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[garry]

I mean, I think even Toyota recommends 7500 miles. Heck I don’t know of any commuter car made today that uses full synthetic that recommends 5k, maybe under extreme conditions?

As to why I would: less time spend on my uneven asphalt driveway getting dirty the better, plus less waste, which is just generally a good thing to strive for in life.

I’ll send a sample to blackstone, it’ll involve me doing what I just said I want to avoid but the information will be valuable for future oil changes, worth doing it once.

Thank you for your input everyone!

[garry]

[quote=”Rhynorock” post=131675]I was gonna ask is anyone were capable of doing a good demo of this? Say take an old high miles engine, pull a head off, run the water thru, then pull the head again and see what’s inside. A before/after video.[/quote]

what fo and chrisfix will be doing with the borescope will be maybe not quite as thorough as taking off the head, but will still give a very good look as to the difference before and after.

some other videos on various methods.

these are great, really get to see what it actually does if you follow the products instructions (sorry to say not much).

[garry]

>going to use a borescope
oh thank god. one thing that was kind of worrying to me is that there were no vids of before/after pics down in the cylinders.

chrisfix has said he’s doing one but that’s still a ways off,. it’s good to know there’ll be some documented proof on how much this technique can do.

[garry]

Giving the engine cleaner method a try with gumout. took the plugs out and poured a few tablespoons of it in via a funnel, currently soaking overnight.

Not even sure if I have any carbon buildup, just thought it was a neat way of doing it.

[garry]

wow that piston, I didn’t think it could be that bad.

I don’t know what the previous owner put in it but I’ve been putting 93 from shell in it.

I’m happy to hear that the fuel injector test just needs a $2 screwdriver lol.

well, minus the ohms test, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it, intake is going to have to come off to actually get to some of them.

also, while they were replaced not 500 miles ago when I got the car running properly, I’m pleased to report the plugs didn’t show any abnormal wear or deposits this time.

…
…
also about the carbon buildup

is this safe to do on my car, and would it help with the carbon buildup (if it’s even there haven’t checked yet)
spray bottle vs cup?

[garry]

Update after I temporarily nicked my buddy’s compression testing kit:

cyl 2, 4, 6, 8: 205, 210, 215, 220 \PSI
cyl 1, 3, 5, 7: 210, 230, 230, 235 \PSI

so bank 1 (or wait is that 2) is a little higher than the other, but they’re both pretty damn healthy. testing procedure was holding throttle down and cranking 5 revolutions or till the reading stabilizes (took about 5 either way) as per the box instructions.

kinda worried I screwed up though because I had a look online and it’s supposed to be around 180 for all cylinders lol

I gave up on the noid light after testing 2,4,6. mainly because it was a pain in the ass to get to the other ones 🙁

those 3 worked fine though lol. figured at least I got the two that were stuck open.

[garry]

last update of the night: googled around to find out how to test the TPS and got these values. there were 4 wires, first one I spliced into read 4.95v, constant and didn’t change when I forced the throttle open. second one started out really low (I think .5 or lower, sorry it’s in the vid just below this paragraph) and when the throttle was wide open it read about 3.6v. so, 3.6/5 = … 0.72, just about the reading I was getting moving the throttle cable to max myself (72.5% IIRC though i was getting 66.3% with the pedal itself). The other two wires…well one was ground, and one just had a very low (0.20-.25v) reading that didn’t appear to change with throttle position.

from what I’ve seen online it should have three wires, 1 input voltage, 1 output sensor reading, and 1 ground. ignoring the extra one I think I’ve found the input and sensor output. Online also said output should be 5% of input at idle and 90-100% at WOT.

so I’m probably within the values for idle, but WOT is way off, if this sensor works like the ones on google were described. so bad tps?

though from what I’ve read, that’s a really odd way for it to wear/go bad. they usually start to wear in the 0-20% region, not near WOT (unless maybe this was an autox car in another life)

[garry]

Update with some youtube videos on the perceived problem

when I say “66.3% that the throttle registers, I mean the exact same value that the gauge registers when I depress the pedal in the cabin to the ground.

further updates: I’ve tried playing with making the cables more or less slack to no change in the values. at idle the gauge reads 9% steady.

[garry]

I’ll make a goal of doing all that by next week lol.

Hey uh, so I was going over vacuum stuff (inspected all vacuum lines and sprayed them down with tb cleaner, quite thoroughly) to try and rule out leaks, because it’s kinda the only one of the discussed tests I can do right now with what i have lol.

…anyway while I was checking the gauge, I noticed that when I have the gas pedal burried into the firewall, it only shows 68% on the throttle gauge. is this normal?

pictures related:
vacuum lines (not that many compared to the newer es300, thank god, and I actually know what most of these ones do)

View post on imgur.com

gauges: this was taken with the key in “on” but car not started (I was reluctant to do this while it was running for noise reasons). however I did give in and start it and repeat the test, holding the throttle down it stays at that %
http://imgur.com/TXGk96b

Sorry I’m all over the place here in looking for things wrong with it, anxious to get it perfect but don’t have the tools with me so I look for what I can.

