- Thread starter
- #21
The rack is one of the few things that I'm just going to risk not replacing while I'm in there. We'll see if I regret that decision later hahaha.
Builds Project Lazarus: Bringing an LX470 back from the dead (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter LJE
- Start date
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- Thread starter
- #23
Well, had a setback yesterday. Went and picked up the 'new' (67K) Tundra engine from the salvage yard, got it home, inspected it, and then took it back.
First red flag was these scratches - maybe I'm overreacting, but those definitely look like they go through the cross hatch. I also noticed the crosshatching looked really thin down near the bottom of these two cylinders. You can sorta see that on the right of the bottom photo:
When I got the engine, the crank was at a position where Cylinders #1 and #3 were at/near TDC, and the two photos above are of cylinders #5 and #7. Cylinders #2 and #6 both looked good.
Then, I took the valve covers off - no visible wear on any of the cam lobes, but looking at this picture now, you can see some gunk on the cams lobes - it wiped off, but probably shouldn't be there... The VC's were only held on by 2 bolts each, and you can see several of the old bolts were snapped off.
Then, I started checking cam caps - and found this:
You definitely could catch a fingernail (gloved, even...) in that groove in the middle. The next one I took off I found a shaving under. Again, maybe I'm overreacting, but that looks like this might have ran with it being pretty low on oil.
As soon as I got it home, I had put a little diesel in each cylinder just so that I could crank it by hand without fear of doing any damage - at this point, it had been about half an hour, so I I figured it'd had time to soak. I slowly cranked it by hand so that I could see the cylinders that had been near TDC previously. Cylinder #3 was the first one I checked, and it was gross. I didn't grab any photos from the borescope, but it was all sorts of crusty/rusty/brown gunk everywhere.
All the above was more than enough for me to say 'nope, not this one!' so I took it back and got a refund. When I called ahead and nicely explained my situation (since they claim a 60 day guarantee), the guy I talked to was pretty rude and stated 'I gave you the best 2UZ we had in the yard - what did you expect from a 20 year old engine?' and told me to expect the 20% restock fee (~$180, since it was $900 total). I didn't say it, but I know for a fact (because I've looked...) the 21 year old cylinders on my Sequoia with 253K on it look better than that! But fine, whatever, $180 isn't fun, but I'll suck it up as a learning fee here.
However, once I actually got to the yard, the owner/manager/someone with authority happened to be walking by as they were processing it and was like 'oh man, we'll definitely give you a full refund on that one', so I ended up losing nothing but ~5ish hours. Again, I'll take this all as part of a learning opportunity for what I need to look for next time.
As a side note, after getting home and doing more research here on MUD, I noticed that just about everyone who has replaced a 2UZ here ended up buying two engines - the first to learn what to look for, and then the second to actually put in hahaha. At least I'm not alone?
At this point, I think the best course of action is to pull the old engine out first, assess the crank/cam bearing journals and check the heads for warpage, and then maybe talk to a machine shop about rebuilding this one. I know, I know, that goes against the traditional advice given here, however, we've got a really good machine shop here in town that folks have told me is really affordable. I've had a couple buddies (one of which is both a fellow mechanical engineer and happens to build/race methanol dragsters) who have been very impressed with this shop. I figure it's at least worth getting a quote from while I investigate other potential 2UZ's around me...
First red flag was these scratches - maybe I'm overreacting, but those definitely look like they go through the cross hatch. I also noticed the crosshatching looked really thin down near the bottom of these two cylinders. You can sorta see that on the right of the bottom photo:
When I got the engine, the crank was at a position where Cylinders #1 and #3 were at/near TDC, and the two photos above are of cylinders #5 and #7. Cylinders #2 and #6 both looked good.
Then, I took the valve covers off - no visible wear on any of the cam lobes, but looking at this picture now, you can see some gunk on the cams lobes - it wiped off, but probably shouldn't be there... The VC's were only held on by 2 bolts each, and you can see several of the old bolts were snapped off.
Then, I started checking cam caps - and found this:
You definitely could catch a fingernail (gloved, even...) in that groove in the middle. The next one I took off I found a shaving under. Again, maybe I'm overreacting, but that looks like this might have ran with it being pretty low on oil.
