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New '98 GS4 starter yesterday... eghads, as bad as everyone said it would be. Over 6hrs, most of the time was cleaning up the mess from the previous mechanic. Didn't have to remove the front/back pipe (that goes in to the water pump), yet the rear bypass had to come out, to get to the two starter bolts. A Lexus mechanic said if you had a lift, it's possible to get to the two bolts from below the car, with extensions and universals, yet glad we took the rear-bypass coolant housing out... the previous mechanic didn't put in new gaskets, looks like they re-used the old/original gaskets, and layered on gobs of coolant-compatible sealant... it was everywhere, took a while to get it all out. Then replaced with new Lexus coolant gaskets, as well as new Lexus intake gaskets.
If you do this job, you have to follow the factory manual. The trickiest part was once everything is unplugged, and the harness is un-bolted, and the fuel line is separated, it's tricky to get the intake manifold up/out, while struggling to get the fuel line out under the harness. The manifold is heavy for something that is all aluminum, and it's placement is a pain, with regards to balance... and it's really easy to break a wire, connector, etc, if you're not careful. And it's humorous how much "stuff" accumulated in the V-valley... little things, like harness tape, stuff like that.
We ended up breaking the coolant temp sensor off (attached to the front coolant bypass housing), at the base, and figured... we can deal with that in a few days, you can get to it by removing the intake air pipe/resonator. Nope... with the coolant temp sensor out of the loop, you get a code P0115, the OCVs go haywire, idle is hopeless, and the entire closed-loop is hosed... it would start, yet was un-drivable. Got a new sensor today, put it in, and it purrs again, and launches like a scalded cat... hard to believe a coolant sensor would send the ECM in to such a fit, and after clearing codes, none have come back yet.
Job was worse then the starter on our '94 Miata. Just glad it only has to be done every few hundred thousand miles... and took the obligatory pic/video of a silver dollar balanced on the intake manifold, once the sensor was replaced and idling properly, the car is so balanced, it's scary...
Sounds like fun, I have to change the starter in my 99SC400 soon not looking forward to that. My GS430 is good so far at 176K mikes.
Yes, changing out the coolant temp sensor makes a huge difference in both drivability and improved fuel economy.
Sounds like fun, I have to change the starter in my 99SC400 soon not looking forward to that. My GS430 is good so far at 176K mikes.
Yes, changing out the coolant temp sensor makes a huge difference in both drivability and improved fuel economy.
Drove the car in to work today... really missed driving it, it's been down for a few weeks, while we started a new job (the joys of owning a full driveway of cars). If you were local, would have been glad to help... getting the intake manifold out appears would be much easier with two people. It's not bad... just too easy for things to go bad quickly...!
New alternator and drive belt. My new volt gauge helped confirm the old one was toast reading 11.1 volts
We've done our GS4 twice... suspect the leaking power-steering pump line caused an early demise for #1. Much easier the second time, yet nowhere as easy as on a 5S-FE... the alternator and starter are messes in the GS4, and 20min jobs on the Camry. And really should put in a permanent voltage meter, over here.
Spent Saturday correcting the paint, took about about 8 hours from start (pre-soak and contact wash) to finish (Powerlock + Collonite 845). Only had an AIO polish (Griots Fast Correcting Cream), so maybe removed 80% of the scratches. The Sonax CutMax and Perfect Finish that I ordered didn't get to me in time, unfortunatley. Of course it started to rain the next day as well.
Amazing paint restoration... our GS4 needs some serious paint love, after 20yrs in the Detroit area.
Today... llearned that if you do a starter, and spend way too much time getting in/out of the car... don't panic when you drive home from work in the dark, and when the lights kick in, the dash goes dark... check the dash brightness level...
Does your factory amp and subwoofer work through that head unit?
No it doesn't. There is a way but I haven't really attempted to try. From what I can tell, the time and effort needed to make it work isn't worth the payoff. I just ordered a 100 watt RMS amp and I plan on mounting it in the trunk and driving the factory sub from it. If that doesn't work well, then I get to start a new custom setup that will give me decent bass.
Shined mine up Tuesday. Parked in the driveway Wednesday and put the cover on her. Car runs/drives perfect, but found out it needs a transmission rebuild (180k miles) since reverse is starting to fail. I really love the car still and will probably go ahead with the $1500 rebuild and keep it going for another 100k miles!
Picked up this used, but in new condition Seibon carbon fiber trunk. Half price for a basically new trunk. Gotta love it. Fits right, looks good, easy install.
05-19-19, 07:13 PM
New '98 GS4 starter
