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How to make your IS300 OEM Aristo Powered!

149K views 97 replies 48 participants last post by  damian_96 
#1 · (Edited)
OEM Aristo Conversion for 01 Lexus IS300

Prerequisites:
1. JDM Aristo 2JZ-GTE VVTi w/4sp E-Shift Automatic (Transmission: 35000 3F450)
2. JDM Aristo 2JZ-GTE VVTi COMPLETE Engine Harness
3. JDM Aristo 2JZ-GTE VVTi ECU w/o Immobilizer (89661 3A470)
4. JDM Aristo 2JZ-GTE VVTi MAF (22204 46010)
5. Lexus IS300 HAHA

The easy stuff
Okay here is where you need to do all maintenance before you put the engine in the car. Just makes more sense and is much easier to remove components while the block is bolted to an engine stand. Here is what I recommend you replace while the engine is on the stand.

  1. Oil Pan Gasket-remove both No.1 and No.2 oil pans and clean surface. Reapply silicone and bolt them back on. VERY CHEAP insurance that it won’t leak and once back on the car, very difficult to remove with the cross member in the way.
  2. Front Main Seal (9031146001) – behind the crank pulley. Rubber ring around the crank shaft
  3. Rear Main Seal (90311‑90006) – behind the flex plate. Larger Rubber ring that looks just like the front seal
  4. Intake and Exhaust Camshaft Seals (903114002) – you’ll need to remove both pulleys’ to get to these
  5. Timing Belt (1356849036) – yea you should know where this is…. 
  6. Timing Belt Tensioner (13540 46030) – small shaft on the left providing tension to the timing belt
  7. Water Pump (1610049846) – Stock 98 Supra Turbo pump is what you want to get
  8. Thermostat (9091603093) – Stock 98 Supra Turbo is what you want to get
  9. Spark Plugs – factory plugs are Denso SK20R11 (Super Long Life) but any plug will do for a 98 Supra Turbo
  10. O2 sensor – there is only 1 sensor so just get a new one.

Optional: These parts are optional. You can just inspect them and replace if you think you need to.
  1. Intake gaskets (17177-46040, 17176-46030) – there are two, the gasket that is against the head and the gasket after the runners
  2. Exhaust gaskets (17173-46020, 17198-46010) – there are two, both are against the head
  3. Turbo Exhaust gaskets (17278-46011) – these go between the turbos and the exhaust manifold. They are rings.
  4. Turbo pipe gaskets (17376-46010) – there should be two one in the rear and the other in the front against the cold side of the turbos
  5. Turbo outlet gaskets (17378-46010) – there should be two, the smaller outlet port on the cold side of both turbos
  6. Oil gaskets for Turbos (15471-46010 x 2, 15472-46010) – should be two lines that go to each turbo and a small gasket for them. They use the exact same gasket so just buy two of them. There is also a gasket for the lines when they connect to the oil pan.
  7. Water gaskets for Turbos (16347-42020) – should be two lines that go into each turbo and a small gasket for them then two other block off plates on the other side for a total of 4 gaskets
  8. Main Head gasket (11115-46052) – yea you know what this is, the annoying one. If you have to replace this DO IT NOW!!!!
  9. Engine Mounts (12361-46190 x 2) – when I pulled my GE engine (130k) them bad boys just fell off. So I had to buy replacements. You can use the IS300 equivalents
  10. Transmission Mount (12371-46160) – the same thing happened to this one. The IS300 equivalent will also be sufficient

Pick a part time
This is where you are just pulling accessories from your original 2JZ-GE engine; since you know those parts are all functioning properly. (Obviously if they aren’t working at the time of your swap you’ll need to either rebuild them or replace them. You can get all factory IS300 parts unless otherwise noted.
  1. Alternator (Aristo PN is different due to the electronics inside the cabin but IS will work just fine)
  2. Power Steering Pump (you will need to modify this a little bit, sounds more than it actually is)
  3. A/C Compressor
  4. Starter (Aristo 28100 46140)
  5. ECT Sensor (it’s been said before that this sensor needs to be swapped but the part numbers are the same so it shouldn’t matter)
  6. Flex Plate (32101 30090 you MUST use the Aristo one. The IS one WILL NOT bolt up to the Aristo torque coverter)
  7. Torque Converter (32000 30360 you must use the Aristo one)
  8. Coil packs – (90919 02216) you can use either set but my advice is to use the set from your original GE engine, you know they work (unless you’ve been having problems of course)

Sensor Status
Alrighty, well chances are pretty high that if you got your engine and it looks good majority of the normal sensors will be on it already. However, the sensors that are necessary to control the turbo’s are usually the ones that are there, but damaged. So there are about 4 of them, make sure you inspect them and check for any cracks on them. If there are any cracks or ports are missing…yep you’re going to need to buy replacements. My advice is to go onto my.is or even supraforums and see if anyone has them lying around. Since most Supra guys (and IS guys for that matter) remove the twins, they in turn remove the sensors. You might be able to get them at MUCH cheaper rate vs. buying them from Toyota. But if you need to purchase new ones, tell the dealer that you have a 98 Supra Turbo as the USDM sensors and JDM sensors are the same part numbers. Here is a pic of the sensors you must have to control the turbos:



You can also use this image to restore the vacuum lines to the engine. It’s pretty clear how they should route and that’s important so they open and close the actuators properly.
For the most part the rest of all the sensors should be on the engine and should be fine, but you should inspect them anyway just to be on the safe side. I’m talking about the oil, knock, camshaft positioning, VVTi, etc. etc.