As soon as I got it home, I had put a little diesel in each cylinder just so that I could crank it by hand without fear of doing any damage - at this point, it had been about half an hour, so I I figured it'd had time to soak. I slowly cranked it by hand so that I could see the cylinders that had been near TDC previously. Cylinder #3 was the first one I checked, and it was gross. I didn't grab any photos from the borescope, but it was all sorts of crusty/rusty/brown gunk everywhere.
All the above was more than enough for me to say 'nope, not this one!' so I took it back and got a refund. When I called ahead and nicely explained my situation (since they claim a 60 day guarantee), the guy I talked to was pretty rude and stated 'I gave you the best 2UZ we had in the yard - what did you expect from a 20 year old engine?' and told me to expect the 20% restock fee (~$180, since it was $900 total). I didn't say it, but I know for a fact (because I've looked...) the 21 year old cylinders on my Sequoia with 253K on it look better than that! But fine, whatever, $180 isn't fun, but I'll suck it up as a learning fee here.
However, once I actually got to the yard, the owner/manager/someone with authority happened to be walking by as they were processing it and was like 'oh man, we'll definitely give you a full refund on that one', so I ended up losing nothing but ~5ish hours. Again, I'll take this all as part of a learning opportunity for what I need to look for next time.
As a side note, after getting home and doing more research here on MUD, I noticed that just about everyone who has replaced a 2UZ here ended up buying two engines - the first to learn what to look for, and then the second to actually put in hahaha. At least I'm not alone?
At this point, I think the best course of action is to pull the old engine out first, assess the crank/cam bearing journals and check the heads for warpage, and then maybe talk to a machine shop about rebuilding this one. I know, I know, that goes against the traditional advice given here, however, we've got a really good machine shop here in town that folks have told me is really affordable. I've had a couple buddies (one of which is both a fellow mechanical engineer and happens to build/race methanol dragsters) who have been very impressed with this shop. I figure it's at least worth getting a quote from while I investigate other potential 2UZ's around me...
2001LC
SILVER Star
Did the lid close easily and fit sung, with the 3/32" sq. cord?With the time I had available today, I spent it mostly cleaning up the garage/shop in preparation for pulling the engine out. I also spent a little time replacing the gasket that seals the lid of the fuse box - it was entirely dried up and more brittle than dried spaghetti. Definitely wouldn't do much to keep dust/water out for sure.
The gasket isn't a part that you can order separate from the lid (or do you have to order an entire fuse box? I can't remember...). However, I found a post somewhere here on MUD where a helpful user (@05JLX470 ) stated it's just a 3/32" square gasket. I ordered 10 ft (the minimum order...) from Zoro for something like $9.50 shipped. Super quick and easy!
You can see part of the gasket that is laying in the left of the fuse box:
View attachment 3592067
And here's the rest of the gasket left in the lid - it just shattered into pieces trying to get it out with a pick:
View attachment 3592068
Here's the gasket material I used:
View attachment 3592065
And this is what it looks like:
View attachment 3592066
Pick a spot to start at and just make your way around:
I realized that I forgot to get a picture of the gasket once trimmed and fully installed - but I figure you can use your imagination, haha. Just cut it a little long and trim it down to get a perfect fit when you butt the two ends.
Here's a picture I grabbed with the lid reinstalled. It's amazing the contrast between the (uncleaned) fuse block body and the cleaned/conditions lid, haha:
I also had a chance to disconnect the engine harness from the ECU and pull it out. RELEASE THE KRAKEN! hahaha.
At this point, I just need to dismount the AC compressor (sounds like I should be able to leave the AC system all connected, just need to pull the compressor off the engine) and then disconnect the motor mounts and I (think) it should all be ready to pull out! I'm going to review the FSM again to make sure I'm not missing anything though.
I see it has a Durometer 70A. Which is between tire tread and the heel of shoe on hardness scale.
- Thread starter
- #25
It sure does - it seems like a pretty exact match. If you'd like, shoot me a PM with your address and I'll drop some in a mail envelop and shoot it your way. Beats me what I'll do with the other 8 feet, hahaha.
2001LC
SILVER Star
Finding a good 4.7L is not easy.
When I bought my first engine, it was cheap. 130K mile, $500 all in to my door, with transmission included. It too was a bad one, with water in intake ports. So really began doing homework. One thing I learned was, the USA made 4.7L 2UZ-fe Had issue with rod knock/piston slap. Toyota tick they call it! So I concentrated on finding, made in Japan (100 series, GX, 4 Runner). Second thing, don't listen to seller, let VIN # speak!
