from what I’ve deduced they made that design change on the first gen Rx? I’ll take a pic tomorow when I go out to fiddle with things.
got me wondering.

 

So when I was separating my transmission and my engine I doused the seam with pb blaster. There were a couple areas where the t case mates to the transaxle where a bead of dried red rtv was protruding from the seam. When I sprayed the pB the exposed silicone deteriorated and just came off so I would assume the best thing to do is remove the t case and re do these beads. As well as any other seals on the rear and front output shafts
anyone have any experience doing this? I think someone posted on one of my threads about my engine swap progress that I should do the transfer case seals/ gaskets but I don’t remember who or when or even if it was on this forum site or garage journal.

If anyone has ever done this and can give me some advice like what size rtv bead I should apply and what specific part numbers for the shaft seals that would be super helpful.
I am going o get a whole engine gasket set kit but am
Unsure if the seals for this will be in there.
thanks in advance

 

I’m not talking the obvious ones like the valve cover gaskets, exhaust manifold, rear main seal, cam and crank seals, intake manifold and plenum gaskets

someone said I should to the transfer case seal but I’m not certain what part number that is or how many seals there are that I should replace in the t case. I was going to buy an ITM gasket kit for $86 including shipping but do I really need all those gaskets/seals? Or can I get away with just getting individual seals and gaskets? I’m buying an aisin timing kit for $61 and it comes with the valve cover gaskets and cam/ crank seals. So should I spend the $86 on the itm full gasket set or just buy the intake, plenum and exhaust gaskets as well as a rear main seal gasket and driveshaft / transfer case seals? Does a complete engine gasket set come with transfer case output shaft seals?

This is just a little overwhelming, so any expert advice would definitely be appreciated.

 

I really wouldn't think that any engine gasket set would include/come w/ any other type of seal/gasket.....

 

I’m really uncertain what they come with since none I’ve found have an itemized list in the description. Which is ridiculous

 

Felpro has what comes in the gasket/seal kits listed on their packages/kits....Possibly look up Felpros site or a oriellys/autozone/napa autoparts site........

 

The 2nd gen RX was supposed to get it in the 2005 model year but there are people who still had the old design by then. There was a "gen 2.5" version before it that was still around in 2005 and it looks slightly different than the finally improved PCV baffle design. Although that version still is not a crazy oil burner like the original RX300 cover can be. It's a common swap for us 01-07 Highlander owners with the 1MZ and 3MZ V6. I put the 2.5 ver. on mine and it solved the problem. Had the gen 2 cover before and it was awful. Gen 1 cover is supposedly the most susceptible and has a plastic PCV valve that is prone to shattering. Although that cover was only on the 99-01 RX300 and 01 Highlander V6

 

So I don't have any experience with transaxle, or transfer case on an RX, but I was curious, so I looked it up in the RM, and found the following, maybe it will be helpful.

 

I’m pretty certain these are legit. An ITM full gasket set and an aisin pump / mitsuboshi belt with koyo bearings all for $140 including shipping and the $16 I had to pay to load my Walmart debit card and the $10 for 2 months of service charges (damn corporate banks charging me for nothing worth the money)
the aisin pump has aisin in raised letters cast on the pump. The koyo bearings are older from before they changed the packaging to include anti counterfeit holograms but why would there be a legit pump and counterfeit bearings in the same kit? All signs point to legitimate oem quality. I think ITM is almost as good as felpro? Maybe on par with oem? (Who makes oem gaskets and seals for Toyota?)
neither way worst case scenario they don’t come and OfferUp has to reimburse me I loose a week+ and have to buy this from rock auto for more money. Let’s hope that’s not the case. Getting the engine next Thursday just running low on funds and had to wait and make sure the gaskets arrived first so I can be ready to go. Going to clean the engine bay with oven cleaner and paint my rims and grille while I wait. Also need to touch up some of the trim
near the sideview mirrors. The black is peeling and it looks a little iffy.