[garry]

I love how incredibly info packed and comprehensive your posts are karl lol.

alright up to the part about cats I think we’re on the same page and i’m following you nicely. On the subject of the cats, both upstream ones are ruined, by which I mean I took them off and they were melted/blocked. no choice but to bang em’ out and put them back in till I can afford replacements. I’m worried about the third downstream one, might have issues too but the damn thing looks like it’s welded in and covered in an extensive heat shield so I can’t take it off to check…

so on the subject of bank 2, yeah the guy told me the ECU was sending them a constant “on” signal (remember I ended up replacing it). I’ll look into just what a noid light is and see if I can pick one up lol.

Would that combustion gas tester in the coolant kit that autozone has be ok for testing the HG?

Also thinking of checking fuel pressure, I can hear a whining coming from the trunk (the fuel tank on this car is inbetween the trunk and back seats.) The thing is the sheet metal and sound proofing between where the third brake light/speakers are has been removed so I’m not sure if it’s normal and I’m just hearing it because that’s missing.

I’ve seen enough terrible cheap third party parts on engines cause problems (including my old es300 in the form of coil packs) to agree that if I have to get replacement injectors it’ll be OEM or bust. would rather have a used/refurbished denso injector than a brand new third party.

so current plan is:
compression test on bank 2
noid light on bank 2 injectors, particularly #4 and #6
check fuel pressure

also of note but not sure if related to anything: vacuum reading at idle is wack, showing low (14 in/hg at idle, 10 with AC on, sometimes lower). engine sounds not the best either, I was over at my dad’s today and he’s not a mechanic or anything but he remarked that timing sounded off. I took a video of it at idle, not sure if there’s anything you could tell without actually being here to listen to it though:

previous owner did tell me he had the belt done by a friend, along with ignition coils, though I have to say I had a look at the coils and they look very much used.

[garry]

Whew, alright so it’s been awhile, had my phone break and took me a few weeks to get a replacement that could run my obd2 app.

I tried the data recording feature on the app, this was the result, it opens in excel.
https://mega.co.nz/#!cZozQIbQ!KKUYsxu4-m8oL7aMD_RBTZ3ndn9MpM3tbpvbVNb75Sw

i set the recording interval to .5 seconds, if this is too much let me know what data you want (under what circumstances, I drove around town for a bit while I recorded all this) and I’ll try to get it.

[garry]

new plugs seemed to have fixed it, gave it an oil change too. she feels a little down on power but I happen to know the cats are clogged, taking her into an exhaust shop tomorrow or monday hopefully it’ll help.

I’ll post some afr sensor data in a bit if you don’t mind looking at it for me, there are no codes for it but i’m concerned being bathed top to bottom with gas for who knows how long might have thrown one of the sensors off.

OH, and the smoke.

…so uh, this car has a power steering air control valve that does something at idle when you turn the wheel to let air into the intake and raise the RPM so it’s smooth, apparently they are well known for leaking. While I was doing the plugs I notcied ATF in the intake, confirmed by pulling out one of the feeding vacuum lines from the valve and sprayed it out with tb cleaner, came out with some PS fluid. I think the smoke was that burning. I’ve ordered a new valve and capped off the old one’s ends and looped the nubs they plug into on the intake together for a temporary stopgap. since then I’ve gotten no smoking.

Suppose all of this is normal for an 18 year old car, but boy is there a lot of work for me to tackle.

[garry]

update: hooked up the replacement ECU and it’s helped, but not fixed the missfires.

The plus sides:
The Trans no longer kicks going into gear
actually will rev smoothly and give power
no longer smells like gas when I’m idling and no longer smokes more than my uncle

however…
still a little smoke, smells kinda rich
has an intermittent misfire at idle…sounds like it’s just one cylinder now.

I put in plugs two days ago to give myself some more time (the old ones were fouled beyond recognition) before I could fix the actual problem. I pulled them today and they look pretty bad themselves. Could the remaining missfire be the new plugs after being soaked with gas for 2 days?

[garry]

bleh can’t find anything online, going to make a thread on clublexus and see if anyone there knows anything.

Edit: wait, I’m dumb, I can just call the lexus dealer in the morning and ask them.

[garry]

>Another ECU from the same year and model should be no problem… The only thing I would be concerned with is the Immobilizer. (I can’t remember how complex these are for this year). But if it does have one and it is not matched to the key then the vehicle won’t start.

Thanks for the warning here. I don’t think it’ll be a problem for one main reason: the car didn’t come with a toyota key when I bought it lol. owner lost the key and is using some off brand spare (that only works on the ignition and doors to make things worse). So if it’s a thing to do with a wireless keyfob, it shouldn’t be an issue.

that being said I’m going to do some more research and see if there’s any info on this out there.

[Author]

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