Let's baseline my grandma's neglected, (20 year old to us) 1997 LX450

[BILT4ME]

Damn!!! That’s brutal. Have you ever played with LOX? We’d get frogs or lizards or any small thing, even rags and shatter them on the ramp.

Didn't have access to that sort of thing to "play with" when I was a kid. That was too expensive.

200 ft of twine, a pigeon, and a cat though........

 

[FMC80]

Didn't have access to that sort of thing to "play with" when I was a kid. That was too expensive.

200 ft of twine, a pigeon, and a cat though........

Last hijack: who said anything about us being kids?

 

[avdeveloper]

Didn't have access to that sort of thing to "play with" when I was a kid. That was too expensive.

200 ft of twine, a pigeon, and a cat though........

that escalated quickly sounds similar to my childhood

 

[gummycarbs]

I did the Simple Green soak, too. Put a plastic tub in the bathtub, dumped in a gallon of Simple Green, and added enough hot water to submerge the intake manifold.

It probably soaked for around four hours in total. Every hour or so, I'd check on it and scrub it with a nylon brush. If you want to get really thorough, you might buy one of those bottle brushes to get way down in there. Guitar strings can help clear out those small passages.

I don't have a 'before' photo of the upper intake, but this should give you an idea of how bad it was:

After:

Anyway, I think the risk of Simple Green to the intake is overstated. I wouldn't spray it on a raw, polished, aluminum wheel and leave it, but I wouldn't be worried about using it to remove carbon.

 

[MoJ]

I did the Simple Green soak, too. Put a plastic tub in the bathtub, dumped in a gallon of Simple Green, and added enough hot water to submerge the intake manifold.

It probably soaked for around four hours in total. Every hour or so, I'd check on it and scrub it with a nylon brush. If you want to get really thorough, you might buy one of those bottle brushes to get way down in there. Guitar strings can help clear out those small passages.

I don't have a 'before' photo of the upper intake, but this should give you an idea of how bad it was:

View attachment 2986604

After:

View attachment 2986605View attachment 2986606

Anyway, I think the risk of Simple Green to the intake is overstated. I wouldn't spray it on a raw, polished, aluminum wheel and leave it, but I wouldn't be worried about using it to remove carbon.

I think I’ll grab a chunk of aluminum and let it sit in Simple Green concentrate for a few months to dispel the worries. I’ve used it for years, no issue.

 

[FMC80]

s***e, my bad. Going off the SDS and stuff I’ve read here. Simple Green concentrate and Al = the equivalent of throwing puppies off a cliff.

 

[gummycarbs]

I think I’ll grab a chunk of aluminum and let it sit in Simple Green concentrate for a few months to dispel the worries. I’ve used it for years, no issue.

It's funny you should say that, because I just put some scrap aluminum into a plastic cup of undiluted Simple Green. I'll post results.

s***e, my bad. Going off the SDS and stuff I’ve read here. Simple Green concentrate and Al = the equivalent of throwing puppies off a cliff.

I've definitely heard it before, and I'm not doubting that it can harm aluminum. However, I don't believe that a few hours of soaking the upper intake manifold will hurt it.

 

[avdeveloper]

we got rid of all the bathtubs in the house so I'll just probably do the minimal work for now: use the throttle body spray cleaner for the intake chamber and throttle body.

anyway today I just put on some versachem exhaust system joint and crack sealer on the rear end of the muffler. it's much quieter now, but I'll save up for a brand new one. It's almost $600 from the dealer.

The wetness appears to be from the rear pinion seal. Check the breather on the rear axle to see if it's functioning. Push/pull on the driveshaft (side to side) near the rear diff to check for axial play (should be none). IME, you may be able to just replace the rear pinion seal if nothing else is causing the leak.

I tried to move the driveshaft side to side and it didn't budge.

 

[gummycarbs]

use the throttle body spray cleaner for the intake chamber and throttle body.

I doubt that's going to be sufficient to remove the carbon. You don't literally need a bathtub, you just need a plastic tub.

 

[Indyteecee]

we got rid of all the bathtubs in the house so I'll just probably do the minimal work for now: use the throttle body spray cleaner for the intake chamber and throttle body.

anyway today I just put on some versachem exhaust system joint and crack sealer on the rear end of the muffler. it's much quieter now, but I'll save up for a brand new one. It's almost $600 from the dealer.

I tried to move the driveshaft side to side and it didn't budge.

Throttle body cleaner will not be enough for the upper intake manifold. Even soaking it in simple green wasn’t enough for me, had to pressure wash it afterwards to get the 25 years of carbon buildup off.

as for the throttle body… simple green spray, throttle body cleaner and a brush were enough for mine, yours could be worse though.

