Offroad-Express

My daily driver (weekend toy) 1993 KZN130 Surf had a very minor altercation with a puddle resulting in 1 bent conrod. I spent several months contemplating whether to simply replace the rod and piston, do a full rebuild or just find a second hand engine.

I eventually stumbled across a second hand engine out of a 1996 90 series Prado and seeing as it had the factory intercooler I decided to buy it. My surf was a factory 1KZ-TE and the Prado was a 1KZ-TE. The few extra hp I would gain from the intercooler was definitely an incentive.

The two engines side by side on the garage floor look very similar but there are a few subtle differences that I thought were worth mentioning.
- The Prado sump has a 'front' sump and the Surf has a 'rear' sump. Surf sump and oil pickup are required to clear the diff head. Remove Prado sump and oil pickup, remove oil pickup studs. There are 2 studs but 4 holes. Replace studs in opposite holes and fit the Surf oil pickup and sump. Everything bolts together, apart from swapping parts around no modifications are required.
- The Prado dipstick is on the drivers side (to clear the intercooler), the Surf dipstick is on the passenger side. I stuck with the Prado dipstick but shortened it by 12-15mm to stop it hitting the Surf sump.
- The Prado engine mounting brackets (4 bolts to block) are longer the the Surf brackets. Surf brackets required.
- The Prado rubber engine mounts (2 bolts to chassie) have 6mm narrower hole centers than the Surf. Surf rubber engine mounts required, although the Prado mounts could be slotted if needed.
- The Surf accelerator cable is too short to wrap around the front of the intercooler. I will look for a Prado cable to fix this, hopefully it will be a bolt in fix?
- The KZN130 (without bodyift) bonnet does not close with factory Prado intercooler!!! I plan to cut a hole in the bonnet to clear this and will also fit a bonnet scoop.
- The Prado TPS is near the rocker cover, the Surf TPS is near the oil filter. The Surf TPS wiring will need to be lengthened by approx 200mm to connect to the Prado TPS plug. The rest of the wiring looks like it's going to simply plug in. The Prado & Surf electronic pumps look identical.

On the plus side, the flywheel bolted on perfect and the R151 gearbox also bolts up perfect.

I update as progress continues....

Sounds good. I assume you will be adding a snorkel as well?

the intercooler is a worthy addition. On the dyno, we ran an intercooled KZN185 Surf, then ran it again with the fan directed onto the intercooler, to simulate on road conditions, and the EGTs came down by 100 degrees C. Must help head longevity.
BTW this is good info for people faced with the same situation. well done and thank you for taking the time to document it.

Checkerhead wrote:Sounds good. I assume you will be adding a snorkel as well?

Haha, yes definitely snorkel time. Was just about to purchase one at the time of the 'minor altercation with puddle'. Old story, could've would've should've.

So, another fairly significant difference (I wish I'd noticed before the engine was in because as most of you know how much fun it is to remove the turbo) is the dump pipe.

The 1993 Surf & 1996 Prado dump pipes are completely different. Good thing is, the flange to the turbo is identical so I removed the Surf dump pipe and fitted it to the Prado turbo. Now to put turbo back onto the engine and theoretically the Surf exhaust will bolt up...

you mention haveing to trim the dip stick. I would be tempted to used the surf dipstick to ensure you have the oil level right with the other sump fitted. Either that or first time you fill it make sure you put in the amount of oil the manual says rather than using the dipstick then check where it lines up.

Just a thought. Would suck to do all this work then run it with the wrong amount of oil!