Bumbobee

Hey guys,

So yesterday I attacked the knock sensors with my dad. I can say that if I could go back in time, I would of probably dished out the money my mechanic wanted for the job, but oh well. Whatever could go wrong yesterday, did.

First off, I didn't know I had to drain the coolant before hand, so I had coolant spilling everywhere during the change.

The 14 mm bolt at the back left of the hanger holding the intake manifold is impossible to get on again, we tried yesterday for over an hour and can't get it on. Going to play with it later on if we have more time.

I replaced the bypass coolant hose, but we didn't get to the valve covers even though I had a gasket for them. It just looked like too much work, and we didn't have time, it was already dark by the time we finished and I need the car for work the next day.

When I opened the fel pro intake gasket kit, and tried the gaskets on, there were 2 gaskets of the same type in the BOX!!!!!!!!! Grrrrrrrr. I had to go to a parts source here (local auto shop) and I paid $ 135 for the same gasket kit which I bought in the US for $ 50. This one had the right gaskets in the box. Thank God the store was open, or I would of not been able to finish the job. In any case, FEL PRO people at the factory fail for packing 2 of the same gasket in the kit, and fail at rock auto for selling that stuff

Reconnecting the hoses wasn't so bad, but, we have one hose left over. I am not sure if it's from my car, or where it goes, but here's a pic of it. One of the ends has a square shape in the rubber, so I assume it went to a square shape connector. Anyone know what this hose is or where it goes?

I also changed the knock sensors with after market sensors from rock auto, and an after market harness. I wasn't aware that I only need 1 harness, so I bought 2, one I still have left brand new in box. I am going to return it to rock auto, or if anyone needs it here for a discounted price I will sell it to you.

The car started up and grumbled a bit, and then idled good. We topped off the coolant and let it burp, but I am going to a do a full coolant change soon. I also changed the oil immediately with fresh oil and filter. The CEL is still on, I haven't read the code yet, but as far as the car drives, it's really good, more responsive, better acceleration, and no more limp mode not wanting to shift into over drive after getting warm.

I do have a concern though, that from the kit I have this gasket left over. During the change I didn't see my intake manifold with this gasket. It just had the lower 2 gaskets and the upper metal type gasket. I saw from another thread on here on a newer gen lexus that it has the rubber gasket. Is it possible that the kit includes 2 different gaskets, one for older gen cars, and one for newer gen cars? If not then I ***'d up badly and need to take off the top again just to install this gasket.

Here are the pics of the left over tube and the gasket that I am not sure if it installs in my car.

Bumbobee

Also, I should mention that my car has a coolant smell coming, especially at stop lights. I am thinking this is just the coolant that spilled all over smelling and burning up. Hopefully in a few days it will go away, if not, that means something is wrong...will update with that later.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

Just pressure wash engine bay clean...

And those gasket issues happen. It's happened to me with RA before... Just so many part numbers are so close between various cars.

Bumbobee

Update:

Found my check engine light problem. Had a code P1350 which was some sensor hose not connected. Found the hose, connected it, engine light gone, cars works beautiful so far!

So no one knows what that rubber gasket is for?

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

That gasket is for the intake manifold. Right into the block if I recall correctly...

If not it was for the upper half of the manifold; since it's two-piece

LeX2K

That looks like a plenum gasket (notice the 6 holes) but the pattern seems wrong for the 1MZ. Same with the material the ones I've used were not silicone rubber.

ES300doc

You can discard that rubber gasket, it's a plenum gasket but not for the 2001 ES300

Bumbobee

That's what I thought. The gasket for the manifold was made out of metal and was kind of like a 2 piece construction.