New to me LX470

[krispykritter]

Alright well summer is here, and the Lexus is not thrilled about towing near max capacity in the summer heat. I added some vents a while back - while they seem to have made a decent difference, it's not nearly enough.

Here's the first vent (midway through the install):

Here's the second vent:

... just a bit larger.

I also adjusted my fan controller to kick on low at 195 and high at 205. Between these two changes, I was able to go down the interstate on the Kansas side of Colorado at about 70 mph on a 90 degree day, but I would still see temps climb up to 220 or 225 depending on the length of the grade and how much pedal I used.

I don't think this is quite good enough yet, so I've also added a 170 degree thermostat (to get the coolant to a lower temp between climbs) and added a bottle of water wetter (for better heat transfer...maybe). I've also ordered all the parts to add an external engine oil cooler.

I'll try to remember to get photos and update this thread once the oil cooler is in.

 

[krispykritter]

Finally got the oil cooler installed. I wanted it behind the radiator since it should be a fair bit warmer than the coolant. I also didn't want to lose any more underhood space.

Here's what I came up with:

 

[krispykritter]

The "over temp when towing" struggle continues. I've now moved onto two electric fans (condenser fan + one electric PUSHER fan in shroud pushing out into engine bay). Unfortunately, with the standard fan clutch for a later 100 series, there wasn't enough clearance for the shroud/fan combo with the mechanical fan:

This led me into an evening of studying rock auto, and I found that the earlier generation 100 series fan clutch is about 10mm shorter than the later clutch. See photo:

Clearance Now:

This provides plenty of clearance...I think. There's plenty of room on the engine side of the fan to come back a little more. The first thing you'll run into when moving the fan towards the engine is the oil filter, and it's still pretty clear here.

I also researched the heck out of engine fans, and it looks like the engine fan from a GX470/V8 4Runner is slightly offset towards the engine as well - there's a clear lip in photos of the part, whereas the 100 fan is basically flush mounted. Unfortunately, that hasn't come in the mail yet, so I can't say for certain. I'm also not sure you can use both the lower fan clutch AND the offset engine fan - maybe newer clutch + GX fan, or older clutch + 100 fan? But, if you're looking for more clearance between your radiator and fan (like adding an electric in between), these are a few OEM style options to get the clearance you need. Note that I also have a larger mishimoto radiator which also cuts down on clearance, and I don't have the OEM shroud anymore because, after 2 years of it taking up space, I tossed it out about 3 months before I started this project, because of course I did.

 

[krispykritter]

Minor heat issues update: The GX fan + taller fan clutch won't work. It hits/interferes with the oil filter.

As a test of the new cooling setup, I dragged the camper to the top of Coal Creek Canyon from my house in Arvada. A climb from 5500 ft to 8500 ft while towing somewhere around 6500 lbs on winding roads where you top out around 45mph and drop down to around 20. With my not-very-pretty fan shroud and mechanical fan, I saw much much lower coolant temps. While moving, I never got above 212 degrees. When I stopped to let faster traffic on by, I saw a max of 217 degrees.

So, unfortunately, even high-end electric fans are unable to keep the 100 cool while towing heavy loads in the mountains. For offroading or general, non-towing use, electric fans are great! And I still need them for slow-speed offroad work, but the best compromise here seems to be keeping the mechanical fan and ADDING a puller fan in between the mechanical fan and the radiator. Since I already have a fan controller, I just used it for my two electric fans, but you could always just rig a switch to allow you to turn them on when it's hot out and you're going slow.

One thing to keep in mind: stacked fans only really work well if they spin in opposite directions. Our fan spins counter-clockwise, so make sure if you stick an e-fan directly in front of the mechanical fan, it spins clockwise. In my case, they spin in the same direction, but because the electrical fan is offset, the blades are traveling in opposite directions as the pass each other.

 

[krispykritter]

Alright well I've found some parts that aren't the same between the LX and the LC. The lower steering shaft on the LC is longer - apparently the VGRS was only a thing on the LX? Adding to that, then the intermediate shaft for the LC is a bit shorter than the VGRS unit (which is known), and it turns out that it appears the firewall hole for the steering shaft is both slightly longer (protrudes into the engine bay a bit farther) as well as is a bit larger? It's hard to tell from photos online.

What I can say definitively is that the rod clamp that holds the intermediate and lower steering shafts together now straddles the firewall hole, and the original firewall bushing is not really able to be used. I'm still trying to work out a reasonable solution for that to be honest. I think perhaps the big rubber thingy on the LC intermediate shaft was supposed to support it against the firewall but I really couldn't say for certain.

If anyone has done this job and found a decent solution, I'd appreciate your thoughts. It seems like lots of people has thought about it or considered it but I didn't find many folks who have actually done it.

 

[krispykritter]

It's been a little bit, so here's an update:

• New timing belt, valve cover gaskets, cam and crank seals, water pump, serpentine, tensioner, idler pulleys, etc etc etc done at 198k. Expensive job because VVT motor but only done every 100k - I can deal with paying someone for that.
• Finally replaced my AHC globes. I've been dreading that job for ages, and it was WAY easier than I expected. Probably less than an hour total.
• Also, took all preload out of my t-bars and worked my way back up to correct AHC pressures, however:
• Quite strangely, my rear pressures were much lower after putting in the new globes. I ended up having to remove the OME springs that were great with the old globes and going back to the 80 series OEM springs I had previously to get enough pressure back into the system for damping/suspending to work properly
• Added the victory 4x4 gas tank skid. This required drilling several holes in the frame and cross members, but I shouldn't turn any more OEM tank skids into tacos
• Bought a custom cut piece of outdoor canvas and added some rubberized magnets to it to let me cover the hood vent during bad weather

 

[krispykritter]

Made another trip to Moab this year and really pushed the limits of the 100 series. Probably going to need to upgrade my skid plates as the aluminum is getting pretty mangled at this point. Also, very happy I bought the trail tailor lower link skids as those copped quite the beating this year...again. But hey, I didn't need to use my spare driveshaft this year!

While I was there, we did Backwards Bill/7-mile Rim as a warm up, then Top of the World, followed by the Trifecta (Poison Spider, Golden Spike, and Gold Bar Rim). The 100 did not come away unscathed, though - both bumpers got quite beaten up (not that they were in great shape to start with) and I picked up some red paint that someone else left behind on a rock. It should buff out. I also managed to pin my right rear tire against a rock and left behind a few thousand miles worth of sidewall rubber trying to get out of that spot.

I'm going to be replacing most of the consumables on the front end after this trip. My extra-travel front end has really done a number on the tie rods on top of the beating they got simply from the punishing trails. It's been 4 or 5 years since I did drive flanges, so those are probably due as well, and might as well do the wheel bearings while I'm in there. Might even go for new CVs since it's all coming apart again anyway.

Oh, just for fun, I hit 200k miles on the drive back into Moab after the 12 hour day that was the Trifecta!

Here's some pics:

And here's a video of me crossing the Golden Crack - the commentary is hilarious: