My new find... 1999 LX470

[TEXAS 57]

Day 2 (last Sat) - I went ahead and put the front torsion bars in and set them close. Drove around for a couple days to let everything settle and reset them. Looks good!

The bushings on the AHC

I took out the AHC ECU (no more dash light blinking).
I will start to pull the AHC components out later.

 

[TEXAS 57]

On Sunday, I decided to unwrap the Doug Thorley cat-back exhaust system. Amazing workmanship and the muffler is solid and heavy.

Only one nut and bolt backed out out 4 at the cats so I had to break out the angle grinder and cutting disc, then air chisel to get the others out.

The kit says to reuse the gaskets but I got new ones.
Some carnage

Then the hole that has been heating up the floor board

 

[TEXAS 57]

all cleaned up and ready for the new gaskets

This exhaust tucks up very nicely.

The exit is tucked up real high and tight too.

Quality and fitment are spectacular.
It did take 3 months from Summit to come in.

Sound impressions - Great! Sounds stock at idle, a little rumble when slowly taking off, and sounds full flowing and not loud at WOT.

Before I bolted the system up I called my wife out and told her I was done and to come hear it. With only Cats on, I started it up and rev’d it a couple times. She shook her head and said “why did you do that exhaust? It’s so loud! I am never going to drive that again! You’re going to wake up the kids when you leave for work at 5am!”
I told her the next day and let her listen to the exhaust hooked up and she was relieved.

 

[Tentsontop]

Nice. Does your 4pin for the trailer lights work?

 

[TEXAS 57]

Nice. Does your 4pin for the trailer lights work?

Sorry, I have never hooked it up. I had 2 small trailers with three pin hookups and just never used it. It is a Curt unit.

 

[TEXAS 57]

Well, after my cat back exhaust install, I popped a P0161 DTC. I figured that during the rough removal of the exhaust bolts I had damaged the O2 (Bank 2, #2) sensor. I went ahead and ordered one from PartSouq along with a OE Fuel Pump. My Napa fuel pump has some hot start issues. It always starts but sometimes takes too long. I went ahead and got all of the factory replacement parts for the fuel pump as well.
After soaking the nuts in PB Blaster through a couple heat cycles I went to remove the old O2 sensor. Surprisingly, the first nut unscrewed easily and I noticed the Sensor was loose. Checking the other nut, it was merely hand tight. A loose O2 sensor would cause air leakage and cause the truck to run rich (and pop a code) which it did. Did I shake the nut loose during the exhaust install?
Oh well, already there, I put the new one on. No codes yet!

The nuts were almost 1/2 gone. I am surprised how easy the nuts came off.

Soon I need to get around to that Fuel Pump and sunroof repair.

 

[TEXAS 57]

Had a couple free hours this morning with not much to do so I installed the OE Fuel Pump and related parts this morning. Pump, clamps, hose, rubber cushion, clip and screen/ filter.

Toyota part on the right. Napa part on the left

Had to scratch my date off from about a year ago and put the new one on.

 

[TexLXCRZR]

Day 2 (last Sat) - I went ahead and put the front torsion bars in and set them close. Drove around for a couple days to let everything settle and reset them. Looks good!


View attachment 3260716

View attachment 3260717

The bushings on the AHC
View attachment 3260715

I took out the AHC ECU (no more dash light blinking).
I will start to pull the AHC components out later.

great thread - how do you feel about the ride quality after removing AHC for a conventional setup? I have replaced all the arms/bushings and am now contemplating removing AHC or replacing all the bushings in the shocks/rams

 

[TEXAS 57]

great thread - how do you feel about the ride quality after removing AHC for a conventional setup? I have replaced all the arms/bushings and am now contemplating removing AHC or replacing all the bushings in the shocks/rams

Good Question!

I have driven it a lot since the removal and my wife has a stock Non AHC 2002 LC so I have a lot compare.
My AHC LX was smoother in every form than the Stock LC setup.
My stock standard suspension LC setup rides better than any newer stock Ford Expedition or Chevy Tahoe i have ever been in.
My Tough Dog / Old Man Emu combo rides stiffer than the Stock LC set up.
My Tough Dog / Old Man Emu combo rides about like AHC in sport mode.
I have a 97 4Runner with a Toytec 3" lift with 5100 Bilsteins and that is a much firmer ride than the Tough Dog / Old Man Emu combo.
It still rides nice like a full size luxury full framed SUV. My wife complains about the 4Runner but not about the LX with the Tough Dog / Old Man Emu combo and she actually says she can't tell a difference other than it being higher off the ground.

I will also mention that while I was replacing the AHC rams, I pulled the Mount Bushings off and they were in really good shape and had a lot of rubber elasticity left. The outside diameter it looked like the bushings were cracked and blown out but inside that area, they were not hard biscuits and were not cracked through.

 

[TexLXCRZR]

Good Question!

