Builds LX450 where to start! (3 Viewers)

[BILT4ME]

Hey Ryan!

Back somewhere around page 17, you mentioned that you cut off the BOTTOM tank on the old radiator and it shows a pic of a relatively clean fin setup. Then you post a pic of the fins after cutting off the TOP tank and they were nasty.

I saw in a post the other day, you stated that the BOTTOM was very dirty and the TOP was clean. I want to confirm which way it really was because....my radiator completely blew up the top tank and the fins were clean. I am concerned that the PO mixed green and red without a proper flush, causing a bunch of sludge, but it does not appear evident from the clear view I have of the top fins. I need to flush the system, but I cannot do it with a closed cooling system. I am going to have to hook a hose into one of the radiator hoses and run it until it runs clear. (removing the T-Stat of course...) I am concerned for my heater core inside the truck and what it MAY look like. I also want to BACK-flush the system instead of shoving it deeper into the fins... Should I place the garden hose in the lower rad hose or the upper rad hose for proper back-flush? (Seems to me it should be the lower...)

 

[scottryana]

I am pretty sure it was the top that was bad and the bottom that was clean. We did the bottom first thinking it would be the bad one with all the junk settling to the bottom but it was clean. Then we did the top and it was a mess, not only were a good majority of the holes in the top covered if you scraped the gunk off probably 1/4-1/3 of the passages were clogged. I was amazed it cooled as well as it did. I drove all the way from San Antonio TX to Moab UT like that and only saw 206-208.

 

[BILT4ME]

I hope that was the case (dirty top, clean bottom) then because the top of my rad was super clean compared to what I was expecting based on the green/brown sludge that was being pumped through the system.

 

[scottryana]

I am about 90% sure that was the case. I am sure I just had a typo when I wrote it was the bottom.

 

[scottryana]

Adding a couple of pics showing someone Haltech safety rules. These two are just redline vs coolant temp and timing reduction based on boost and IAT and are just examples.

 

[scottryana]

So I got the truck back yesterday and it looks like the techs must have been kneeling on the front drivers seat as it has split open in two spots.

It is the original leather so it is old, but now it looks terrible split open and I can see the foam underneath.

Shane seems to be MIA, so what's the next best step? Please remember I am broke college student. Just throw seat cover over it? What seat covers seem to be the best? I really hate when they move around our come off the seat. Thanks!

 

[G-Cat]

Buy bhmmapping's set of Shane's 40th Anniversary leather in the classifieds... Perfect for your truck!

 

[scottryana]

I can't get to the classifieds on my phone but if they are the brown leather lexus seats they are sold! Lol

 

[scottryana]

Alright well those were sold. So back to the drawing board.

I also gave up on my first stock part. Stock sun visors finally let me down. I guess I will try out the aircraft visors?

 

[scottryana]

Replaced the aftermarket markers that came on my truck. This whole time I thought they were OEM and felt like the finish was s***. It became very obvious that the OEM were so much nicer. much better fit and finish. But this is a little weird??? The plug in the aftermarket lights was all chewed up?? No wiring is chewed, I can't see it being a bug??

 

[NLXTACY]

Alright well those were sold. So back to the drawing board.

I also gave up on my first stock part. Stock sun visors finally let me down. I guess I will try out the aircraft visors?

FWIW, my wife continues to say the Rosen visors were the single best mod I've ever done and she wishes they made them for her 2014 IS, those things suck.

 

[BILT4ME]

That's not a bug...That's UV light degradation on inferior plastic parts. It's possible that the aftermarket units don't block enough UV light VS the OEM and it allows it to break down the plastic. Although, the amount of water that's inside the lens in the first pic, it could be that you are steaming the plastic due to the bulb and the water and it's breaking down the plastic.

 

[scottryana]

Nice thanks! I know it looks like water in the top pic but it is the silver paint on the inside all flaked up and falling off. I bet the plugs came with the aftermarket housings and are just as terrible. I will order the OEM plugs.

 

[scottryana]

Very cool, I just emailed Rosen. I think that is really the only way to go. I never used the vanity mirror. I actually just took the old original visors off and it feels like I gained 3" of windshield! ha.

FWIW, my wife continues to say the Rosen visors were the single best mod I've ever done and she wishes they made them for her 2014 IS, those things suck.

 

[NLXTACY]

Very cool, I just emailed Rosen. I think that is really the only way to go. I never used the vanity mirror. I actually just took the old original visors off and it feels like I gained 3" of windshield! ha.

Wait til you lose the beer belly you gain...never mind

 

[scottryana]

March 23, 2015

Leave Moab, UT for one last hoorah before school starts in May. The route isn't set in stone, but this is what I am thinking so far. I do know I am hitting Glacier at an early time and won't see much but snow, but I lived in Northern Idaho for 20 years so I am used to it. Haha. Anything else in the midwest along the route I should plan on stopping for?

 

[BILT4ME]

Just Oklahoma Joe's barbecue in Kansas City.

 

[NLXTACY]

Jealous of the itinerary.

 

[Mr Cimarron]

That's a nice route you have there. I've thought of something similar for years but it just never seems to plan out with everyday life.

 

[scottryana]

Yeah my old life never would have allowed it either. But seeing as how I have a break and am starting over, I might not ever get this chance again. Or if I do I will be old and in a motorhome. Lol