[Ernie]

Hello everybody.

First. The reason. I have rebuild two 3.5 motors already. The first about a year ago at a cost of R45K only to last little more than 3 months. I replaced crank, big ends, pistons,rings, water pump, oil pump, lifters, gaskets (set) , idlers. It sounded great but it did not last. And I did not punish it more than normal. The second motor I replaced big ends, rings, lifters, gaskets and idlers. It too is on its way out. It is consuming about 2L oil per 500Km.So I am faced with the choice of rebuilding both again or buy import 3.5's or to do the lex conversion. The cheapest is the conversion.

On this thread I will show how I did it. Perhaps this could be of some help for someone that is facing the same problem.

I read a lot of stuff on the net and asked questions and it started to appear as if the Lexus bell housing will fit on the Pajero auto box. Lucky for me I had a spare auto box in the shed. So off I went to buy a Lexus Motor and gearbox. I went to Engine Den in Pretoria and they hooked me up for R4950 for the complete motor and box. Next was the engine management. I decided on the Spitronics ECU because you can buy a kit with all parts needed to install it on the Lexus. I also decided to use the Spitronics TCU for gearbox control. The total for the complete management setup came to R6254,21. I will keep record of the costs here as well.

Here is some photos of the motor and original auto box after a wash.

[Ernie]

So the next step was to see if everything will fit together as they say on the net. And the answer to that is Yes, it does fit. It turns out that the Lex box and the Pajero box is almost identical. On the outside they are, but the internals differ only slightly. So after a couple of hours of measuring and fitting and checking I came up with a working combination. I used the Lexus bell housing and torque converter, the Pajero box and transfer adapter, and a mix of Pajero and Lexus sensors for the TCU. The bell housing is a exact match for the gearbox. The Lexus torque converter also just slides over the Pajero box input shaft. It is also a 100% match. The wiring will have to be custom made for the different sensors, but that will happen later. Tomorrow I will remove the old engine and gearbox and fit the new Engine by building new engine mounts. The prop shafts should stay the same as the gearbox will be in its factory position.

Here is some pics of the assembled gearbox.

[fouche]

Thanks for info! I will surely be watching your progress! Please keep update of costs

[Ernie]

So when the time came to fit engine and gearbox together there was a slight problem. It did not fit!!!!!. Seemed like the shaft on the gearbox was to long because when all the housing bolts was tightened the engine could not move. So off it came again. on closer inspection it was found that the Pajero box input shaft was about 10mm longer and also the splines does not match 100%. So the choice was to use the Pajero torque converter or change the input shaft. If I take the torque converter route I will have to grind off the mountings and re weld them. In the past I have had one bad experience with that. alignment is critical on this. So after studying the manuals of both gearboxes I decided to change the input shaft.

So to achieve this I removed the oil pump from the front of the gearbox. then took two bigger bolts to lift it out of the box. There is two holes that is threaded that will allow you to lift it. Next step was to take the input shaft by hand and just lift it out. To reassemble take the original lexus shaft with all its clutches and gears and install it in the Pajero Box. The clutches is a bit hard to line up, but if you follow the procedure in the manual it is not so tough. Then use the Lexus oil pump and tighten everything up again. Done. On the refit to the engine everything is like it should be.Below is some pics of the parts. Sorry about the bad quality. I only had my cell with me. I might make a vid of this procedure, but will see if time allow it.

The problem area

The splines that does not fit on the input shaft

With the Shaft removed. Note the "cup gear" must also be removed.it can be seen in this photo

I spend the afternoon by starting the disassemble of the Pajero and also the manifolds of the engine to get to the wiring.

[wally]

Ernie

Well done so far i can imagine what and where youre going to go and up what ever with that power.

Do you think the Lexus motor will fit on the 3.2 DID gearbox (manual). Only interested might go the same root if my engine goes t#%s up.

Going to follow your progress good luck and thanks for sharing.

Regards
Wally

[Lock]

If only I knew a mechanic who could do the same for me....

[Ernie]

Update. Today I was busy with the removal of unwanted stuff from both the Lex and the Pajero. The engine bay is now clean like it should be ready for the install. The wiring is almost complete on the new motor and gearbox. Sorry but there is no pics as most of the day I looked like a grease monkey and could not touch the camera. I will how ever take some pics of the empty engine bay tomorrow morning before I start and post them with a list of what I removed from the engine bay. I also remeasured everything with the empty bay and it looks ok, but the electric fans on the radiator might be a problem, so some body work might be needed. Also it looks like the Lexus sump might be in the way and might need a adjustment, but will see tomorrow.

[Jenki]

What to say ...excellent.
You are really clever.
I'm only waiting for next information and pictures.

[Ernie]

As promised some pics of yesterdays work.

I removed the air cleaner completely.

Next I removed the battery tray as well as the little tank for the radiator as well as the vacuum tank and cruise control motor

Not shown on the above pic but I also removed the aircon pipes as they are made of aluminum and could get damaged. Later on today I also removed the aircon radiator and grill.

[Ernie]

On to today's work. The motor finally went into the Pajero and I started to check out the alignment of everything. I ran into a slight problem. The sump was to high and was bumping against the front diff. A word about this. When I bought the motor I was given the choice. one kind have the sump on the front of the motor and another model with the sump on the back. It went into one ear and out the other. I ended up with a motor with the sump on the front. The other will be a better choice. When I do my other Pajero I will make sure to buy one with the sump at the back. But that said the problem was solved with a reduction in sump height with a grinder and I also lowered the diff 10mm by shortening the rear bracket on the diff. It will change the angle on the prop shaft only slightly and should not cause problems. I ran out of time today and will continue hopefully tomorrow evening after work and my aim is to start by the weekend.

Here is some pics. Note the thick red cable for the starter. I decided to install it before it goes into the Pajero. Just makes it easier ( I think ).