Alright guys, I’ve now bought ten 2GR-FE motors from all sorts of different vehicles and I have a bunch of information that is probably good to people looking to buy one for their 2GR-FE swap.
This should do pretty good in answering the questions that I’ve been getting over PMs in the last several months.
This guide is mostly USA centric, but lots of it will apply to other parts of the world.
2005+ Toyota Avalon
2006+ Toyota RAV4
2007+ Toyota Camry
2007+ Toyota Sienna
2007+ Lexus ES 350
2007+ Lexus RX 350
2008+ Toyota Highlander
2009+ Toyota Venza
Of these, I haven’t bought a motor from a Venza or an RX350.
Let’s start with the “Extras” that come with some of the motors:
The Oil Cooler
This is available in the Highlander and the Sienna if the vehicle came with a tow package. And as far as I know, the oil cooler is standard on all Australian 2GR-FEs.
*note* the equal length headers I sell do clear the oil cooler without issues or modifications.
The Oil Level Sensor
As far as I can tell, this option is mutually exclusive to the oil cooler option. The electrical interface is compatible with the MKII guage cluster. This option is on all ES350 motors.
Next we come to accelerator pedals:
There are three types of pedals. Let’s label these 1 2 3 from left to right.
Number 1 is from the Avalon and ES350.
Number 2 is from the Camry
Number 3 is from the Hilander, Rav4 and Sienna
All three are electrically compatible, but only the Number 1 works with the pedal adapter that I sell for the MKII conversion.
Next is ECU types:
There are two types of ECUs that can control the 2GR-FE. as far as I can tell, there are no differences in horsepower regardless of which vehicle you pull them from. Some throw different ECU codes, but none limp with just the engine connected and no anciliaries
The one on the right is used in the Avalon and in the Highlander. It is designed for mounting on the inside of the cabin. The one on the left is in all the other vehicles and is designed for mounting in the engine bay.
Currently I only provide a mounting solution for the 5-plug ECU:
The 2-plug ECU is trivial to mount since all the threaded holes are in the proper direction. A few spacers and a couple bolts are all that is needed.
Engine Harnesses:
There are MANY variations on the engine harness. It seems like every vehicle has it’s own harness. But there are three major differences:
The first style is in all vehicles I’ve seen except the Rav4:
Note that the main harness connection point is on the left. It moves around a bit depending on the model, all of them lead to a fairly clean engine bay but they place the connector on the wrong side. With the 2-plug ECU this means you can place the ECU near where the intercooler used to be mounted. If you get the Avalon version of this harness with the 5-plug connector you’ll have to put a new hole in the trunk to mount the ECU or you’ll have to extend most of the wires.
The other variation is the Rav4 harness:
This harness is the same as the Australian TRD aurion. It’s a bit more “busy” but it’s very conducive to being mounted in the MKII. This is a 2-plug ECU harness.
Both ECUs types are available without immobilizers. The 5-plug non immobilizer comes from the highlander. The 2-plug non immobilizer comes from the Rav-4. but if you’re buying a new ECU just get a 2010 Camry 2-plug ECU. It’s 1/3 the cost of the others and will work without an immobilizer. *edit* the 2010 camry ECU apaers to need an immobilizer, only the rav4 and highlander ecus are available without
Stock exhaust Manifolds:
There is no good solution here. There are 3 different rear manifold types and 2 different front manifold types. Both fronts types hit the clutch slave cylinder when installed and two of the rear types put the output squarely in the trunk. If you intend on keeping the stock manifolds because you live in California or something similar your option is a rear manifold from the Camry or Avalon. This will bolt right in on the rear and fit in all MR2 chassis. For the front you can use any of the front options and modify them by cutting and welding between where the manifold comes together and the cat. Or if you aren’t using an oil cooler or an air conditioner you can fit the same rear manifold from the Camry or Avalon in the front. All of these options require you to have a custom y-pipe.
The other option is to buy the exhaust Headers that I make. These fit regardless of which options you have on your motor. Oil cooler and A/C included:
There will be a Y-pipe being manufactured soon to connect those directly to a Berk dual 3” tailpipe section.
Air conditioning:
All the compressors can be reused, but custom work is needed for everything to fit just right.
Personally, I just removed the muffler from the stock MR2 lines and TIG welded the aluminum back together to make my lines (this requires a very steady hand):
Lastly, if you’re still on the fence about which motor to get, here is a composite of Toyota’s HP charts for a few motors that have been swapped into MR2s in the past:
And the reality is, with the high flow headers, you’ll get even more than what Toyota advertizes:
so if you're asking which car should you use as a donor, here's what i'd say:
"Get a Highlander motor with the oil cooler, a Rav4 Harness and ECU without immobilizer and an accelerator from an Avalon or ES350"
Now, for the shameless plug:
I’ve mentioned in here a few things that I sell. Please contact me through a PM if you’re interested in buying a swap kit for the MKII MR2 for this motor.
The headers seen above are also for sale.
In the future, I’m looking to provide the following parts also:
- Y-pipe to connect to Berk Dual 3” tail section
- Bore Kit to bring displacement to 3.9L
- Rotrex C38 Supercharger Kit
and whatever else my crazy mind can come up with.
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Originally Posted by Johnny G