Borescope is a great tool. But it requires, hands on inspection. Which more or less, limits search area.
I approach, as if doing PPO or a used LC/LX470. Doing a remote inspection first. Asking for pictures of engine, including VIN plate.
Using VIN to check service history with Toyota/Lexus. If that looks good, I pull a carfax.
I look for red flags:
- Lack of good OF&L or air filter history.
- Coolant system issues or lack of proper PM.
- Starter R&R or any service requiring intake manifold removed. Concern is, sand dropping in intake ports/cylinders.
- Any service more than just a PM.
- Fresh kill (recently insurance total). Best, if not sitting around long. Most import, it not sat around outside with hood off.
2001LC
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #28
Yeah - like we were talking about via email - definitely a lot of things you need to pay attention to when looking for a replacement engine!
I took a quick peak under one of the valve covers of the current (blown) engine - looks pretty clean with minimal varnish. I pulled one of the cam caps and it looked/felt good too, so maybe a candidate for a rebuild. We'll see once I get it all the way out of the vehicle.
I pulled the compressor off (left the lines connected) and disconnected the last line from the power steering pump to the rack, so I think at this point it's just motor mounts that I need to unbolt. I noticed that the transmission is already starting to separate from the engine, so at least the dowel pins aren't corroded in place! Once I get the motor mounts unbolted (and take one last good look underneath) I'll pull the front wheels off and lower the front to give myself some more room. My buddy and I went halfsies on a 2-ton engine lift, so it's got some good reach at max extension (500 lbs - so still enough for the 2UZ!)
2001LC
SILVER Star
FSM recommends, pulling engine with A/T connected as one. But I left my A/T in, separating it from engine before pulling. As I had concerns, with my lack of space in shop.
You may have notice one black bolt, holding flex plate to Torque Converter (TC). Which is simple the alignment bolt, which goes in first during install. This black bolt, has a shoulders, that aligns flex plate for all other bolts. Which really aids, when installing bolts through inspection plate. Install one black bolt then spin crank to install next.
I had removed the 6 bolts from flex plate holding it to TC, prior to pulling engine. But TC pilot shaft, was frozen in crankshaft. So TC came out with engine. OH well!
I've very limited room on all side and above. Not wanting to remove hood, creating more work. I tied up the hood using a pulley as pivot point. In such a way, so I could roll vehicle back once engine lifted if needed. But I found I could simply, roll engine hoist around to side.
Using a jack to supporting A/T. I was able to raise and lower, to aid in alignment while removing and installing engine.
You may have notice one black bolt, holding flex plate to Torque Converter (TC). Which is simple the alignment bolt, which goes in first during install. This black bolt, has a shoulders, that aligns flex plate for all other bolts. Which really aids, when installing bolts through inspection plate. Install one black bolt then spin crank to install next.
I had removed the 6 bolts from flex plate holding it to TC, prior to pulling engine. But TC pilot shaft, was frozen in crankshaft. So TC came out with engine. OH well!
I've very limited room on all side and above. Not wanting to remove hood, creating more work. I tied up the hood using a pulley as pivot point. In such a way, so I could roll vehicle back once engine lifted if needed. But I found I could simply, roll engine hoist around to side.
Using a jack to supporting A/T. I was able to raise and lower, to aid in alignment while removing and installing engine.
- Thread starter
- #30
Well, got the engine out yesterday!
I haven't had time to tear into it yet - I'm about to go on travel for work, so it'll be a week and a half before I can really do much I think.
I did notice that the torque converter was a Precision of New Hampton (goPNH.com). That leads me to believe that the transmission was rebuilt at some point - good, bad, indifferent? Who knows. Not a whole lot of info on PNH torque converters on the web, so I'm not sure if they're decent or not (which might give some indication to overall quality of the rebuild). I guess we'll see once it get everything back together and running.
I haven't had time to tear into it yet - I'm about to go on travel for work, so it'll be a week and a half before I can really do much I think.
