Bringing a Lexus ES300 back to life - Engine Replacement
09-16-12, 12:19 PM
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Bringing a Lexus ES300 back to life - Engine Replacement
Found this forum by searching the web and really enjoy it, so I thought I would share my story of my 1995 Lexus ES300 as I put this thing back together.
So I bought this car, saw on craigslist for $600. Body looked good from the pictures. And thought I would check it out. The owner mentioned he had many people who were going to come look at it, but because it was located some distance out in the country, yet no one had seen it yet. I told him I would come see it. I got directions and headed out in the late afternoon. After driving 50+ miles to get it I saw that the tires went flat, it hadn’t been moved in some time and the back story on it.
The back story. This car was purchased for the owner’s wife and they have owned it for 12 years. She absolutely loved this car. It ran great for those years until it started overheating. The vehicle was delivered to their son in law house (which is where I saw it) and he suspected a bad head gasket. The SIL took off both heads and took them to the machine shop for diagnosis. That is when he got the bad news. One was cracked and both were warped beyond repair. Oh, by the way, they left the heads at the machine shop so I bought the car without the heads…. The owner seemed to be very forthright and honest when responding to my questions. He also said absolutely everything worked on this car when it started overheating, including the Air Conditioning.
So the vehicle just sat out until the SIL had enough of it sitting on his property. The owner, just wanted it gone as well. He had a clear title on it and had no intentions of trying to squeeze every cent out of it.
I offered $500 and he countered with $550 because he said the scrap yard offered him $500 for it. So I agreed to $550.
The next morning (Thursday) we met at the local bank which again was another 50 miles for me to travel (100 both ways) and I received the title. The only good thing is that I was driving my 1999 Corolla which gets around 28MPG average.
I arranged for a Saturday pick up. I needed to get a tow dolly. I had an easy time getting a two wheel tow dolly from a place less than five miles from me when I bought my Corolla two months ago (the current car I am driving in which I bought for $475, and then dropped a $550 engine in it and it runs perfect now, but that is another story). Unfortunately, my local place didn’t have the dolly anymore and I had to call the 1-800 U-haul number because no place close to me had a dolly available for the weekend. Corporate U-haul found a place 50 miles on the other side of town which had the dolly. They said I could pick it up on Friday at 4 pm (they closed at 5 pm). So I went on Friday and got it. I had to have it back by Saturday at 4 pm so I would only have to pay around $43 for an in-town one day rental.
This is where I should bring up that my niece has a Honda 95 hooptie she uses for college. Well, the brakes went out on her car while she was at college. The college is 120 miles from me and I have no idea why the brakes don’t work at all (she says they just go to the floor). So while I have the one day rental, I figure I should pick her car up and bring it back to repair it (She is poorer that a church mouse and gets zero help from her mother on anything). So being the uncle who helps out the family with finances and repairs I decide I will be making some long road trips that day.
Saturday morning. I get up as soon as the sun rises and begin my 50 mile drive to pick up the Lexus. Since the Lexus is located about 1/10th of a mile from any hardball road and is on an incline. I have brought along a tow strap and come-a-long for any emergencies….
The first challenge was getting it into neutral. There was no battery and the Lexus would not shift into neutral without power. Luckily the Son in Law had a small motorcycle battery that provided enough voltage to allow us move the gear into neutral…
At first I brought the truck and dolly down the hill and we were going to try to roll the lexus down and turn it around. That lexus wouldn’t budge for us. So he brought his truck down and we hooked the tow strap and pulled it down the hill.
Now this is probably a good time to admit that I pretty much suck at backing up with a trailer. I know this, accept this, so there we are. I could not get a good line on the Lexus and then the dew was making me peel out on the grass not even under a load (one wheel drive truck). So we hooked the Lexus up to his 4 wheel drive truck and pulled it up to his relatively level gravel driveway.
Once again I make a futile attempt to back the dolly up to the Lexus, but alas it is not working. We disconnect the dolly and push it in front of the Lexus and line it up. Then I back up my truck and we re-hook it… problem solved.
