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So today I woke up a little late and got outside to start disassembling my intake plenum. Low and behold I rounded out the inside of the hex cap bolt so now I have to wait till tomorow to borrow an extractor or just buy one from HF.
I went ahead and disconnected the front coil packs removed them and got the spark plugs out without a fancy spark plug socket just a. 16mm 6point deep socket. Found oil on the shafts of 2 coil packs on cylinders 4 and 6 (or 3 and 5? Which ones are the ones in the front again? I forget but it doesn’t really matter) when I pulled the first spark bling out my deep well socket was covered in black thick viscous residue (I’m thinking cooked oil mixed with dielectric grease?) either way I think the spark plug well gaskets are gone and there was oil leaking into them.
didn’t get too far today I could have drained the fluid but after that bolt rounding off I’m just too defeated to go further until I can extract it.
I never said this would be easy but damn do I love this car too much to scrap it.
Oily coil pack Oily thick sludge on my Pittsburgh pro 16mm deep well 6 point socket One of The spark plugs covered in carbonization Rounded out hex cap bolt The spark plug well looking rather oily on the top rim Another one The third one
This would all have been easier if you had just dropped the subframe, just saying.
1 3 5
2 4 6
cylinder numbers, 1 by firewall. Honda different.
so I was right with the cylinder numbers the first time around.
I get what you’re saying but I don’t have a 2 post 4 point lift. Just jack stands and some jacks.
found a video of someone ripping a 3mzfe out of an ‘04 sienna so with the siennas smaller bonnet opening it should not be too difficult doing this with the rx330.
That's what I was thinking too.
Looks like that plenum bolt will come off with a vice grips maybe.
Also, while you are waiting and are attempting to pull the engine thru the top I'd pull the hood and wiper cowling and get that out of the way.
already pulled the cowling and wipers/ motor out yesterday along with the intake / air box, battery, also depressurized the fuel system labeled every vacuum hose I disconnected with a paint pen.
im keeping the hood on till the very end just so I can keep weather out of there in between using a tarp as well.
and I just couldn’t find my vice grips. Have a few pairs but they are likely in storage. I feel a rounded bolt biter will just be easiest.
That’s the exact style I need. The only extractor I have is one of those Irwin ones that comes with a drill bit and has a fluted spiral shaft but it’s too small. I also didn’t hammer it in but I just doubt it would have worked I estimate that bolt is torqued on with rust around 150 lbs/foot.
I was thinking about getting the amartisan set off Amazon for $27 since they performed equally to the snap on set at 10% the price in a project farm test. But picking it up the same day at hf has its advantageous appeal
But hopefully my mechanic buddy down the road has one I can use.
what do you think about the oily sludge in my spark plug wells? Could the failed spark plug well gaskets have caused that much loss of oil? I guess it’s tough to say without looking at the oil screen on the pump and examining the state of the pump and vein gear in general. I probably should have drained the fluids today and tried to disconnect the throttle actuator and the cruise control but they seem impossible to reach without removing the plenum and the throttle body.
Yeah probably the spark plug tube seals. The car wouldn’t leak/lose a lot but the spark plugs would be soaked. The old gaskets were disintegrated on both covers.
Yeah probably the spark plug tube seals. The car wouldn’t leak/lose a lot but the spark plugs would be soaked. The old gaskets were disintegrated on both covers.
so there is likely more wrong than just the spark plug well seals to cause the oil level to drop and end up with big end knock/rod knock. I’m thinking clogged strainer on the oil sump or just a bad pump/ problem with the vein gear. I’ll probably be trading this one in to cover the core deposit but I really want to tear it down and see what happened.
I wonder how clogged that sump is, would be interesting to know. Thankfully super easy to do on our cars. My RX’s sump was clogged really bad with RTV probably from some hack job repair from previous person who worked on. Had to let it soak in gasoline for days and spray it down with water and air. Thankfully no metal though.
Highlander on the other hand with its 1MZ had no sludge or anything in the pickup for that matter, but that car was owned by us for 1+ decade and never neglected.
Depending on the core charge, maybe it could be worth it to sell top-end parts if the bottom end is only trashed? I’ve seen 1MZ and 3MZ used parts near me go for really good prices. Every junkyard I go to, the engines are gone unless they are hydrolocked or clearly blown beyond saving.
I wonder how clogged that sump is, would be interesting to know. Thankfully super easy to do on our cars. My RX’s sump was clogged really bad with RTV probably from some hack job repair from previous person who worked on. Had to let it soak in gasoline for days and spray it down with water and air. Thankfully no metal though.
Highlander on the other hand with its 1MZ had no sludge or anything in the pickup for that matter, but that car was owned by us for 1+ decade and never neglected.
