3UZFTE

Thanks for your comments guys. I really appreciate you guys taking your time and checking this thread out... if you guys only knew how much I think and talk about this LS4. Anyways, back to the goodness...

So while I am waiting for my T-belt, water pump, gasket kit, etc... for the LS, I am also waiting on sway bar and steering rack bushings from TM Engineering, but thats another story... I am so interested in getting the engine bay back to OE condition, I don't want to tackle other task, like the interior, exterior, eletrical, etc.. because I am so caught up in the engine compartment. Without a good working engine, the rest all goes out the door.

So, I asked whether or not I should replace the starter... Well good thing I took it apart, it def. looked OE, here are the brushes. P.S. there was a crap load of dust from the brushes in there too..


And because I am a man of details, I just wanted to clean the wiring harness, and look what I found.... Can you believe someone did a repair like this on a LEXUS?!?! Needless to say, I soldered 2 new wires in there, sealed the connection w/ liquid tape, and taped the connection with electrical tape.

And some more cracked wiring here and there, nothing to bad... but I'm not having any of it on my ride... So I replaced any cracking or broken wires, and sealed all solder connections with liquid tape, then proceeded to wrap all wiring with shrink wrap or electrical tape given the amount needed.


Now I am waiting........ and waiting...... and waiting.... for parts....

3UZFTE

Ok, ladies and gentlemen... The moment you and I have been waiting for. So disregarding my earlier post, as now my parts have arrived!!
Hiding in the back door, cause they know once the box is opened, it's go time until it's show time...

Could resist opening the package to see what I gots, and what I don't gots...

Opened up even further... man that gasket kit is nice, although there are a few things I won't be needing.

Did you think this was free? A lot of oil changes, and misc stuff had to take place for this money, but it's been worth it for the knowledge and the beautification of my rebuilt 92' LS4.


Thanks again to Regan at Sewell. Comments are more than welcome. I wish you guys would visit my forum a little more and chat a little more, but I'm not going to whine, I'll just post pics and let you decide.

jeffls400

Sooo...how did you get such a great price on the Gasket kit? Can't wait to see the LS up and running!

3UZFTE

Thanks! me either, feels like it's been forever (3 weeks). About the price, Nothing a little sweet talking won't do for ya..., just kidding. Sewell's online price was what I paid for it, since they have posted it, they have used different manufactures which explains the price hike. Like I said, Regan @ Sewell was awesome with assisting me, couldn't and wouldn't have done it without her.. I lie, I could have used other manufactures, but theres nothing like knowing your parts are OEM.
That being said, it was a absolute crappy day... I can't believe the first day I get my parts, it's raining and it gets better, it's supposed to rain for a few days.... Needless to say, I was as excited as a kid in a candy store. So I pushed the Lex up a few feet into the opening of the garage door, so it didn't rain on me, but on the hood. It rained for a few hours and I stayed dry, for the most part so I didn't really care, and finally it brighten up for a second, and now it's raining again. Here's what I got done today.
Beginning of the day... comparing both water pumps... Their both OEM, clearly the brighter one is newer, the bearing was making a little noise...

Like everything else on this peice, the bearings on the pulleys were no exception, and needed to be replaced.... There is also a washer/spacer on the back side of the tensioner pulley, don't loose it otherwise the pulley will interfere with a bolt on the oil pump, just keep track of it.

Because I didn't everyone already has toturials on how to do most things, I didn't spend much time taking pics while assembling, plus it was raining... so.. here's a end of the day picture. The cams are just set in there, not aligned, no caps, just didn't want them laying around... All nuts and bolts have been cleaned, tapped or died. Anything that contains fluid is either getting a fresh seal, silicone, or both.



Of course... some more bad wiring, has been found... who repairs cars like this, more importantly a Lexus?