 

[avdeveloper]

Throttle body cleaner will not be enough for the upper intake manifold. Even soaking it in simple green wasn’t enough for me, had to pressure wash it afterwards to get the 25 years of carbon buildup off.

as for the throttle body… simple green spray, throttle body cleaner and a brush were enough for mine, yours could be worse though.

ok I will post pictures on a different weekend

 

[avdeveloper]

so I'm still holding off on the big job involving replacing the valve cover gasket but today I tried to just replace the air intake filter and found that the intake tube portion connecting to the throttle bodh has split apart and has just been kept together by duct tape by the previous mechanic.

I went ahead and changed the filter and cleaned the throttle body with the throttle body and intake cleaner. I noticed that some of the liquid spilled down to the valve cover so I went ahead and placed a Terry cloth underneath the lip to catch any more liquid spilling over. I took note of that because could this affect the spark plugs? it has dried off quickly like brake cleaner so idk if it would have any effect.

I ordered a replacement intake tube with clamps from lexus so that should arrive soon, but I wanted to reuse the current one for the time being. I taped it back up with aluminum foil tape because I didn't have any duct tape on me atm. When I replaced the tube, I noticed that inside the tape, I kinda have a feeling that it fell off. I just wrapped more tape around it.

After closing up everything, I tried starting the car but it would just crank and not idle. Is the bad intake tube the culprit? the throttle body cleaner overspray that spilled onto the valve cover and dried up quickly culprit? I also noticed that the locking mechanism for the MAF sensor plug is gone so I just tried to push that in as much as I could. Could it actually not have been plugged in all the way?

 

[FMC80]

That intake tube is rough. Unless you disconnected vacuum lines, electrical connectors, or something else I bet the intake tube is the likely culprit. Doesn’t look like you have a great seal there.

Your throttle cable looks pretty well ****ed too. That could be an issue now and definitely in the future.

 

[avdeveloper]

That intake tube is rough. Unless you disconnected vacuum lines, electrical connectors, or something else I bet the intake tube is the likely culprit. Doesn’t look like you have a great seal there.

Your throttle cable looks pretty well f***ed too. That could be an issue now and definitely in the future.

yeah I have new tube and clamps coming in hopefully this week. as soon as I took off the air filter cover, the tube started falling off... it's stiff now too. is the throttle that long cable that goes from the passenger all the way around to the driver side?

 

[gummycarbs]

as soon as I took off the air filter cover, the tube started falling off

Are you disconnecting the intake tube from the air filter cover before trying to lift the air filter cover? Well, I suppose you sort of disconnect it as you lift the cover. The point being that you shouldn't try to bend the intake hose back in order to reach the air filter, like you can do on some vehicles.

 

[avdeveloper]

Are you disconnecting the intake tube from the air filter cover before trying to lift the air filter cover? Well, I suppose you sort of disconnect it as you lift the cover. The point being that you shouldn't try to bend the intake hose back in order to reach the air filter, like you can do on some vehicles.

I first loosened the clamp close to the throttle body. The clamp to the air filter was missing already. As I was loosening the nut, the tube started to fall off the duct tape wrap. I kept the tube mounted to the filter cover.

When replacing it after cleaning the throttle body and swapping the filter with a new one, I first taped the two split tubes together while keeping it connected to the filter cover. then I first aligned the retaped tube to the throttle body then as I tried to squeeze the tube as I fit the bolt through the opening in the filter cover, I noticed that the crack probably split open underneath the new aluminum tape.

I didnt bother to retape it because I could just install the new one I ordered at a different day.

I tried to start the car but it would just crank and not turnover. I guessed that tube is not sealed properly even though it's covered in tape.

 

[avdeveloper]

So I got a little impatient and replaced the aluminum tape with duct tape and verified that the gap between the tube was the culprit. It turned over and can idle now. The air intake tube still hasn't arrived at the dealer yet as expected. I sure hope it arrives by Saturday because it's going to the shop for its first undercoating service with woolwax/fluid film. I just don't have the time to do it myself.

Any ideas on how to clean the engine of gunk in this video? I have oven cleaner...

 

[FMC80]

DO NOT use oven cleaner. Use engine degreaser and elbow grease and a lot of shop rags. If you decide to pressure wash it, be very mindful of your electronic connectors, distributor, alternator, etc. Just like the oven cleaner, if you misuse the pressure washer, you can do more harm than good.

 

[avdeveloper]

DO NOT use oven cleaner. Use engine degreaser and elbow grease and a lot of shop rags. If you decide to pressure wash it, be very mindful of your electronic connectors, distributor, alternator, etc. Just like the oven cleaner, if you misuse the pressure washer, you can do more harm than good.

yeah... that's what I'm concerned about. even steam cleaning.

 

[FMC80]

yeah... that's what I'm concerned about. even steam cleaning.

Just elbow grease dude. Mine was significantly worse than yours and it didn’t take much to get it sparkling. Of course, to keep it clean you have to fix all the leaks and maintain the cleanliness.