dicer

Why flip? If you have the space and your going to keep one, then keep the thousands of cheap cheap parts. Or do you like paying for wrecking yard parts? I wish I had the space, for a parts car.

AandSC

I recommend flushing your cooling system prior to doing your timing belt change. You have to remove the radiator, so it's a good time to get the system cleaned out. When I did my timing belt change I did this and it definitely made a difference, plus gave me a little peace of mind. The coolant in my car was 16 years old at that time and definitely needed changed.

As as far as a new thread or posting your DIY in this thread, I recommend a new thread. Might be easier for folks to find.

Thanks for for keeping us updated on your efforts!

Banshee365

I do have the space, although the wife isn't a fan. The original plan was to buy the car, strip all of the parts, then scrap the rest. But I changed my mind to fix it and flip it to make a few hundred bucks. The condition of the black car and white car are completely different animals. The interior of the black car has trashed front seats and center armrest and who knows the condition of the engine and trans until I get it running. I just don't see any parts on the black car that are any better than the white car has. When I get it running I'll check out the power steering system and maybe switch power steering pumps if it seems that the black car still has an OEM pump. The white car's PS pump is painted black so it's most likely a reman, and the crush washers at the high pressure hose to pump banjo are aftermarket.

If I switch any parts I feel are better on the black car to the white car after I get it running I feel like I've gotten a lot of value out of the black car. The black car has the Nak stereo so those parts don't cross to the white car for spares. Most of the common parts that fail on these cars are still available, most by the OEM. If I had a idler bearing, fan bracket bearing, tie rod end, lower ball joint, upper control arm or something like that fail I wouldn't want to use a used part off a 230k mile car. As far as the transmission I've learned my lesson using used transmissions to replace a failed unit. The last time I did that the trans lasted a few thousand miles and it was cooked. If the trans goes, I'll overhaul it. I still have the other failed unit for spare pressure plates and such.

What circumstances do you feel you could get better use out of a car like my black car by keeping it then doubling your money flipping it?


If you read my post fully you would see that is what I was referring to when I talked about draining, filling with distilled, then draining again. I do not believe in flush chemicals for aluminum engines if that is what you were looking for.

I'll plan on creating new thread instead of burying it in this one, I agree that is a better idea the more I think about it.

dicer

Wife isn't a fan????? who cares are you a fan of her hobbies? Sewing, knitting, what ever? And besides tell her its better than going out with the buddies every other night or having a girl friend etc etc.
So far LS's are not a thing to worry about doubling your money on, someday. Just remember one thing, everyone that goes to a junk yard is gone. Even the parts, some are removed and sold, but places like pick n pull hundreds of good parts are crushed. I have only seen 2 cars through a couple of years that had engines or transmissions removed. And the transmission one just had the bell housing missing, I got the valve body and solenoids magnets bolts etc. So it all was trashed for pennys a pound, since scrap is so low. Even the body if it has good panels some day it will be desired, especially for someone trying to fix a former lowered vip or what ever that has holes in the shock towers and that sort of thing. .

AandSC

i did fully read your post, and recommended flushing with something like Prestone's radiator flush and cleaner based on my experience.

When I started the process I wasn't getting much heat out of the lower vents. Basically lukecold air. After flushing I was getting hot air, noticeably different than the beginning. There had to be some sort of restriction that was removed during the cleaning process. The flush and cleaner is stated to be safe for all metals. When I had the water pump and thermostat out the passages were very clean.

Banshee365

Haha, honestly the wife doesn't care all that much. She just makes jokes. I'm not totally sure what you were referring to with most of your post until the last part. Maybe the body will be worth something to someone some day. What were you saying about parts missing in the junkyard or something? Every one that I've seen so far in my local LKQ pick-your-part yards are mostly complete cars. Most are neglected and in rough shape but they're complete. I'm waiting for the day that a well cared for UCF20 shows up with a really hard hit. That will make it worth very little but still have lots of great parts.

My black car isn't one of those, it's had a rough 10 past years at least. It was once an awesome car I bet, with the Nak and Blackberry Pearl paint. If I had another car missing a bunch of parts and not running it would seem to me worth keeping the black car to make two cars out of one. My white car just needs a few little odds and ends here and there. I don't feel like it's worth keeping this black car rotting around just in case I need a part once a year or so. Being that it ran before the starter failure it seems worth more to me to sell it for double what I paid ($500) once it's running. With the front seats trashed I think it's worth hanging on to it until I get some better seats from the junk yard when a nicer one comes available. Probably the best money I could get for it would be stripping it completely and selling each of the main components separately then sell the shell to a racer or something.