I have driven it a lot since the removal and my wife has a stock Non AHC 2002 LC so I have a lot compare.
My AHC LX was smoother in every form than the Stock LC setup.
My stock standard suspension LC setup rides better than any newer stock Ford Expedition or Chevy Tahoe i have ever been in.
My Tough Dog / Old Man Emu combo rides stiffer than the Stock LC set up.
My Tough Dog / Old Man Emu combo rides about like AHC in sport mode.
I have a 97 4Runner with a Toytec 3" lift with 5100 Bilsteins and that is a much firmer ride than the Tough Dog / Old Man Emu combo.
It still rides nice like a full size luxury full framed SUV. My wife complains about the 4Runner but not about the LX with the Tough Dog / Old Man Emu combo and she actually says she can't tell a difference other than it being higher off the ground.

I will also mention that while I was replacing the AHC rams, I pulled the Mount Bushings off and they were in really good shape and had a lot of rubber elasticity left. The outside diameter it looked like the bushings were cracked and blown out but inside that area, they were not hard biscuits and were not cracked through.

thank you for the detailed reply - I normally drive my LX on the third AHC setting rarely all the way to the right - which position would you say it is closest to?

I had some 5100's on an Xterra - considering that Eibach or Fox if I switch out from the AHC. Truck rides well but I still have some looseness I would attribute to the bushings considering the condition of the others I replaced. I also do not love the idea of so many additional failure points in the AHC system.

You mentioned a local LC Facebook group? Could you share the name of the group please

 

[TEXAS 57]

thank you for the detailed reply - I normally drive my LX on the third AHC setting rarely all the way to the right - which position would you say it is closest to?

I had some 5100's on an Xterra - considering that Eibach or Fox if I switch out from the AHC. Truck rides well but I still have some looseness I would attribute to the bushings considering the condition of the others I replaced. I also do not love the idea of so many additional failure points in the AHC system.

You mentioned a local LC Facebook group? Could you share the name of the group please

Bayou City Cruisers FB Page

 

[TEXAS 57]

Since putting the new shift knob in my wife’s LC, I decided to do mine. Mine had the typical wear.

New vs old

After a good cleaning and polishing of the center console it’s all back together and looking great. I need to redo my shift numbers like the LC.

 

[TEXAS 57]

Also, I ordered one of those EBay steering wheels and threw that on.
Old tattered wheel with a custom cover.

Side by side

New wheel. The color match is much better than the pics show.

New wheel and shift knob. This thing is getting too fancy.

 

[TEXAS 57]

My wife’s LC is in the shop with an unknown electrical issue causing the AC not to work so we took the LX470 on the 1300+ mile vacation trip to Florida. She performed great and never skipped a beat.
While in FL, I did lose the 7 year old battery. I had Walmart deliver it and used the tools in the Lexus tool bag to change it.

The day after we got back, my wife started the car up and it was squealing like a fan belt.
Quick diagnostics, all pulleys turning freely, she ran off to the store and back and said it got worse. I popped the hood to find the belt shredding. I replaced with an old hood belt and it instantly shredded it, then I saw why…

The crank pulley / balancer was not aligned. The pulley had walked off the damper rubber.

It also ate into the lower timing cover.

Parts are ordered.

AC worked fine on the FL trip but is now starting to blink occasionally. Great…

Two cars down right now. Wife is driving the the trusty ole 4Runner and I am daily’ing the 57 until parts come in.

 

[OwnerCS]

My wife’s LC is in the shop with an unknown electrical issue causing the AC not to work so we took the LX470 on the 1300+ mile vacation trip to Florida. She performed great and never skipped a beat.
While in FL, I did lose the 7 year old battery. I had Walmart deliver it and used the tools in the Lexus tool bag to change it.

The day after we got back, my wife started the car up and it was squealing like a fan belt.
Quick diagnostics, all pulleys turning freely, she ran off to the store and back and said it got worse. I popped the hood to find the belt shredding. I replaced with an old hood belt and it instantly shredded it, then I saw why…
View attachment 3383183

The crank pulley / balancer was not aligned. The pulley had walked off the damper rubber.

View attachment 3383184

View attachment 3383185

It also ate into the lower timing cover.
View attachment 3383186

View attachment 3383187

Parts are ordered.

AC worked fine on the FL trip but is now starting to blink occasionally. Great…

Two cars down right now. Wife is driving the the trusty ole 4Runner and I am daily’ing the 57 until parts come in.

We are reaching the age where the rubber dampers should be starting to disintegrate. I will look to order one and then work it in with some other preventative maintenance.

 

[TexLexican]

We are reaching the age where the rubber dampers should be starting to disintegrate. I will look to order one and then work it in with some other preventative maintenance.

dang. I didn’t check this during my recent timing belt swap

 

[TEXAS 57]

Yep. I was debating doing the timing belt job (already have all the parts) while doing this but decided to just get her back on the road.
Gotta get it done before Fall Baseball starts though!

 

[TEXAS 57]

Replaced the Harmonic Balancer / Damper / Crank Pulley yesterday and put the old timing cover back on. New timing cover will be here early next week and I did not want to wait. Everything runs great again.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

I just finished replacing TB on mine and am now wondering if I should have replaced the 21 yr harmonic balancer/crankshaft pulley too!

 

[TexLexican]

Refresh my memory on how in depth it is to get to the harmonic balancer.

Perhaps somewhere in FAQ we can add this part number for future TB jobs. @2001LC did you ever run across changing these out?