My Toyota car suffered burnt valves from old age, instead or repairing the cylinder head on a tired engine I elected to purchase a (JDM) Japan import engine, I have used these engines in the past with great success, and I was quite pleased with their low cost. While shopping for a replacement engine, I discovered Japan Motor Import (JMI).
I placed a phone call to JMI to see if there was a Toyota 3EE engine in their inventory, the salesman I spoke with reported he has one in stock. This salesman repeatedly tried to reassure that he knew more about this engine than I did, my questions were very direct concerning the fastener spacing on the fuel rail, if it was fuel injected or carbureted and how many valves were in the head.
JMI reported that some pictures would be sent to me in a few hours, but nothing except an invoice was ever emailed to me. Upon receipt of the invoice, I discovered a discrepancy with the engine; the invoice stated a 5E engine which is a twin cam used in a newer model car. I telephoned Japan Motor Import on the following business day to inquire if the engine I purchased was indeed a 3EE single cam as ordered, the salesman confirmed that the 5E was only a typographical error and a single cam engine would ship in a few days.
Two weeks later the engine arrived as promised, while removing the plastic from skid I noticed a 5E-FE twin cam engine lying on the pallet. The overall appearance and accessories were completely different from the factory engine in my car. Refer to the pictures below; left: Factory 3E-E engine removed from my car, right: the 5E-FE engine shipped to me from JMI.
I emailed JMI again inquiring just how I am expected to install (the wrong engine) an engine that fits a similar car without all of the accessories required for operation. Several parts were missing and will not transfer from the existing engine; the flywheel used for balancing, the distributor, and the throttle position sensor were all missing and quite different from the 3EE engine.
JMI reported to remove the cylinder head from the 3EE engine and install it on the 5E-FE engine that was shipped to me and everything would connect properly.
First of all, I purchased a complete factory engine, not a short block and am appalled at such a suggestion to mix and match a junk head with a good engine. If I were interested in purchasing a remanufactured head, I would have rebuilt my existing engine for about $500.00 and not bothered to replace the entire engine.
Now I am out $850.00 for this engine that will not install into my car without doing an unwanted engine conversion, and spending hundreds of dollars in replacement parts that were not included with this engine from Japan Motor Import.
Each engine model has a different ECM (computer) specifically tailored to meet Federal emission regulations, this is about $800.00 from the Toyota dealership. The TPS that was broken costs 140.00, the missing distributor is around 300.00 plus a core fee of 100.00; this does not include the labor to rewire the engine harness because the electric connector at the ECM has different wire connections.
Now I am looking at the throttle cable that is too short, and where can I find a way to connect the air filter box, the intake manifold is rotated 90 degrees. These items will have to be custom made to fit with flexibility to absorb vibrations.
Once I figured how much was involved with this conversion, I contacted JMI once again to inquire if their company was going to ship the proper engine. JMI refused to reply to my query of a replacement engine due to their mistake. I think JMI is aware of the free trade barriers of NAFTA and, is unwilling to act solely because it is nearly impossible to enforce international fraud when an item was delivered, even if it is worthless to the consumer.
My car has been dead for two years now; Japan Motor Import never contacted me after I attempted to resolve this issue. I do not even know if this engine is usable since there was no customer service involved with the sale of this engine. Japan Motor Import is a Rip-Off with their JDM engine company. Once your credit card is billed, JMI does not care if you (the customer) are satisfied with their product or service.
0 comments