Engine and transmission swap
Hello everyone. I have come across a 2000 Pajero IO with a broken engine . I was thinking of either replacing the engine with the original or swapping it with a Toyota 2ZR engine and transmission,I’m not sure if someone has done this before and any information would be helpful as this will be my first car. The specifications of the car :
Make - mitsubishi
model - pajero
manuf. year - 2000
milage, km - 195393
body type - suv
gearbox - automatic
fuel type - petrol
engine - 1990cc
Syndicate
Let's start with...
This is your first car, is it also your first engine/transmission swap?
I'm inclined to advise against swaps of this nature, primarily because a lot of people, especially those with little experience, underestimate what's involved.
I know nothing about the Toyota 2ZR so I took a quick look at the wikipedia page for the Toyota ZR engine, it seems the 2ZR was primarily used on several of Toyota's numerous front wheel drive models, so the engine/transmission combination is designed for transverse mounting.
If I am right on this, then I would say it's a poor choice, the Pajero iO is essentially a front engined rear wheel drive vehicle, for an easy swap you want an engine that mounts the same way, and you also want an engine & transmission from a 4WD vehicle with a transfer case with the rear output centered and the front offset to the right.
Moving on, if you are not an experienced mechanic, and I doubt that you are, I would strongly advise against buying a broken vehicle with the intent of repairing it, if the vehicle is rare and worth restoring, and you have the experience, by all means, having owned an iO for many years, they're not rare, the only thing that makes it better than, for example, a Toyota Rav4, is the two speed transfer case.
If you're not doing the work yourself, repairing broken cars costs money, if that iO was an easy or inexpensive fix, chances are the current owner would have already fixed it, even if he was planning on getting rid of it, he could get a better price if it was drivable.