This is where the Come-a-Long came in so handy. Even though the Son in law and I are both hefty guys, there is no way for us to push that car up the dolly and get it over the lip where the wheels rest. We hooked up the Come-a-long again and easily pulled the Lexus’s front wheels up into the dolly. Mission accomplished. However it had taken over an hour to get the Lexus loaded up. I was way behind for the day already. It was 10:30 AM and I needed to still return this vehicle to my home and make the run for the four hour round trip to pick up my Nieces car. Arghhh.
I pulled the vehicle back all on highways. The back roads would have been a shorter route, but I like the fact that wouldn’t have to stop 15-25 times on the highway for red lights which the shortcut would have. Around 11:20 AM I get near my home and remember a car wash is along the way. I figure this is the best time to wash it since it is really dirty and has lawn-mowed grass stains on it. So I pulled it through the car wash and gave it a nice good bath. I must admit, the body on this thing still looks pretty good.
I rushed home and had to get this thing unloaded. Unfortunately, my wife was not home and I had to do this by myself. ARGGHH
I unstrapped the car, but there was no way I could push car tires out of the recessed area where the they are located. And guess what else. I had to put it into park while I towed it, So remember that battery issue and not going into neutral… ARGHH!! I had no extra battery. I would have to pull one out of my cars and hook it up…. But then I remembered I had a great battery charger. I set the charger to 12v and hooked it directly to the pos and neg of where the battery should go. Bingo. The Car would then shift into Neutral.
As I said, I could not push the car out so I had to think again. I pulled up my Corolla behind the Lexus and attached the come-a-long to the Corolla and the Lexus. After a couple pulls on the come-a-long the Lexus came rolling down the dolly right toward the corolla behind it and with me in the middle. CRAP! So I adjusted my stance, lowered my shoulder like a lineman and met the Lexus as it was rolling back. I had visions of my legs being compressed and cut off between the cars, but my force was enough to stop the Lexus. Whew. Won’t ever try that again. All I needed was a person who could have been in the Lexus to hit the brakes. Not smart on my part, but I included that for a learning point for others. Get help!
Anyway. I get the Lexus dropped off and zoom of to get my Nieces car.
I loaded my Nieces car on the dolly and drove it back home with no issues by 3:30 PM. I ended up getting to the U-haul around 4:25 PM. Luckily for me the lady was nice and my 25 minute transgression did not cost me an extra day… Whew.
To give you the “rest of the story” My nieces car indeed had no brakes. She had to drive it two city blocks just using the emergency brake in order to get it to the location in which I could load it on the dolly (a parking lot).
Anyway… her rear disk brakes were shot. The caliper on the driver’s side was missing a bolt and there was almost no rubber left on the piston. There was metal on metal on both rear brakes (no pad left). All total: This Drivers side caliper was shot, the rotors were both shot and the pads go without saying. I replaced the bad caliper, the rotors and the pads. As we were bleeding system the brake pedal was still acting funny…. You guessed it. Bad master cylinder. Had to replace that too. Got her car all fixed up and as I type this she is back at school with a car that stops.
OK here is what we have to work with.
The car’s engine top has been stripped. This should make it easy for it to come out. Not much left to unbolt. A big puzzle to put back together.
All parts are in the boxes in the trunk. Sigh…
I can get a replacement engine with around 100k miles for $675 at a local pick and pull so I will go pick that up This Friday.
So I bought this car, saw on craigslist for $600. Body looked good from the pictures. And thought I would check it out. The owner mentioned he had many people who were going to come look at it, but because it was located some distance out in the country, yet no one had seen it yet. I told him I would come see it. I got directions and headed out in the late afternoon. After driving 50+ miles to get it I saw that the tires went flat, it hadn’t been moved in some time and the back story on it.
The back story. This car was purchased for the owner’s wife and they have owned it for 12 years. She absolutely loved this car. It ran great for those years until it started overheating. The vehicle was delivered to their son in law house (which is where I saw it) and he suspected a bad head gasket. The SIL took off both heads and took them to the machine shop for diagnosis. That is when he got the bad news. One was cracked and both were warped beyond repair. Oh, by the way, they left the heads at the machine shop so I bought the car without the heads…. The owner seemed to be very forthright and honest when responding to my questions. He also said absolutely everything worked on this car when it started overheating, including the Air Conditioning.