Engine Bay Modifications

Heater Core Pipes
Once you remove the engine you will see 2 pipes where the rear coolant hoses were plugged into. These pipes stick out much too far for the engine to be dropped so you will need to cut them. I cut mine with a dermal but you could use anything really. You want to cut them down to at least 1 inch long. That should be long enough where you can still clamp the hoses and short enough so the engine will sit right in the engine bay.



ABS Relocation
Okay, I know some people have gone with leaving the ABS box near where it is just moving it a little away from the engine itself. I went ahead and relocated it to where the OEM battery is located. You’ll obviously have to cut and bend the brake lines for this, so if you’ve never done this before be careful. Once you cut the first line…there is no going back.

Engine Harness
Okay here is where you could go 2 different routes. If you are pretty skilled at repining, you could attempt to do this yourself. Or you could send both the IS and the Aristo harness off to Tweak’d Performance to get them “merged”. I went the Tweak’d way cuz I’m not too skilled when it comes to this and this is VERY VERY important. Here is a little information on what is basically happening.

When you hook your Aristo engine harness to the Aristo ECU, the connectors obviously connect just fine. You’ll notice however, that the last two ports on the ECU don’t have connectors. This is because what should be connecting there is the patch loom that is in the ECU box that connects to the body of an Aristo. That being said, you will also notice that there are a few connectors that don’t connect to anything. These are the connectors that are connecting from the engine harness to the patch loom that communicates with the other sensors on the body of the car.

Now when you send both harnesses off to Tweak’d, that’s what they are actually modifying, those 3 connectors that should be connecting to the patch loom. Obviously those should be in an Aristo rather than an IS300. So basically they are taking the connectors off your OEM IS harness and repining the connectors on the Aristo harness that go into the patch loom in your car. The other side of the patch loom that is in the car will connect to 2 remaining ports on the Aristo ECU no problem thus completing the communication circle to allow everything to function. Here is a picture that might make this clearer:



The one connection that I noticed that will not get connected was the sensor on the power steering line. This is mostly because the aristo had a special ECU just for steering since it had 4WS. The IS monitored all that from the ECU, but you should be fine without it.

Automatic Transmission

Clearance Issues
Okay, it gets a little tricky here. Once you drop the engine and transmission in, you’ll notice that the transmission mount is SLIGHTLY off from the factory location. An when I say slightly I mean a ¼ of an inch or less. Now, keep in mind the mount does flex a little so you can muscle it in place and it should still be fine. Assuming you have the adapter plate that will go between the flange of the automatic and the driveshaft, you’ll also notice that flange will hit the shifter assembly box. So um yeah, that’s not going to work too well. You have 2 options here to solve this:
1. Remove the adapter plate and bolt the driveshaft directly to the flange on the transmission. Not quite sure how this would work out, but I opted for solution 2 because I’m sure Toyota put this there for a reason.
2. Lower the transmission slightly so it doesn’t hit the box while it’s turning. This proved to be the easier solution for me. I picked up 4 M10 x 1.25 bolts at about 50mm with matching nuts. Ran me about 12 bucks. I basically put the bolt in and added a washer, nut, and another washer between the transmission mounting plate and the body of the car. As shown below. This should clear about ½ and inch without lowering the transmission too much for clearance under the car.



Shift lever
Once you put the flange for the driveshaft on the transmission you’ll quickly realize you won’t be able to shift because the lever will hit the adapter thus not allowing you to go thru your gears. What I opted was to extend the lever about 1’’ to 1 ½’’ lower so it would clear the adapter plate and allow you to shift properly. This is basically what I did:



If you want to purchase a new lever so you don’t screw up the OEM one the part number: 33501 53020 should be about 35 bucks.
Here is a pic of what it might look like when you are done.



Drive Shaft
The drive shaft will need to be extended a bit so it will reach the Aristo transmission. Also the flange needs to be removed off the factory one and the Aristo one needs to be added. I THINK you could get an SC400 Drive shaft and modify that. I chose to modify the IS one since the rear section is perfect and doesn’t need to be modified at all. Remember you are ONLY modifying the section from the center carrier bearing to the input shaft. If your transmission came with the flange cut off the drive shaft should make it much easier otherwise you’ll need to find a flange that will work. As stated above, I think an SC400 flange is the same and you could use that but not 100% sure. Anyway this is what it should look like when you are done. Oh and the measurement I took was from where the flange couples with the flexible coupling on the driveshaft side….NOT ON THE TRANSMISSION SIDE. Make sure you get this right or it will be too short when they do the machining. Exactly 27 inches from that flange to the center of the center support bearing. When you install it, insert the transmission side first then the differential side then bolt up the center support bearing. It will fit perfect.