Things I want to note.
1. The starter was actually ok, the brush assembly was pretty new and the stator was ok. The bearing that is right next to the stator was a little noisey, but it's not like it was going to fail soon. So I took out the brushes, sprayed down the housings with brake clean, sanded the stator and brushes with 1500 grit, put it back together and installed it.
2. Headgaskets, it's hard to get a full 90* turn on the second pass, after your reach the 29 ft-lbs. So I torqued them down to 29 ft-lbs, then rotated my the center stud 90*, adjust the torque stick to to find out what it was torqued to. I came up with about 63 ft-lbs, so I just went to 65 ft-lbs and went to town on the rest, it has worked for me on all other cars when it's difficult to get a good degree reading.
3. Timing belt tensioner, it was ok, no leaks or anything. However, the housing it bolts into, which is part of the oil pump, someone had broken 1 of the 2 bolts off in there, so I drilled and tapped, and it's now back to OE.
4. My camshafts look ok, I cleaned them, they have a little varnish, but thats ok. I can rotate the scissor gears by hand, they rotate a full tooth, but I was under the impression they were supposed to have tension... Should I be able to rotate the gears by hand? I mean it's not easy, but I can do it if I can grab onto it and twist.

Let''s see.. that's about it for now... You can believe there will be update tomorrow as well. Anything else I remember I will either show or tell.

Thanks for coming by, leave me your thoughts, questions, and comments, I didn't do this for nothing.

jeffls400

Looking good; just a suggestion before you button up the intake - replace the contacts on the starter. Most starter failures on cars at this mileage are the contacts / and or a worn solenoid plunger. Hate to see you get it running well and then have to get back in there to switch them out later.

Jeff

3UZFTE

Thanks for the suggestion. I did happen to take the starter out, the brushes/contacts looked a little small, however upon further inspection the brush assembly had been replaced. There is plenty of life left in the brushes so to be safe I sanded down the brushes and stator for fresh materials. I'm not sure how to check the plunger though. Having said this, I can have the intakes off in about an hour, so right now I'm more hesitant to spend more money on something that has decent life left, rather than a couple hours later on, because either way money for a stater will have to be spent now or later.

jeffls400

Sounds good. After seeing the creative wiring that was done on your car, I am wondering how much of the initial driveability was due to this "engineering". Are you going to check and adjust valve shim clearance when you get the cams back on? I mean, the time-consuming part about that process has already been done.

Jeff

3UZFTE

Well, the good news is there was no CEL. However, I am just confused to why thay wiring was ripped like the way it was. I also kicked around the idea of measuring the clearance once everything is at that point. But if i had to guess, just a guess... everything looks good, when it drove it ran a little rough, but 2 of the 8 cylinders has nothing but oil in them. Now that we've had this conversation and you've brought this up, I think it's only the right thing to do.
Having said that, I pretty much had a half day. The cams are in, exhaust mani's are on, any more is to come, hope tomorrow I can rip into it and finish it!!

python

iTrader: (4)

Check ur pm.....do not put this back together without replacing ur knock sensors!

jeffls400

Hey 3UZFTE - So I take it you were able to remove the #1 (Upper) oil pan to re-seal with FIPG? I have a pretty nasty leak there on my car and I was wondering if the subframe had to be pulled to re-silicone the pan.

Got her running yet?


Jeff

LiCelsior

iTrader: (32)

hey by any chance, do u have a pic of the location of the camshaft position sensors?

3UZFTE

I had to replace one, with the connector, and did so with denso ones I pulled from a salvage yard. I am not going to pay $150 for knock sensors, and $89 a piece for connectors.... In the meantime, my labor to take off the manifold is free, so if I have to, I will take it back off again and try my other sensor, these should be ok.