So the vehicle just sat out until the SIL had enough of it sitting on his property. The owner, just wanted it gone as well. He had a clear title on it and had no intentions of trying to squeeze every cent out of it.
I offered $500 and he countered with $550 because he said the scrap yard offered him $500 for it. So I agreed to $550.
The next morning (Thursday) we met at the local bank which again was another 50 miles for me to travel (100 both ways) and I received the title. The only good thing is that I was driving my 1999 Corolla which gets around 28MPG average.
I arranged for a Saturday pick up. I needed to get a tow dolly. I had an easy time getting a two wheel tow dolly from a place less than five miles from me when I bought my Corolla two months ago (the current car I am driving in which I bought for $475, and then dropped a $550 engine in it and it runs perfect now, but that is another story). Unfortunately, my local place didn’t have the dolly anymore and I had to call the 1-800 U-haul number because no place close to me had a dolly available for the weekend. Corporate U-haul found a place 50 miles on the other side of town which had the dolly. They said I could pick it up on Friday at 4 pm (they closed at 5 pm). So I went on Friday and got it. I had to have it back by Saturday at 4 pm so I would only have to pay around $43 for an in-town one day rental.
This is where I should bring up that my niece has a Honda 95 hooptie she uses for college. Well, the brakes went out on her car while she was at college. The college is 120 miles from me and I have no idea why the brakes don’t work at all (she says they just go to the floor). So while I have the one day rental, I figure I should pick her car up and bring it back to repair it (She is poorer that a church mouse and gets zero help from her mother on anything). So being the uncle who helps out the family with finances and repairs I decide I will be making some long road trips that day.
Saturday morning. I get up as soon as the sun rises and begin my 50 mile drive to pick up the Lexus. Since the Lexus is located about 1/10th of a mile from any hardball road and is on an incline. I have brought along a tow strap and come-a-long for any emergencies….
The first challenge was getting it into neutral. There was no battery and the Lexus would not shift into neutral without power. Luckily the Son in Law had a small motorcycle battery that provided enough voltage to allow us move the gear into neutral…
At first I brought the truck and dolly down the hill and we were going to try to roll the lexus down and turn it around. That lexus wouldn’t budge for us. So he brought his truck down and we hooked the tow strap and pulled it down the hill.
Now this is probably a good time to admit that I pretty much suck at backing up with a trailer. I know this, accept this, so there we are. I could not get a good line on the Lexus and then the dew was making me peel out on the grass not even under a load (one wheel drive truck). So we hooked the Lexus up to his 4 wheel drive truck and pulled it up to his relatively level gravel driveway.
Once again I make a futile attempt to back the dolly up to the Lexus, but alas it is not working. We disconnect the dolly and push it in front of the Lexus and line it up. Then I back up my truck and we re-hook it… problem solved.
This is where the Come-a-Long came in so handy. Even though the Son in law and I are both hefty guys, there is no way for us to push that car up the dolly and get it over the lip where the wheels rest. We hooked up the Come-a-long again and easily pulled the Lexus’s front wheels up into the dolly. Mission accomplished. However it had taken over an hour to get the Lexus loaded up. I was way behind for the day already. It was 10:30 AM and I needed to still return this vehicle to my home and make the run for the four hour round trip to pick up my Nieces car. Arghhh.
I pulled the vehicle back all on highways. The back roads would have been a shorter route, but I like the fact that wouldn’t have to stop 15-25 times on the highway for red lights which the shortcut would have. Around 11:20 AM I get near my home and remember a car wash is along the way. I figure this is the best time to wash it since it is really dirty and has lawn-mowed grass stains on it. So I pulled it through the car wash and gave it a nice good bath. I must admit, the body on this thing still looks pretty good.
I rushed home and had to get this thing unloaded. Unfortunately, my wife was not home and I had to do this by myself. ARGGHH
I unstrapped the car, but there was no way I could push car tires out of the recessed area where the they are located. And guess what else. I had to put it into park while I towed it, So remember that battery issue and not going into neutral… ARGHH!! I had no extra battery. I would have to pull one out of my cars and hook it up…. But then I remembered I had a great battery charger. I set the charger to 12v and hooked it directly to the pos and neg of where the battery should go. Bingo. The Car would then shift into Neutral.
