RSpi

I'm trying to help a single mom get her ES300 to stop overheating. It's a miracle that she hasn't blown the head gasket but that's another story.

Anyway, she has had the car to a few shops to no avail (yes they have charged her to do work that did NOT fix the problem). I got the car yesterday and ran it for a good while before I seen the car leaking. The leak was dripping from the back side of the motor, on the passenger side of the exhaust. While under the car, looking real hard, I could see it trickling down the back side of the motor, but the heater hoses are not leaking. As I looked around for several minutes, I could see some coolant behind the collant filler neck (not sure if that's the thermostat housing or not, likely is), on the block or head. My guess is that the hose behind there (I can see a little piece of a rubber hose) is leaking and it's running down the drivers side of the motor on to the ground.

This leak only leaks when the car is warm from what I can tell. Anywho, the only RIGHT thing to do from my perspective is to pull the intake manifold to get to that hose and replace it if it's leaking or split. If it's not that, I guess there is a small chance that the housing that the radiator hose connects to is leaking but I don't think that is it because I can NOT see coolant flowing from it while the motor is running and the coolant is running on the ground.

Does anyone have a link to some good instructions on how to get that manifold off and whatever information I would need to avoid making costly mistakes?

Thanks.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

That coolant hose is often overlooked, because very few people seem to know about it. I found it by pure accident while doing my valve covers. Thankfully, I was able to replace it, so that I wouldn't be in your situation.

You're gonna need a Torx E6 socket for the front valve, in order to remove the wiring harness for the ignition coils. The intake plenum needs a 9 or a 10mm Allen key (can't remember the exact size). The trickiest part is removing the power steering line that's attached to the back of the plenum (passenger side support bracket). The EGR valve can also cause some frustration, just take your time with it. I would recommend getting a new Intake Plenum gasket, they're rather fragile. There is bunch of other little maintenance items that can be replaced at this point, but it's up to you if you want to do that. Chances are that her valve covers are leaking oil.

I really liked this step-by-step photo gallery, when I was doing mine
http://www.wjowsa.com/carstuff/toyot...lve-cover-job/

Some reference photos.



Allen bolts



Torx studs



Plenum support brackets.



Main Intake



The coolant hose



Good Luck!

RSpi

Yikes!!! So the manifold does have to come off? Along with some other tidbits.

Where is the best place to get the gaskets I need (yes the valve covers are leaking oil)?

One last question... do I really need the Haynes when using his instructions?

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Both intakes have to come off.

No the Haynes is not needed, I personally only have the Factory Service Manual for the 97 model year, and I didn't use it for this job. Best place for parts is Sewell Lexus - the prices are reasonable for what you get. They offer a hefty discount if you register and say that you're a Club Lexus member.

If you wanna do this right, you're gonna need these:

2 Valve Cover Gaskets
6 Spark Plug Tube gaskets
16 new Valve Cover bolts (they come with new crush washers)
Intake Plenum Gasket
Central Coolant Hose
1 Gallon of Toyota Red Coolant (if not doing a complete refill)
RTV Sealant (small amount in certain spots)
PCV Valve and Grommet (optional) - that's the red plastic thing that's sticking out of the rear valve cover in my photos
Dual Electrode Spark Plugs (optional)
Spark Plug wires (optional)

You should also clean the Throttle Body and the MAF sensor while you're at it, it will smooth out the idle. Make sure you use the correct cleaner for each one.

p.s.: I like your Volvo, you should try the Mothers Back to Black on some of the trim pieces. It makes plastic look like new again.

canucklehe

rockauto has very good prices for most of those parts. I;d definitely do VC gaskets. Not sure plug wires need replacing, you can check them for continuity. plugs i would do. and the other items Mr. Booby mentioned are all worthwhile doing while you've got it apart.

RSpi

Thanks again for the info. I'm going to hit this head on in a few minutes. Not sure if she will spring for all the gaskets needed, I'm going to pressure here to do so since it's the right thing to do.

Mr. Bobby, I did get and use some of the "Mother's Back to Black" conditioner and it does work great. However, since it's a temp conditioner I got more agressive with it and purchased some plastic dye called "Forever Black" which is incredible. The stuff is a dye and last a lot longer. I just have not updated my pics on those post yet but here is one below. I also use to have a rare yellow 850 sedan that I used the Forever Black on.

canucklehe

too funny... my neighbour is a big-time Volvo owner/parts collector, of about your same vintage.

yeah..I'd definitely make sure she gets the VC gaskets. stinky oil on my exhaust pipe drives me crazy. and the plenum gasket probably has to get done anyways.