Answer to your first question is no, you do not have to remove the subframe to remove the old silicone and apply new stuff. Simply put, I just dropped the pan enough (2 inches), and it was more than enough room to put a nice amount of silicone on there.
step 1: I took out all lower pan nuts and bolts, removed lower pan, girdle, and sump. With the lower pan off, remove the upper pan nuts and bolts, there is a cover over the rear 2 off the pan, and there are 4 x 14 mm engine-to-tranny bolts, which must be removed as well. Once bolts are removed use the provide indents on the oil pan to get a screwdriver or a pry bar in there to free the pan from the block.
step 2: Once the pan is loose, place a block of wood under the tranny and jack it up so the motor comes off the mounts, this gives you about 3 more inches to work with. Next use a scrapper/razor blade to remove the old silicone, use patients to let as little of the old stuff get in the pan as possible, however it's not a big deal because some will. With the pan free of the old silicone, I sprayed out the oil pan with an air hose to remove any of the loose silicone scraps that might have fallen in. With the surface clean of silicone, and any scraps blown out (if your small enough, you can put your head up in the oil pan to see in the pan to see if it's all clean and clear, it never helps to double check), the next step is to take a clean rag and spray it with brake clean, and wipe down the surface prior to applying the silicone for a better seal, FIPG doesn't like oil previously being on the surface.
step 3. Apply silicone, I used my hand to spread it because my finger is easier to get in a lot more places than the tube. Make sure the whole flange is covered on the pan, the more the better, but don't over do it! Make sure you get the rear of the pan as it is the harder to get than other areas, but it fairly easy.
step 4. Button it back up, making sure the pan goes up evenly torqued all the way around, you do not want to strip or break a bolts at this point, it would be heartbreaking.

Let me know if you have any more questions as I would love to be some assistance.

I do have some pictures of them, as they were what was messed up with my wiring. I think the wiring got loose and got ripped up by the fan belt. The are located underneath the aluminum housing, behind the timing cover. I had mine out because did the T-belt and realized that the wiring was taped pretty crappy, upon removed the tape, I found the wires just twisted together, minus solder....

Here are the camshaft position sensors, they are bolted in by a 10mm, to the aluminum housing. Mine had some F'ed up wiring. I did not have any picture of the unit directly, but I hope you find these useful.

Here was my F'ed up wiring, but the sensor was working when I drove it home. So I cleaned up the wiring obviously, but here is a picture of the sensor, the sensor is held down by a 10mm, and the wiring is held down by a 8mm (I think...)

I found some more picture of the camshaft position sensor...

LiCelsior

iTrader: (32)

ah ok, thanks for the pic.

python

iTrader: (4)

wow...comming along nicely, this is something u dont c 2 often....thank goodness

3UZFTE

Update.... The car is not running as I am waiting on my EGR delete kit from my friend. He is in finals right now, and chasing was 23 year-old males normally chase after..... he can't find the "not even an hour" it will take him to make them. I will be venturing up to his shop tomorrow to make them myself. Anyways as the car sits right now... it is almost back together, minus... the air intake, plug wires, EGR block plates, o2 sensors, oil, coolant, power steering fluid. I have removed the cats from the exhaust manis to make install easier, and from the cat back it is cut, which was necessary to remove them, so I will quietly drive it up to the exhaust shop , which sucks because I cannot let it idle and warm up to op temp to check my semi rebuild.
Anywho... I spent much of the this weekend chasing parts and doing little work on the engine, as well as the 2 other vintage cars we own. I purchased... A mint rear bumper, support, 2 ecus, abs & trac unit, fuel pump control unit, abs (esc) unit, 3 window switch (driver's door was gone), a perfect antenna, 2 ignitors, 2 knock sensors w/ connectors, seat levers, injector clips, and engine covers for $140.
Here are some pictures I hope you have enjoyed. When the car runs, I will let you guys know.
Timing belt loosely fitted.

Timing belt tightly fitted.

Here is the end of yesterday.

I was able to find some decent ES300 clips for free, and not all were good, but I scored some off the LS as the second yard also for free.

Mint antenna mast.


I am tired..., and I have no pictures of today, I will take the pictures tomorrow. And I will be going up to my friend's shop to make my own plates, or at least put some heat on. Alright ladies and gentlemen, and it has been a pleasure, but I am exhausted. Goodnight all.