As I said, I could not push the car out so I had to think again. I pulled up my Corolla behind the Lexus and attached the come-a-long to the Corolla and the Lexus. After a couple pulls on the come-a-long the Lexus came rolling down the dolly right toward the corolla behind it and with me in the middle. CRAP! So I adjusted my stance, lowered my shoulder like a lineman and met the Lexus as it was rolling back. I had visions of my legs being compressed and cut off between the cars, but my force was enough to stop the Lexus. Whew. Won’t ever try that again. All I needed was a person who could have been in the Lexus to hit the brakes. Not smart on my part, but I included that for a learning point for others. Get help!
Anyway. I get the Lexus dropped off and zoom of to get my Nieces car.
I loaded my Nieces car on the dolly and drove it back home with no issues by 3:30 PM. I ended up getting to the U-haul around 4:25 PM. Luckily for me the lady was nice and my 25 minute transgression did not cost me an extra day… Whew.
To give you the “rest of the story” My nieces car indeed had no brakes. She had to drive it two city blocks just using the emergency brake in order to get it to the location in which I could load it on the dolly (a parking lot).
Anyway… her rear disk brakes were shot. The caliper on the driver’s side was missing a bolt and there was almost no rubber left on the piston. There was metal on metal on both rear brakes (no pad left). All total: This Drivers side caliper was shot, the rotors were both shot and the pads go without saying. I replaced the bad caliper, the rotors and the pads. As we were bleeding system the brake pedal was still acting funny…. You guessed it. Bad master cylinder. Had to replace that too. Got her car all fixed up and as I type this she is back at school with a car that stops.
OK here is what we have to work with.
The car’s engine top has been stripped. This should make it easy for it to come out. Not much left to unbolt. A big puzzle to put back together.
All parts are in the boxes in the trunk. Sigh…
I can get a replacement engine with around 100k miles for $675 at a local pick and pull so I will go pick that up This Friday.
Last edited by KarlHungus; 09-16-12 at 05:57 PM.
09-16-12, 04:51 PM
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Nice story. Keep us updated as you go along with engine replacement. I am a new DIYer but like to read the forum and people's experiences with major projects like this. Good luck!!!
09-16-12, 05:52 PM
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Pulled the Engine out.
Of all things it took me a little longer than I thought (4 hours), but I was persistent. Sorry I didn't get any pics of the it on the cherry picker. My neighbor came over at that time with a couple of brews in hand and I forgot about the camera!
The engine behind it is a 1.8L from a Corolla I am also repairing. Got that one out just prior to the Lexus engine that same day. That one took me 2 hours 15 minutes to pull, a personal best for me.
The Cleared out Engine Compartment:
This is the trunk where are the parts were put by the previous owner... Looks like fun, eh??
More to follow!
Of all things it took me a little longer than I thought (4 hours), but I was persistent. Sorry I didn't get any pics of the it on the cherry picker. My neighbor came over at that time with a couple of brews in hand and I forgot about the camera!
The engine behind it is a 1.8L from a Corolla I am also repairing. Got that one out just prior to the Lexus engine that same day. That one took me 2 hours 15 minutes to pull, a personal best for me.
The Cleared out Engine Compartment:
This is the trunk where are the parts were put by the previous owner... Looks like fun, eh??
More to follow!
Last edited by KarlHungus; 09-16-12 at 06:03 PM.
09-17-12, 05:16 PM
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More fun tonight. My priority this evening was to get another Corolla running. I bought an engine for a Corolla and installed it two weekends ago and it had a bad head gasket. Now I need to take it back Wednesday to get another engine to replace it (the junkyard is replacing it for free). I pulled apart the tranny from the engine on a 1.8l and it took about 15 minutes. Easy work..
Now as for the Lexus engine...
Immediately after separating the Corolla engine and tranny, I was going to separate the Lexus 3.0 from its tranny.
The top 5 bolts came out easy enough...
The motor mount bolts needed a little more motivation... My 3/8 Nitrocat wasn't cutting it. Had to move up to 1/2 drive
Then I just plain got stuck. The intermediate shaft would not move.
I went to my trusty puller set.
Put together a slide hammer... and whacked the bejeezus out of it... Didn't move a millimeter.
