get a link G4+ Extreme ECU instead but I really can't fork out R30000 right now. I have also found a place in Russia that sell emulators for the ecu to trick it into thinking that the auto box is still there so that the VVTI system stays functioning (just google #all4swap), i have also found that some guys say you can just gut the box and keep the gear solenoids plugged in and taped up under the car and will work as well.

Still need to pin out the needed ECU wires for my build, I will try and upload all my ECU pinout wire numbers and wire colours as well as what go's where and what it is used for to make it easier for the next guy but no promises. I will post again when I am ready to fire this baby up or at least until I remember something I forgot to mention now.

[Madman1221]

So it turns out that posting a lot of information and pictures on two different forums is just to tedious so here is a link to the other forum where I will be posting everything from now on.

https://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/sh ... ost4476776