I've got a bottle of Prestone flush chemical that I never used in a previous project. I could use that but just never felt it was necessary with the LS400's I've worked on. Did you notice a large discoloration of what you drained after running the flush chemical and water up to operating temp?

dicer

I was trying to show how many cars are scrapped with lots of good parts still.
Rotting parts car? There are car covers and Costco car ports and plastic, I would not have nothing rotting if I had the right place. I'd have old containers to park the cars or parts in.

AandSC

i actually used an old bottle that I had bought also. I wouldn't say there was a large discoloration but the first flush was noticeably darker than the second flush. I can't remember if there was a third flush (I think there was), but the last one was very clean. I did my TB/WP right after flushing and was very happy with how the passages looked.

Banshee365

Yea every 1UZ water pump I've done had squeaky clean passages, without a flush chemical. That's a benefit of an aluminum engine and Toyota Long Life Coolant. I would bet most contamination would come from the radiator and heater core.

Banshee365

Alright, with a hurricane passing by and me getting bored I figure now is as good a time as any to knock out the timing belt and water pump on this car. The leak is a bit excessive so I'll be glad to get the new seal in there. I'll take photos along the way for the UCF20 timing belt and water pump DIY that I will put together in a separate thread.

For this job I will replace the:

• Timing belt
• Water pump
• Timing belt idler and tensioner pulleys
• Timing belt hydraulic tensioner
• Engine coolant temperature sensor for the ECM
• 180 degree thermostat
• Front crankshaft oil seal

I also cam across a cool find in the junk yard the other day. A '95 hit the yard the other day. I checked the images online and saw the interior was the proper color but was totally trashed. I decided not to hit it the first day it was in the yard. When I was in the area I decided to swing in there and get the antenna harness if it was still there. It was so I grabbed that. I checked for the tool kit which of course was gone. But, the owners much have not known about the first aid kit under the drivers seat, which my car was missing. Five dollars for both parts and I was on my way. The first aid kit looked like it may have been opened once. Most everything was there except the 2" bandage roll. Pretty cool. I like finding stuff like that.

Banshee365

Well I got to spend a few hours on the car today while doing some other stuff around the house. Taking some photos along the way for the DIY surely slows things down a lot too. I was only able to complete the disassembly. I need to order a few parts before reassembly. When I do these timing belt jobs there are a few connectors that are either broken or always break when removing no matter how careful you are. The drivers side cam position sensor connector and the right bank coil connector under the coil. Both of these were already pre-broken for me. I'm going to order replacement connectors from Toyota. Also, I wasn't expecting the cam seals to be leaking with 165k miles but both are leaking so I need to order those. The coolant that came out of the car was mostly red but somewhat watered down I think. I'm going to forgo the chemical flush. I'm still going to do the distilled flush then refill with Toyota long life coolant but thanks to Hurricane Matthew there is no water anywhere in my town. The hoses and coolant passages were squeaky clean so there isn't any contamination to remove except possibly some where I can't see in the heater core and/or radiator. I also found a vacuum hose that was split and likely leaking from the intake connector to the VSV. They are still available from Toyota for $28.

Here is a photo of how it currently sits prior to cleaning the old snot off the mating surface.

dicer

I want to see where the jack stands are holding at.

Banshee365

On the oil pan of course...


j/k

They are on the engine crossmember.

dicer

Do they have nice rubber pads on them? I put them on the control arm and it nests next to the crossmember. They have the nice harbor freight rubber pads so no metal to metal contact. When using the floor jack there is no space to let them nest on the aluminum it self and I think its angled slightly so they could slip out. Its just a safer place where I put them.

Banshee365

These jack stands do not have rubber pads. They are positioned just after the bottom of the crossmember starts to angle up slightly. But they can't slip out. The jack stands are the large variety and the slight angles on the crossmember act like a vee sitting between two points. You couldn't budge this setup without slamming a small car into the front fender or something. I try to avoid putting much stress towards the inner parts of the lower control arms as it stresses the rubber bushing. I do know what area you are speaking of that creates sort if a notch though. The struts bear the brunt of the weight on the front and I would rather not out that much stress just on those bolts and bushing.