 

Remove engine from RX

 

You don’t HAVE to do it that way. I already slid mine out the front with a hoist

 

so I put in ten hours today including clean up and packing my tools away.



I did the valve cover gaskets, power washed the intake manifold and plenum, vacuumed out the valley because it looks like some one had it off for a while and squirrels put some nuts in there or they fell in. cleaned the intake manifold and exhaust manifold mating surfaces pristinely. Replaced the rear main seal, cleaned and installed the fly wheel, installed new denso tt double tipped platinum plugs because I didn’t want to spend 40% more on iridium.



Power washed the plenum and intake manifold also but still have to install both.



I made one mistake where I almost crapped my pants. I have the six point color coded Pittsburgh pro 3/8” sockets and I mistook the 17mm as 16mm. Put it on my electric ratchet and went to take the first plug out. Tried breaking manually and thought I had it then used power. Went to pull the extension and socket out and… the bastard was stuck in the well!!! I was freaking out for all of 3 minutes till I figured out what to do.



Grabbed a church key (paint can tool) and a screw driver. Put the church key into the socket drive so it hooked under the lip then jammed the screw driver into the drive hole. Then I put an extension bar through the key handle and pulled with all my might asking the pan dimensional entires in our universe to have mercy on my soul!!!! It worked and all was well.



The engine looks pretty good inside, I did use some laquer thinner and shop towels/ rags to clean the intake ports because there was some oily carbon on them. The tube seals were nice and shiny. The first engine we went to look at was a mess. Definitely sitting outside for 7 months plus. And the middle front plug well was brown. The coil packs and spark plugs on the engine we procured looked perfect.



Power washed it and the engine bay yesterday after carefully wrapping electrical connections and exposed colored plastic coated wiring.



Daddy Jeff bezos also delivered my new passenger side beck arnly engine mount 6 hours early today (said it would be here at ten which is kinda nuckin futz)



Have the timing belt cam and crank seals to do tomorow, also need to take my tranny pan off, rinse the filter replace the gasket, take the oil pan off and redo the rtv seal. Clean the fuel injectors,

I couldn’t get the transfer case separated from the transaxle it was tighter than things I won’t mention here so decided the pb blaster probably only disintegrated the fipg that was pressed out of the seam. Going to remove the wiring harness in the engine bay and use the one that came with the engine since it’s slightly newer and completely intact.



This may be controversial but I am also soaking my cats in sodium hydrozide overnight and going to rinse in vinegar. Figured they are in decent shape but dissolving some of the carbon on those precious metal coated ceramic honey comb surfaces




km





Having a fire and making some s’mores before I wake up and aim for 12 hours tomorow hoping she gets in and ready to be primed and ignited ASAP. May need to have my battery charged it’s been sitting for a month or so

Also received the timing kit and it is definitely real the itm gasket kit is quality stuff as well.


i

 

The highlander harness has 3 plugs that go into the ecu just like the Rx harness. But then there is only one more white plug the Rx harness has a blue plug with 16 pins and then a brown plug with 10 or 12 pins and only 5 or 6 of those pins actually have wires attached.

I wanted to used the new harness since it’s in better shape but should I? The 04 and 05 3mz have some slight component variations mostly in the plenum / air intake. Slightly confusing. I think I could easily use the old harness but the new one is in nicer shape around coil packs and injectors

please don’t post this in my engine swap thread, this is a separate electrical issue.

 

I love that video!
Seen it many times before you posted it cuz it's one of the best.

I have full wiring on our cars so just let me know what ya need, I got ur back.
Enjoying watching your progress and updates.

PS- I'd use the old wiring instead of doing anything that can cause you more headaches at this point, just my opinion tho.

 

Hey guys. Can anyone watch this 22 second video and see if my timing alignment looks good. I was at top dead center but when I installed the belt and put the crank forward a cog the ticks on the cams ended up a hair off. Should I worry? Should I take the cover off and try again?