RSpi

Vintage. LOL

Does the valve cover bolts shank out or is there a torque value that I need to torque them down to?

canucklehe

i've read 5 ft lbs, and i read another thread where guys said they didn't like some sort of rubber washer, so they replaced with a flat metal washer. A couple of folks seemed to end up over-tightening with their metal washer theory, broken bolts, etc... The long & short that I got out of it was they are designed to only tighten so much (is that "shank out" ?).

Don't take my advice to the bank on this, just regurgitating what I've read on these forums. you can find more info, or maybe someone in-the-know will share.

RSpi

Well, I have everything off but the valve covers. I don't see a problem with them, however, I broke the PCV valve. I thought the hose was loose, opps. Don't think I could have gotten the hose off of it without breaking it anyway, the thing is like a fortion cookie, very brittle.

The lady was told that plugs were replaced a few months ago. I know the ones on the back were not. When I pulled the one closest to the steering wheel it was covered with coolant. I'm hoping that coolant spilled down there when I pulled the manifold. If not, may be trouble down the road (a short distance). It was not missing or smoking so hopefully is was a spill.

The cost of these parts are going up pretty quick. I was hoping to spend less than $100 on gaskets, etc. but with the plugs being $11 each, the wire being the same it looks like I'm going to be upwards of $175. The air filter looks like it hasn't been changed in 100,000 miles. SMH

canucklehe

hmm, maybe the PCV valve is what got broke on mine?? mechanic said a vacuum (solenoid ?) was brittle and shattered when they took mine apart. It is under front cover and easy to get at. It still needs to be replaced.

maybe if $$ is an issue, use platinum plugs instead. a lot cheaper. Yes, don't last as long, but still should get 60-100K miles out of them.

RSpi

Thanks. The manual said the plugs should be replaced every 60,000. I'm the kinda of guy that does what I would do with myself or a little better maybe. So, I don't want to thake the chance of putting something in there that may be missing in a year or 20k. I cried a little at the parts store and they give me the plugs for $6.50 or something like that. They acutally knocked 10% off the entire order. I'm $300+ deep in parts right now and still don't have the hose.

LET ME SAY THIS: If anyone takes those manifolds off, replace that hose. It's about $25 and it is likely NOT in stock. That's the only part that I can't find locally. At the Lexus or Toyota shop. The parts place said they don't have anything that they can match or whatever. CHANGE THIS HOSE WHENEVER YOU CARE CLOSE TO IT.

It really looks like these intake gaskets are not that old. If I had to guess, I'd say less than 2 years old. The rubber coating is still pretty soft. The valve cover gaskets are pretty hard and I had to really dig the spark plug tube oil seal rings out of the cover. They are real hard and very tight in the cover.

NOTES:
1. The valve cover bolts shank out. The new seal is very soft and actually crushed when I intalled the cover.
2. The oil tube seals are locked in the cam cover with tabs that you need to bend out of the way to get the seals out and bend back when the new seals are installed.
3. The oil tube seals did not slide over the tubes when I put the cover back on. I had to get a small screw driver to work them around the tubes to get the cover to get down on the head. (Ooops, installed these upside down in the cover, when installed properly, they slide over just fine).

Hopefully I'll get that hose tomorrow and close this thing out.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I hope all will be well with your valve covers, because the tube seals are meant to be installed back into the valve covers. Like you said, that's why there are tabs that hold them in place. They don't sit separately on the tubes, like in other cars.

Oh and I should have mentioned the proper replacement procedure on the tube seals. There is a guide on ToyotaNation that helped me a lot. It involved heating the wells and freazing/greasing the new seals.

canucklehe

so where is the coolant hose you speak of? can you post a pic?

RSpi

Mr. Bobby posted a pic of the hose above. I'll add it again.

As for the oil tube gaskets/seals, I did install them in the cover. I installed them upside down on the front cover. I'm now thinking that it may cause a problem with blowby so I'll likely pull the cover and try to flip them around. It may not work because I had to tap them in with a hammer because they were so tight going in. I did oil them but that didn't help as much as I expected. The heat and freezer deal may be the key. I'll save that for last. Maybe it won't blow by after I install the coil packs. I don't know, what do you guys think?

I got that hose on the power steering pump. Had to do it from up top. It took me about 2 hours. I tried from underneath but I could not get the new one started. So I worked on it for a while up top and got it started after a long while.

I have everything ready to go back in. I have some rubber loop looking softish rubber gaskets that I'm not real sure where they go. Maybe it will come back to me. :?

Hopefully I'll finish up by noon tomorrow. It's pretty cold in the mornings but not to bad for me, being from Pittsburgh.