[southeastimports]

Hey all, hoping to get some help finding the manufacture date of an ENGINE (not the vehicle). It's a 1995 JDM MR2 SW-20 with chassis number SW20-0105048. The code on the engine block is #3S-9294438. The concern from a potential buyer is that it's a swapped or non-original engine, we want to confirm that the engine is the 3rd Gen engine, and is in-fact the 3S-GTE. Any advice is extremely appriciated!

 

[T3HKMAN]

ToyoDIY.com

ToyoDIY.com

Two different links, results say the car is legit, plus it's a GT which is the highest trim level Toyota produced. I used this site when I bought my jdm mr2. 3rd gen has the oil filter on the bottom of the engine, 2nd gen has the filter on top.

 

[merryfrankster]

For the block number the first characters indicate engine type (3S), the next number is the manufacture plant code, then for the remaining six digits there is no known way to decode. This is an "official" document that describes the engine identification scheme. It is common across Toyota engines.

The engine number is not related to the chassis number. However the engine can be identified visually as gen1, gen2, gen3, gen4, gen5 by anyone who knows these engines.

 

[DefSport]

The transmission has the VIN stamped on the front of it in the US. Not sure if that’s the case with JDM cars

 

[GDII]

The transmission has the VIN stamped on the front of it in the US. Not sure if that’s the case with JDM cars

Not on JDM cars. It has a build year, month and box number built that month though.

@southeastimports a photo of the engine would answer your question very quickly. But like @merryfrankster said the number on the block doesn't seem to have a way to link it to the car unless it's been documented by someone else not long after the car was registered in Japan.

 

[merryfrankster]

I just saw something interesting where FJ40 owners have done basically a census of engine serial numbers with known year of production and they do seem to follow an increasing progression - meaning the bigger the number, the later the year. This has not been done for the 3s.

 

[smcbride]

There are 2 numbers on the engine. The one on the block that you listed here follow these simple rules and do not really prove anything unless you can track the serial number back to the chassis.


Engine Number Example: 3S-9294438
Column Number Number from Example Meaning
1 3 Generation. In this case, the 3rd Generation
2 S Family. In this case, the S family (2 liter iron block with alloy head). This will often be more than 1 character.
3 - Separator for the Gen/Family and the characteristics
4 9 Plant code that the block was cast
5-10 294438 6-Digit Serial Number (0 – 9)

There should be another on the intake that has a manufacturing date...I believe. The yellow sticker on the timing belt cover also means something that I do not know exactly what.