LX570 Engine Covers
- Thread starter spikele
- Start date
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bloc
SILVER Star
No, they help ensure hot air from the engine bay doesn't go back around the front of the core support and reduce radiator efficiency.
Either leave them or cut them down to keep the important parts across the core support. There's quite a bit of discussion on this if you search around.
Removing the Engine Covers
I just picked up a 2014 LX570 for my wife, and the engine covers drive me nuts. It surely makes checking fluids a chore. Is there any good reason to leave them in place? Otherwise, they're coming off.
forum.ih8mud.com
Many engineers and many children working long hours in some decrepit Asian factory made that plastic cover…why you deny them of happiness of making something so magnificent that Toyota has deem it to be on a $100k+ Lexus??
I trimmed mine right in front of the radiator for easier access to battery and filter. Got annoyed having to take them on and off
bloc
SILVER Star
This is the way.
It's the perfect nesting place... 
nwfl4runner
GOLD Star
I keep them and just move it for airing up! My engine is oh so quiet
Proper off-road limo.
Probably worth saying, and I'm not arguing that the rest of the covers might or might not be stupid.
The forward part of the cover that is ahead of the upper radiator bracket is important for max radiator performance. Deleting that part gives up cooling capacity. If you don't use your vehicle in more extreme use cases, perhaps doesn't matter.
If you do, beware.
At speed, the cover guides airflow through the radiator, minimizing air bypassing by going up and over the radiator. In low speed crawling, it keeps hot air from the engine bay, from re-circulating through the radiator, rather than drawing cold air from outside.
If you do any rock crawling, sitting in traffic in Arizona, heavy overland setup, or tow very heavy, might give this some more thought before chucking these things out the door.
Super easy workaround to cut the back half of the covers, leave the clips out, or both.
At 80 mph I’m sure there is enough airflow to the radiator without the cover. I’ll gamble on air bypassing the radiator. Much more important for me to be able to check the radiator for signs of failure and have access to the battery.
bloc
SILVER Star
It’s very easy to have both airflow control and access to the important parts. Whatever your favorite method of cutting plastic and about three minutes total.
gaijin
GOLD Star
Not funny.
TheLCProject
SILVER Star
Just trimmed mine a bit.
I used to keep the side covers just sitting loose with no clips (the clips break every time you take them out anyway). But got tired of it and did the ol' chop-a-roo. Easy access to my compressor, battery, fuse box and locker wiring, no fiddling around with the covers. My ears can't hear a difference. I left the forward bits in place for the cooling purposes mentioned earlier in this thread, however I have run with the side covers off the vehicle (just the center section) in the past. I don't have a OBD2 scanner or real water temp gauge to tell if it made any difference, but the stock needle didn't move. Leaving the front sections in place is good peace of mind. 30 seconds with the jigsaw and another 60 seconds with some sand paper.
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bloc
SILVER Star
To be clear, our cooling systems are very robust and I would only expect cooling issues related to engine bay air backflow when the engine is working extremely hard in bad conditions. Basically when it needs that last 5% of capacity. So yes, most people will never see a difference.. but when you actually need that last 5%...
