andyman32

Happy new year, folks! (2011 already, )

I'm pretty convinced that among other things, the torque converter on my "new" LS400 is shot. There's a howling noise from under the car when it's standing still, coming right around the front end of the transmission channel, but only when in gear, not when in neutral; and, there's a consistent 45-50mph low rumble throughout the drive cycle and at any throttle position. The low rumble also occurs at lower speeds, usually on & off from 10mph up to 35mph, under light load, and only while cold - that tends to reduce or disappear once the car is warm.

I mentioned in a previous thread that I flushed the transmission with no effect, good or bad.

My question here is: is there any other "while you're in there" thing I should consider buying / replacing while I have the transmission off the car? I'll wager this is going to be a rather fiddly job to do on a driveway, and not one I'm going to want to have to repeat TOO often. I'm thinking, primarily, if there are bearings I should pull out, output oil seal on the engine, or input shaft oil seal on the transmission, that I should be replacing just as standard fare while I've got the thing taken apart. Any other disposable/breakable parts I need to order along with the torque converter? Or is this literally as simple as it seems - bolt off / bolt on?

Thanks for the advice!

williamb82

front trans seal, rear trans seal, rear main seal on the engine, trans pan gasket, though id remove the screen and clean it while the trans pan is off. exhaust o-rings as part of the exhaust has to come off to drop the trans. thats all i can think of for the moment.

andyman32

Hey, excellent - thanks William. I can do the trans pan gasket and screen/filter later. The transmission will be resting on the pan when I drop it. Good pointer on the exhaust o-rings.

Do you (or anyone) have a good source on LS400 / 1UZFE / A650E bits? I have found lots of these generic parts sites that have new parts but not smaller specialty bits - e.g., found plenty of whole upper & lower control arms (I have some seriously shot rubber in the front suspensions) but not individual control arm bushings. Not a lot of sources for transmission pan gaskets & filters.

But there's ALWAYS a specialty site! Especially for relatively high-volume cars like these.

JimsGX

I'd take a close look at the EGR pipe when the tranny is out. It can be difficult to get at, but easy to R&R when the tranny is out. Everyone's seems to fail eventually.

williamb82

yeah, if the egr pipe is cracked. take it off while the trans is out and have an exhaust shop weld it up for you. also, id check sites like rockauto or parts train for the trans seals and whatnot. for bushings, check the site mybushings dot com

tonyfazt

my ls400 makes a howling sound like a 18 wheeler its the
fan clutch though its stuck

williamb82

buy a bottle of the viscus fluid from toyota, take your clutch apart, clean it, then add the correct amount of fluid and reassemble.

andyman32

I wish that was it but my fan is whisper quiet. In fact, this engine is probably the quietest engine I've ever heard on ANY car, new or used - at least, other than a hybrid or electric car. My howl is definitely coming from the transmission channel. The howl is related to the engine being at idle and the transmission in gear... which means, there's bad friction inside the torque converter. It isn't exhibiting symptoms of lockup, but rather slipping.

andyman32

What is the EGR pipe doing down near the transmission? On other cars I've had, the pipe runs from the exhaust manifold to the EGR valve, which, in turn, feeds into the intake manifold. Does the EGR pipe really connect that far down the exhaust???

williamb82

it connects from the passenger side exhaust manifold to the back of the intake manifold on my 93 ls. its just alot easier to get to with the trans out. theres 2 bolts holding it to the back of the intake manifold, 2 nuts holding it to the exhaust manifold, and the tricky one, a bolt on a tab holding it to the back of the passengers side head. it can be done with the trans in place, but alot easier with it out.

andyman32

Gotcha - well, thanks for the advice!