As you can see the lock bolt is completely loosened and the spring clip is no longer in place. This Carrier bearing is going to be a pain!
Still this thing won't budge... Blasted it with PB for the night and will try again tomorrow. These things freeze in that Motor mount and make it double trouble to get out.
I have a plan tomorrow which involves torches, a come-a- long and a rachet strap and a couple for parked cars.... (How could this go wrong?)
Anyway I have heard about people taking off the motor mount/bearing mount and using a press to get this off. Unfortunately there is one bolt in the way that wont come off without the axle coming out. I suppose I could back off the bolt a bit and take a sawzall to it.... hmmmm We'll see..
Cheers
Now as for the Lexus engine...
Immediately after separating the Corolla engine and tranny, I was going to separate the Lexus 3.0 from its tranny.
The top 5 bolts came out easy enough...
The motor mount bolts needed a little more motivation... My 3/8 Nitrocat wasn't cutting it. Had to move up to 1/2 drive
Then I just plain got stuck. The intermediate shaft would not move.
I went to my trusty puller set.
Put together a slide hammer... and whacked the bejeezus out of it... Didn't move a millimeter.
As you can see the lock bolt is completely loosened and the spring clip is no longer in place. This Carrier bearing is going to be a pain!
Still this thing won't budge... Blasted it with PB for the night and will try again tomorrow. These things freeze in that Motor mount and make it double trouble to get out.
I have a plan tomorrow which involves torches, a come-a- long and a rachet strap and a couple for parked cars.... (How could this go wrong?)
Anyway I have heard about people taking off the motor mount/bearing mount and using a press to get this off. Unfortunately there is one bolt in the way that wont come off without the axle coming out. I suppose I could back off the bolt a bit and take a sawzall to it.... hmmmm We'll see..
Cheers
Last edited by KarlHungus; 09-18-12 at 05:45 PM.
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09-18-12, 07:34 AM
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Too funny I had the EXACT same problem with my 2001. I used a 6' long pry bar and it popped out.
I'm in the process of a motor swap myself.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...or-or-fix.html
Are you going to replace or fix? Looking at that motor I would replace.
I'm in the process of a motor swap myself.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...or-or-fix.html
Are you going to replace or fix? Looking at that motor I would replace.
09-18-12, 03:51 PM
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Too funny I had the EXACT same problem with my 2001. I used a 6' long pry bar and it popped out.
I'm in the process of a motor swap myself.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...or-or-fix.html
Are you going to replace or fix? Looking at that motor I would replace.
I'm in the process of a motor swap myself.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...or-or-fix.html
Are you going to replace or fix? Looking at that motor I would replace.
I am going to replace the engine. I found a good one with low milage for $675. Going to try to pick it up this Friday.
09-18-12, 04:14 PM
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More fun today!
Well, I was bound and determined to get that intermediate shaft off and I was successful, albeit not by the most conventional means, I do believe in the saying "If its stupid and it works, then it isn't stupid"
Anyway, I let the bearing soak in PB all night and gave the slide hammer another chance.... No dice....
OK, time to take it up a notch.
I ended up hooking my hoist to the shaft and lifting it up the entire engine and transmission by it, and the shaft was still supporting that weight!
To be safe, I only lifted it an inch or so above the floor, so when it "went" it wouldn't drop that far.
I ended up smacking the heck out of the shaft with the Sledgehammer. I probably hit it over 50 times.
Little by Little, it started to give.
A little PB love from up above! (I used up all my Kroil
)
Starting to give.
IT GAVE!!!!
Messy!!!
The Bolt that kept me from taking off the unit as a whole and using my shop press to push it out.
Now to take the rest of the stuff off the engine.
Getting the final bolts off the tranny.
Ready to spread!!!
Success!!!!!
Removing the Flywheel to Torque converter bolts...(Yeah I know I have a CHROME U joint adapter on it, but the impact wasn't hammering)
Torque converter out!
Endstate for the day is achieved! Tranny separated from engine and engine stripped of necessary parts!
Cheers!!!
Well, I was bound and determined to get that intermediate shaft off and I was successful, albeit not by the most conventional means, I do believe in the saying "If its stupid and it works, then it isn't stupid"
Anyway, I let the bearing soak in PB all night and gave the slide hammer another chance.... No dice....