More to come.... :approve:

Updated 2/16 - Rear main seal part number
 
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#3 ·
Hey Wing, I noticed your referenced the 98 Supra when purchasing the thermostat and water pump. I wanted to know if there really is any difference between the 98 and pre 98 model? This is the first time I've heard to buy a 98 year model part. I've already purchased both parts but I don't think I requested them from a 98. Thanks for your help.
 
#14 ·
Assumptions are that us with manual cars can disregard the auto info and figure that our Ecu's will remain with a piggyback or standalone?


Since the aristo is a auto, are you still using the ecu to run the engine? So really we could do the same and just not pin out for the auto trans...?
 
#18 · (Edited)
Can Anyone clarify if the manual trans can be used without the auto ecu freaking out? I have a Aristo lined up if this is the case.

I want that oem goodness with a boost controller and a fuel tuner. Trying to stay away from a standalone.


And any word on diagnostics? Will you lose the obd2 functions?
 
#19 ·
I'm almost finished with the doc...not much more I need to add to be honest. I'm currently trying to clear up the e-shift mystery I'm having. I can't be certain if I have an A340E or A341E and which is e-shift capable. Looking at the pinouts of the Aristo ECU, the computer is capable of controlling e-shift, so that might have to be an addendum to it one I figure it out and exactly what transmission needs to be used. As of now, I put her in D and she' moves like a bat out of hell so I can't really complain too much.

As for what you lose, that's one of the sections I'm adding but basically, the water temp gauge, traction control, cruise, and yes OBD2 scanning WILL NOT work. I may try to pick up a cheap JOBD scanner and see if that does anything. Also, I'm reading that the paperclip method may work on a JOBD car...I haven't tried it cuz...well I'm not throwing a single CEL :)

As for the manual part, while I can't be 100% certain, I wouldn't be surprised if the same procedure to convert a USDM Auto to manual would apply to this. The wires needed to modify on the transmission plugs might just be in a different location. My advise would be to find out what wires on the USDM conversion then see if you can pinpoint them on the Aristo harness and do the same thing. Again, this is just an educated guess.

I can tell you I have had ZERO problems with the car. Runs great and I've been driving it daily for the past week with at least 40 mi a day. :approve:
 
#65 ·
As for what you lose, that's one of the sections I'm adding but basically, the water temp gauge, traction control, cruise, and yes OBD2 scanning WILL NOT work. I may try to pick up a cheap JOBD scanner and see if that does anything. Also, I'm reading that the paperclip method may work on a JOBD car...I haven't tried it cuz...well I'm not throwing a single CEL :)
Did you have any joy in getting these to work? Not caring about OBD2 but would like to have TC, Temp and cruise control working.

Also do you have a link the the Aristo ECU pinouts and body loom pinouts?
 
#21 ·
Oh I don't expect ANY inspection place to be able to read ANY codes or communicate with this ECU.... It's not like you can ask them to scan it a specific way with a specific machine. The scanner I was referring to was more for troubleshooting only.

Your best bet if this is a problem and you don't have "other methods" to get your sticker would be to stick with the IS ECU.
 
#22 ·
Unfortunately it all computer recorded. No pass scan no registration.

Given the wantingness to stay as oem as possible, what would you reccomend? Piggy back or something along the lines of a apexi fuel/timing controller?

I would boost the ge, but it leaves the same issue of running the car. Plus the cost of the kit. I just feel better having a purpose built gte in there. Im already running a w58.
 
#24 ·
Well if its all computer recorded, your out of luck with the JDM ECU. It WILL NOT talk to their computer....period.

So what I would do if I were you, would be the first way I had mine. GTE, with IS ECU and piggy. If memory serves with the E-Manage, the only CEL I had was for o2 issues, but those are easily defeated. If you are okay boosting the GE, nothing wrong with that...much easier to do and the car will probably feel alot more stock, then do that.

Good write up! I may have to make this another PDF if I have time.
Thanks man, Yea I'm going to convert it from the word doc master once I finish it up. It's almost done. I'll also post a link to the dropbox download when completed. :approve:
 
#31 ·
Stock Auto should EASILY hold the power from a stock GTE engine. No problems, provided you perform the VB upgrade and transmission cooler.

ECU is your personal choice, as is the Piggyback. AEM and E-Manage are probably the most popular though. If your car is running just like you want it, don't change the ECU. The only reason I went to Aristo ECU is cuz I just wasn't happy with the way it was running on the stock IS ECU.

Intake and Exhaust Camshaft Seals (903114002) – Are you missing a number in this part ID?
I might be....I'll double check. :p
 
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