84 replies to this topic

[ChriSOL]

wow. this was informative.

[Kyle]

This should be the thread that the browser directs you too after registering here. +1 Gordon. Distributor in the block reminds me of 1/2f. What you know about those?

[bwcress]

Further proving my point that the 7m (any m motor for that matter) might as well be a steam boat engine... But in all seriousness was the m line of engines and original toyota design or was the design bought from another company? ( i figure of all people you would know the answer to this)

[The Chubby Chaser]

I know this is off topic, but does the 5M have the same issues, specifically the head gasket and rod knock?

[Gibbs]

Lol this thread is so good!

[Mo]

Anyone who doesn't understand how an engine works wouldn't have known this. That is why the 7M knocks after a BHG fix or knocks while it blowing a head gasket. Water contaminates the oil which fucks up the rod bearings. Although I've never paid attention to the flywheel mounting bolts, nor the lead plated cam journals, I've known about the hiccups of the 7M which caused it to have bad publicity.

Yes, you can make a 7M work if you follow Gordon's procedures. But like he said, this is mucho money! For the cost of making a sweet ass 7M, you can do a 2JZ-GTE swap and have money to spare on a single turbo setup and bigger injectors. I love the way the 7M's sound, but the sound isn't enough to make me want to cough up all the money to make a sweet 7M when I can have a superior engine that was released with bullet proof reliability and awesome power gain-ability for something that'll make just better power than its turbo variant.

Still though, it's interesting to see what a 7M can do in the hands of Gordon.

[BudgetVIP]

This is some good reading material. I know we've given alot of shit back and forth towards each other but that was more fun than being serious to me any way. I actually love the 5m's. My first x7 had 225,000 on it when I bought it, I always drove that thing 80+mph for a year, never changed the oil or filter(just added oil cause it leaked alot haha) and it lasted me a year (30,000 miles) before it threw 4 rods through the block. I miss that car alot. There's a 6m in the crown I'm driving right now and so far it's been really good, just hit 100,000km's last month.

[Bill]

to make it worse, cars that had an improper coolant mix in them tend to have nasty corosive holes in the block and head surfaces, i've seen some as deep as just over 1mm right around the headgasket sealing area. when you see that it's game over since you can't mill that much off the surfaces when rebuilding.

i actually think the 7M is not a bad motor if it's healthy and happy and is minty enough to get a fresh rebuild, would be perfectly good, it's just that with all the inherent and often found problems in the motor, if you don't get a clean happy one, in almost every case it's more cost effective to switch to a different motor all together, especially if your goals are to make power and run the car hard. a 7M can be built to make power and be abused if you can start out with a good one, which is VERY rare.



the only knocking i ever experienced with a 7M was when the motor was so overheated running without coolant, blown gasket etc.. trying to get home and the thing started dieselling hardcore because it was insanely overheated, sounded like it was on the edge of seizing solid for like 5 kms hahahaha...

[Afro88]

To OP, why did you ultimately decide to build a 7M if you knew all of these things? Or has it just been a learning process?

[Stephen]

gordo you should do a 1uz swap for a daily.

[Austin]

this is excellent. everyone bashes 7m's, and i'm super guilty of it. but at least now, everyone will know why. im not going to stop bashing them, but i'm at least going to know that my beliefs are well grounded. and that makes me happy, because im right.

[Mo]

This is interesting shit. Just shows how lazy Toyota was with their flagship motor. I stand by 5ms though. I've neglected mine so bad and I still trust to drive it wherever. Even after all the shit it's been through it still dyno'd 120whp and 131wtq.

[cocobutterz]

That post was pure fucking gold, Gordon. Serious food for thought seeing as I will be looking for a shop to work on my block and head, and the one that I was planning on going to - even though the machinist has badass euro cars- is mainly gone to for redneck v8 work and shit. I will now ask any shop I go to for machine work if I can look closely at any of there current projects and check for blemishes.

[Mo]

This isn't just good info for the 7M, but excellent info for those of you tearing down and rebuilding engines.

[bradlee]

prepare to have your mind blown. my friend just tuned a 7MGTE on all Z32 electronics (Z32 CAS, Q45 throttle body with Z32 TPS, Z32 PTU, Z32 coil packs, Z32 MAS, Z32 coolant temp sensor and Z32 FPR)...



all that for 400whp at 15psi. but it's only using 440cc injectors at the moment.

[BudgetVIP]

Those are decent numbers. I just don't like how 7m engine bays always look so messy with wiring and hoses everywhere, always so cluttered.

Good write up Gordon.

[Stephen]

the important thing here is it just shows all the dumbfucks WHY they can't just get ARP studs and an mhg and call it dandy, even beyond a more thought out typical headgasket job.

if you don't have the tools to do this yourself, sticking with a 7m is going to cost thousands of dollars more than a swap just to get it in a reliable state.

[Mo]

I demand more engine porn!