Hi, folks. I have been wanting to replace the PCV on my LS460 as preventative maintenance for quite a while, and I have bought all the necessary parts - the PCV, intake manifold gaskets, throttle body seal, etc. However, because Lexus shop manual says that the intake manifold and the main wiring harness on top of the engine must be removed as part of the PCV replacement procedure, I have been putting off my PCV replacement since my engine runs fine. Today, I read our fellow CL members on the GX460 forum sharing experience of replacing PCV valve on their GX460 engine without removing the intake manifold. Since GX460's engine (1UR-FE) is similar to our LS460 engine (1UR-FSE) in design and structure, and that both GX460 and LS460 engines use the same PCV (Part No. 12204-38010) and their PCV hoses are very similar (Part No. 12261-38080 for GX460 and 12261-38040 for LS460), my question is: Can we replace LS460 engine PCV without removing the engine intake manifold, as our fellow CL members in the GX460 forum did? GX460 CL members' PCV valve replacement reports are here: PCV Valve Location - Page 3 - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion (Postings 38 through 49). As an illustration, I am attaching two photos that show the PCV valve location in our LS460 engine (credit to "I Do Cars" and FatherTo1).



Location of LS460 PCV (credit to FatherTo1)




Location of LS460 PCV (credit to "I Do Cars"
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Here's a long thread https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...-location.html

 

Curious if you ever tried the shortcut. I might try to tackle this soon without removing the intake manifold.

Here's another video in which a crows foot and extension is used:

 

You need to pull the intake, you probably would be served well taking it off anyway to check/address the valley plate.

 

You think it's impossible to get to it without the intake manifold removed? The layout is so remarkably similar, and many parts are shared:

LS460:



GX460:



I believe the only thing removed in the GX460 videos is a block of foam. If I remember correctly, that foam isn't there with the LS. When I removed the throttle body to clean it last week, I was actually surprised at the space in there. It wasn't as cramped in the area as I had imagined. Between kids, traveling for work, working on my son's LS430, and life, I'm trying to make this a quick and easy job.

 

Look at the intake neck in the pictures you just linked, the GS has a much higher positioned one that also is curved up and away vs the low riding LS setup. The LS TB neck is BELOW the intake runners vs the GS having it totally above them, use the bottom of the intake manifolds where they meet the heads vs the centerline of the TB neck as your reference points.

Just go look at your own car to see it lol!

 

Looks like it's possibly been done before. This was posted to a LS460 Facebook page. I'll reach out direct to the guy to verify:

 

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After removing the throttle body, I felt that that there was not enough room to do the shortcut. I gave up the shortcut method. I did, however, try twice the "regular" method as described by Lexus shop manual. Once I stopped at removing the harness wiring at the lower left side of the engine and found that it was too much work. My second attempt of the "regular" method stopped at removing the three big power connectors on top of the central point of the engine. One of the three big power connectors refused to be disconnected. I was afraid that I might break it as it felt fragile. So, my LS460 still has the original PCV valve and it appears to be working fine.
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First time I had to remove the intake manifold, it took hours and a broken throttle position sensor connector housing. Since, I had replaced the housing and I removed the intake manifold 2 more times, which took less than an hour each time.

 

I'd been searching for a few weeks now about how to access the fuel pressure sensor and came across nothing. Realized the PCV valve is about the same job so I decided on searching for that and Im here to tell you that there are no short cuts. lol
I tackled the fuel pressure sensor and took care of the PCV valve all on one shot. Basically all plugs from passenger side have to be removed and then the entire harness can be flipped over to the drivers side. As stated above, the challenge was those alternator wires. I managed to remove enough clips and factory tape to get the harness to flip without removing those and got then intake off but sliding up and over to the passenger side. All in all, I think it was about a 4 hour job with trips to the parts store for vacuum lines that I kept breaking. Its not that hard since everything is up top but its not for the faint at heart. If you plan on tackling this, do yourself a favor and get an air or electric ratchet.

 

Sounds about right, I too did not disconnect the entire harness but just enough to remove the intake manifold.