OK, time to take it up a notch.
I ended up hooking my hoist to the shaft and lifting it up the entire engine and transmission by it, and the shaft was still supporting that weight!
To be safe, I only lifted it an inch or so above the floor, so when it "went" it wouldn't drop that far.
I ended up smacking the heck out of the shaft with the Sledgehammer. I probably hit it over 50 times.
Little by Little, it started to give.
A little PB love from up above! (I used up all my Kroil
)Starting to give.
IT GAVE!!!!
Messy!!!
The Bolt that kept me from taking off the unit as a whole and using my shop press to push it out.
Now to take the rest of the stuff off the engine.
Getting the final bolts off the tranny.
Ready to spread!!!
Success!!!!!
Removing the Flywheel to Torque converter bolts...(Yeah I know I have a CHROME U joint adapter on it, but the impact wasn't hammering)
Torque converter out!
Endstate for the day is achieved! Tranny separated from engine and engine stripped of necessary parts!
Cheers!!!
Last edited by KarlHungus; 09-18-12 at 04:37 PM.
09-18-12, 05:24 PM
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Yippie, I know that feeling well! You're moving at a much faster pace then I am, but then I'm super **** retentive, labled everything, checked it twice, blah, blah...
Only thing I did different was I unbolted the torque converter and left it sit with the transmission. I'm wondering now if I should go ahead and remove it so not to put uneeded stress on that seal.
The other thing I thought was funny is suppossedly you can pull the motor without taking the trans. The hard part which you mentioned is how do you get that bolt off with out taking that motor mount / axle carrier off? I couldn't even get the axle out either, so I had to pull them together.
Plus that motor mount sits on dowl pins like the transmission does.
Are you going to re-use the motor mount / axle carrier or get a new one?
Only thing I did different was I unbolted the torque converter and left it sit with the transmission. I'm wondering now if I should go ahead and remove it so not to put uneeded stress on that seal.
The other thing I thought was funny is suppossedly you can pull the motor without taking the trans. The hard part which you mentioned is how do you get that bolt off with out taking that motor mount / axle carrier off? I couldn't even get the axle out either, so I had to pull them together.
Plus that motor mount sits on dowl pins like the transmission does.
Are you going to re-use the motor mount / axle carrier or get a new one?
09-21-12, 05:41 PM
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Picked up the engine today.... Real Lexus Engine.
Got a late start so the only goal today was just getting the Tranny attached to the engine.
Mission Accomplished...
Got a late start so the only goal today was just getting the Tranny attached to the engine.
Mission Accomplished...
09-21-12, 06:34 PM
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Yippie, I know that feeling well! You're moving at a much faster pace then I am, but then I'm super **** retentive, labled everything, checked it twice, blah, blah...
Only thing I did different was I unbolted the torque converter and left it sit with the transmission. I'm wondering now if I should go ahead and remove it so not to put uneeded stress on that seal.
The other thing I thought was funny is suppossedly you can pull the motor without taking the trans. The hard part which you mentioned is how do you get that bolt off with out taking that motor mount / axle carrier off? I couldn't even get the axle out either, so I had to pull them together.
Plus that motor mount sits on dowl pins like the transmission does.
Are you going to re-use the motor mount / axle carrier or get a new one?
Only thing I did different was I unbolted the torque converter and left it sit with the transmission. I'm wondering now if I should go ahead and remove it so not to put uneeded stress on that seal.
The other thing I thought was funny is suppossedly you can pull the motor without taking the trans. The hard part which you mentioned is how do you get that bolt off with out taking that motor mount / axle carrier off? I couldn't even get the axle out either, so I had to pull them together.
Plus that motor mount sits on dowl pins like the transmission does.
Are you going to re-use the motor mount / axle carrier or get a new one?
About pulling the motor without the tranny and dealing with the Intermediate shaft. Many times it is just easier to use a sawzall and cut the shaft and remove it that way. If you cut the shaft you can pull one end out of the tranny using vise grips and a hammer, bash the other side of the shaft to knock out the end where the cv boot bolts up (Through the bearing carrier).
I am going to try to re-use the motor mount and cv shaft as well. As long as everything slides nice I will go with it.
Cheers!