Depending on the core charge, maybe it could be worth it to sell top-end parts if the bottom end is only trashed? I’ve seen 1MZ and 3MZ used parts near me go for really good prices. Every junkyard I go to, the engines are gone unless they are hydrolocked or clearly blown beyond saving.
im lucky I found a 3mz with 124k from a 2 year newer model for only 700 need to put a deposit on it tomorow before someone else takes it
one thing I’m judiciously researching is how to properly apply rtv when doing valve cover seals. Not gonna lie, I’m kind of a little afraid of putting RTV down on the metal joints when doing the valve covers on the salvaged one I’m getting. So far I feel the best way to apply it is a very thin bead probably no larger than .5mm. I see so many people glob it on in the corners and that makes me cringe since even a 1mm bead squeezes down to about 4times the width. Going to do all the gaskets I can get to easily. Debating wether I should replace the o rings on the valve stems. also doing a whole timing belt with the cam and crank seals. Hoping the cam and crank seals on the opposite side aren’t any more difficult to deal with. going to bring some tools with me so I can take a look inside the engine/ under the valve covers and in the oil pan before I drive off with it.
I bought this thing with 183k on it. It was in great shape on the outside and inside and the engine sounded better than any other car I test drove even ones that were a decade or more newer. This was totally unexpected and could have been avoided if I checked my dipstick more judiciously. Now I’ll be checking it every time I gas up
Tomorow I have to call and find out what the core deposit it. Because I would prefer to rebuild it and have that as a spare or just sell it as a reman and make a profit on top of covering the costs. But if the deposit is more than $200 I think it’ll be best to just trade it in because I’m already in for 1400 after I grab the salvaged engine and the parts I need. I already ordered the amartisan bolt extractor kit from Amazon and a 12 point 30mm impact socket for the spindle nut. Still need to find a used shop crane. There is one I can get for $100 but it is missing 4 of 6 casters and I don’t think 100 is as good of a price since I’ll have to pay $20-30 for casters after the fact. Really don’t want to push a 500+ pound engine around on 1/3 of the wheels.
Hoping that bolt biter set comes in early tomorow but Amazon is saying 10pm which is ridiculous. I can’t get much more done without removing the plenum. Drained the oil today and there was just a little over a liter in there and it was black AF and thick AF. Can’t find the petcock to drain the radiator after removing the under panel but i would rather drain from the hose that feeds coolant into the radiator so I don’t risk breaking the petcock and having to replace the whole radiator. I already snapped a few electrical connector clips and the cosmetic cover that covers the windshield wiper arms. Also there is this rectangular piece of plastic that has a c shaped profile that the end of the wiring harness sits in right before the spark plug clips and fuel injector clips and that black plastic holder just crumbled when I grabbed and moved it. Also the spark plug and fuel injector wires are poorly wrapped in electrical tape and the actual wires are extremely brittle. Going to ask if they can throw in that section of wiring harness with the engine maybe the windshield wiper arm cover too. Doesn’t hurt to ask. Otherwise I’ll be mulling over the possibility of just buying some wire and redoing that section which will be a pita.
The service manual specifies how wide the RTV sealant bead should be for each place it is used, and it varies.
it’s one of those things though if you’re using rtv with a gasket a smaller bead than the manufacturer specified will be better than using a larger bead. If you’re only using rtv then it’s definitely more critical. But I’m going to have to go to tohighlander dot com and find the exact Toyota specs for rtv bead width
have an engine hoist lined up to be delivered tomorow for $80. Boy o boy do I love offer up!
Came across this pic when I was lowering RX350 subframe in my garage. It is jacked up and held up pretty securely IMO, sat that way for months while I worked on the engine.
Note the reason for the two 6 ton (3 tons each, called 6 ton for marketing) jack stands, they are very sturdy, and are at their max height. I used 4 floor jacks total, but 3 would be enough. The subframe is stable enough with 1 jack on each rear corner, and one in front middle.
The nice thing is that once this much engine works needs to be done, it is pretty much a worthless car as is, so no downside if something goes wrong.
Hope you are still making good progress, 15 year old bolts and connectors can be aggravating.
Came across this pic when I was lowering RX350 subframe in my garage. It is jacked up and held up pretty securely IMO, sat that way for months while I worked on the engine.
Note the reason for the two 6 ton (3 tons each, called 6 ton for marketing) jack stands, they are very sturdy, and are at their max height. I used 4 floor jacks total, but 3 would be enough. The subframe is stable enough with 1 jack on each rear corner, and one in front middle.
The nice thing is that once this much engine works needs to be done, it is pretty much a worthless car as is, so no downside if something goes wrong.
Hope you are still making good progress, 15 year old bolts and connectors can be aggravating.
I have one 2.5 ton floor jack and then a smaller big red jack and another jack that came with a dodge stratus I had but it’s not a scissor jack and it isn’t what it came with. Then I have 2 pairs of jack stands.
ultimately since I’m not a flat rate tech I’m gonna be doing it the hard way and hoisting it up out of the bonnet opening. I’ve seen someone do it with the same engine on a sienna, posted the vid up in a previous comment so I know it can be done on the Rx
but I haven’t been able to make any real progress in a few days since I rounded out a hex cap bolt holding in the intake plenum the amartisan bolt biter set was supposed to be here today but Amazon lies and it’s looking like tomorow.
I got the engine hoist today for $75 but I need 2 more bolts and a metal rod to jack the pump. But for $75 it was still a deal. Offer up rocks.
Rx330 engine swap progress
