2007 GX470/2UZ-FE Engine Rebuild

[Zander Abear]

Hello all, recently, I've started a pretty big project. Rebuilding my motor. The engine in my GX is a Toyota 2UZ-FE, which has quite a reputation of being one of the most reliable engines ever built. Yeah... I blew it up. I took my GX down to Badlands Off-Road Terrain Park in Attica Indiana with my friend and his dad's brand new Jeep Gladiator. We got there, and nothing out of the ordinary, lots of mud, some minor rock crawling. Then there it is, the end-all for my engine. A large puddle. We were defiantly going too fast, and I smashed into the puddle, which was a bit deeper than I expected. Then it started, my engine started sputtering, and eventually died right after I got out of the water. We towed it back up to the parking lot and started digging into my cylinders. Pulling and checking spark plugs, looking in my air filter, and everything was covered in water. I suspected that my starter was toasted, but boy was I wrong. Even my intake manifold was full up to the throttle body. So that was it, coming back the next day with a big diesel truck and trailer to bring it back to really start this new project. Started it like any other project, pulling everything off the engine to access the starter. And nothing special pulled the starter, took it apart, and noticed that it was actually in pretty good shape, especially for having 220K miles on it. Replaced it anyways because I had a new one on hand. Put everything back together, new spark plugs, new air filter, etc. I Cranked it over and it got a couple of good spins in it then it stopped. Immediately, with a big clunk and everything. I knew I had a bigger project at hand. I suspected I snapped a connecting rod and it wedged itself onto the wall of the motor. All I could really do was pull the motor to find out what really was happening.
That was maybe a month ago, and oh boy did I really mess up. I've pulled apart the front of my engine, all the accessories, timing belt, everything. I got curious and flipped over the motor to pull the oil pan to see the carnage, and there it was. A big ol' hole in my block. I knew it was bad, but not this bad.
Now we're all caught up to the current day. I plan on updating the forums as I replace, rebuild, and reinstall everything because I would like to help people that are either curious or are in the same boat as me. I will be posting some pictures of the trip, in the garage, and then some.

 

[Zander Abear]

I'll state some suggestions on here too, like how not to blow a 2UZ-FE.
1: with having cut my fender lining, it has direct access from my tire straight to my intake. So the water being splashed from my tires just shoved it into the engine, thus, hydrolocking it.
2: Get a snorkel for the GX, trust me, there will be a day when you are like me.
3: I made a mistake when working on the engine in the parking lot, I tried cranking it over before trying to evacuate all the water through the spark plugs. Pull the spark plugs first thing when trying to get rid of water in the motor. This could have been where I snapped a rod, but I bet it happened when I first filled it with water.
4: Factory, the connecting rods in the 2UZ are kind of known for being the weak point of the motor, so keep that in mind when working on or wheeling your GX.

 

[Zander Abear]

Here are some pictures and videos:

 

[Explorador]

I'll state some suggestions on here too, like how not to blow a 2UZ-FE.

4: Factory, the connecting rods in the 2UZ are kind of known for being the weak point of the motor, so keep that in mind when working on or wheeling your GX.

Enjoying your write up. Those rods might be weak but no even the best one can stand against water. You might getaway removing the plugs while at the parking lot. I hope you got forge rods this time, go back to the same puddle and show him who's the boss ...

 

[Zander Abear]

I'll state some suggestions on here too, like how not to blow a 2UZ-FE.

4: Factory, the connecting rods in the 2UZ are kind of known for being the weak point of the motor, so keep that in mind when working on or wheeling your GX.

Enjoying your write up. Those rods might be weak but no even the best one can stand against water. You might getaway removing the plugs while at the parking lot. I hope you got forge rods this time, go back to the same puddle and show him who's the boss ...

I plan on grabbing some eagle H-beam rods, and sticking with the crankshaft. The factory crankshaft is “steel”, but the google says it can handle 1400+hp, and I don’t plan on passing that number anytime soon.

 

[Explorador]

I'll state some suggestions on here too, like how not to blow a 2UZ-FE.

4: Factory, the connecting rods in the 2UZ are kind of known for being the weak point of the motor, so keep that in mind when working on or wheeling your GX.

Enjoying your write up. Those rods might be weak but no even the best one can stand against water. You might getaway removing the plugs while at the parking lot. I hope you got forge rods this time, go back to the same puddle and show him who's the boss ...

I plan on grabbing some eagle H-beam rods, and sticking with the crankshaft. The factory crankshaft is “steel”, but the google says it can handle 1400+hp, and I don’t plan on passing that number anytime soon.

H or I beam are good forged rods for that application. Im sure you know but If I may, since everything is a part you can balance all the moving parts, that add yrs of life and runs even smoother. Good choice on the rods.

 

[Zander Abear]

yesterday I pulled my motor apart completely. Excluding the obvious, the motor was in great condition. All but one main bearing still has its factory machining, 220K miles later. Same with the connecting rod bearings, except they are all in perfect condition. the cylinder walls were in good condition, with no grooves, except for where the rod snapped and scraped. The cams, lifters, and everything were also in great condition, the only bad part was there was some debris from my snapped rod, but that wasn't the heads fault. there was some mud from the great flood on top of my pistons, but that came right out when I removed my pistons. There was a small lip on the top of the cylinder walls, but nothing a rubber dead blow handle can't fix, I assume not out of the ordinary for 220K miles. The rust color on the cylinder walls just comes off with my finger, so it's nothing to worry about.

 

[GLOCKer]

Ouch! I hate this for you.

Man, I'd be really tempted to source a diesel do replace that gasser with!

 

[Zander Abear]

Ouch! I hate this for you.

Man, I'd be really tempted to source a diesel do replace that gasser with!

I’ve looked into putting a diesel in it, I just don’t think it’s worth it. Many of the diesels I would consider don’t have the power of the 2UZ, not including gas prices and such.

 

[GLOCKer]

I’ve looked into putting a diesel in it, I just don’t think it’s worth it. Many of the diesels I would consider don’t have the power of the 2UZ, not including gas prices and such.

There's the cost. But damn, the torque! But mostly, my temptation would be because of the cool factor. But them damn 470s are already cool. Luxury off-roading done more reliably than Land Rover/Range Rover!

 

[Zander Abear]

I’ve looked into putting a diesel in it, I just don’t think it’s worth it. Many of the diesels I would consider don’t have the power of the 2UZ, not including gas prices and such.

There's the cost. But damn, the torque! But mostly, my temptation would be because of the cool factor. But them damn 470s are already cool. Luxury off-roading done more reliably than Land Rover/Range Rover!

I think with what I’m planning on doing with this new motor that I’ll be able to output more torque and horsepower than a diesel that would be swapped in. Planning on down the road throwing a supercharger up top and running a couple pounds of boost. We’ll see, priority is getting my truck running again.

 

[Zander Abear]

Got the new block ordered, I should get it around early next month. It’s used with 280K miles, but I plan on over-boring it. Not sure to what number yet but I’m thinking .040.

 

[Zander Abear]

Should be getting the new block later today, so the rebuild shall begin! I bought it with the bottom end still installed, so I'm going to tear it down and maybe run it to the machine shop today or tomorrow. Super excited! We will see what the word is from the machine shop.

 

[Zander Abear]

Hello all, good news! The motor looks usable! It sat outside for a while, so there's some surface rust on the cylinder walls. I plan on taking it to the machine shop tomorrow and having it just cleaned up. There were two bearings that had a small groove in them, but like the original motor, most of the bearings looked brand new.

 

[Zander Abear]

Over the weekend I took the motor over to my local machine shop, having it decked and cleaning up the bore. I ordered my head studs and main studs. Main studs will get here Wednesday, but the head studs are on backorder. I will order some basic head bolts until the studs get here, so I can keep the project going. Nothing big going on yet, just taking it slow.

 

[Zander Abear]

Sorry for the lack of updates, nothing is really going on. There's a backup at the machine shop so they won't get to my motor for a little while longer. Sometime soon I will order all the new parts for the motor, I just want to know if my motor needs to be overbored, so I don't buy the wrong pistons. So yeah, just waiting.

 

[Zander Abear]

Hello all, I apologize for the lack of updates, but nothing is really happening. I’m still waiting on the machine shop to machine my block and heads. On the plus side, I got my connecting rods!

 

[Zander Abear]

Hello all, I didn’t expect this job to take almost 8 months, but here we are. Last week I got my motor back from the machine shop, and had some more work done to it that initially expected. I had to overbore, as my block was slightly pitted at the bottom of the cylinder walls, so we had it over bored 0.050. Right now I have my rotating assembly getting balanced at the machine shop, should get them back tomorrow or at least the week of. A couple of days ago I got around to putting in my ARP 2000 head studs, and that also, took a little longer then expected. I mean, they’re long bolts, how hard can it be? Nevertheless, I spent about 2 hours actually installing them, not accounting for the trip to ace hardware for a tap. The threads in the block were not cleaned at the machine shop, so I spent some time chasing the threads of all debris, and threading the studs. All in all, it was a pretty relaxing job.

 

[Zander Abear]

I’m finally starting to get some headway. I’ve got the bottom end all put together, and the heads on with the cams in time and timing belt put on. When I get home I should finish putting the engine together, I only have a couple things left. I’ll post some pictures in my next post. Should get the truck running and driving again soon, can’t wait to drive it again!

 

[rancejunge]

Zander thanks for sharing all of this and great info! You should have put forged pistons with ductile iron rings in it with a slight more compression if you are thinging about boosting. I am in the process of building this now for my GX470. I am using the same rods in mine also. What did it cost you to bore the engine? Picture of my pistons