I did notice that the torque converter was a Precision of New Hampton (goPNH.com). That leads me to believe that the transmission was rebuilt at some point - good, bad, indifferent? Who knows. Not a whole lot of info on PNH torque converters on the web, so I'm not sure if they're decent or not (which might give some indication to overall quality of the rebuild). I guess we'll see once it get everything back together and running.
- Thread starter
- #31
I promise that I'm not dead - I've just been on travel a whole bunch for work (and it's not slowing down either!)
But, I'm making progress very slowly - I'll just leave the below photo as a teaser. Would you look at how shiny this engine is? Almost as if it's been sitting in a tech school for the past couple decades...
But, I'm making progress very slowly - I'll just leave the below photo as a teaser. Would you look at how shiny this engine is? Almost as if it's been sitting in a tech school for the past couple decades...
Great to see an old LC getting the love and a chance at a better second life 
- Thread starter
- #33
Slowly making some progress! I need to take one of the 'new' engine blocks to the machine shop I think - it's got a very small scratch (barely through the cross hatching, can just barely feel it with a fingernail). Would be a real shame to have to buy oversized rings and pistons due to a single scratch in an otherwise brand-new block, but hey, I want to make sure I do this right the first time around. I'm hoping the super light scratch will hone out, but I'll let the machine shop decide that.
While I wait time to get the block to the machine shop, I've been working on getting the front end of the LX torn apart. The steering rack was leaking from one end - rather than replacing the rack, my plan is to rebuild it with the OEM Toyota seal kit. I do plan on measuring the diameter of the piston/rod (on the rack) in multiple places to try to see if there's any actual wear on the cylinder/rod, or if it really was just a seal that gave out over time. I figure the $50 seal kit (from Impex anyways, and then add in another $30 or so for new boots) is worth a shot as compared to a $700 rack assembly. I've rebuild hydraulic cylinders on my skidsteer before & watched a couple videos on other toyota racks (4Runner IIRC), and it doesn't seem like rocket science to do it. I may film it and through it up to (hopefully) help other folks save money in the future.
Here's the rack after I pulled the inner/outer tie-rods off. Looks like a original (i.e, non-rebuild) rack based on the black stripe there on the left. The steering shaft was rusted a smidge, so that was a giant pain to get off. Definitely plan on hitting that with some anti-seize when I clean it up and put it all back together!
I also noticed that this seal where the shaft exits the firewall was torn - so I ordered that to replace as well.
Once I got the R&P out and the tie-rods pulled off, I started taking the hubs apart. First thing I found when I pulled the dust cap off the passenger side is that some hack had ground the front of the splines (that the C-clip engages) off, and had just thrown a bolt and a stack of washers in to hold the CV axle in place! I didn't grab a picture of when I first pulled it off, but you can see the splines ground off in the below photo. I have no idea why they would have done this, but I guess I get to buy a new OEM CV axle. Upon further inspection, this CV-axle looks like it was slinging grease anyways - so it's time was probably limited. I would have rather just have rebooted it, but I guess it'll get replaced. I'll probably wait till the next 25% off sale to do that! (I ordered a new radiator, AHC fluid, and all new brake pads/shims/fluid a couple weeks ago on the last 25% off sale).
Shockingly, when I pulled everything apart, the splines still looked OK.
The driver side hub still had the C-clip arrangement in place, so whatever hack touched the passenger side must not have touched the driver side. The hub nut on the driver's was entirely too loose however (sub 10 ft-lbs I think), but the bearings on both sides still looked OK. They're Timken, so maybe factory original still? They didn't seem like they had much wear (you can see some discoloration, but definitely couldn't feel anything), but I'm going to go ahead and replace them anyways with the Timkin kits from Cruiser Teq. I'm this far in anyways - would hate to put it all back together and find out I've got a bad bearing.
I got the spindle assembly off the driver's side as well - the boot on the upper ball joint is torn, but it was only evident once I pulled the spindle off. The ball joint itself feels good still (I checked everything for play before I pulled everything apart too), so I *think* I can get away with rebooting it. It looked very clean inside, so I don't think it's been torn long enogh to expose the insides to grit. I'll give it a closer look once I pull the upper control arm off & pull the boot off.
I think that about brings us back up to speed for the moment - I'm out on travel again next week for work, but once I get back I hope to have some more time to be able to work on it!
While I wait time to get the block to the machine shop, I've been working on getting the front end of the LX torn apart. The steering rack was leaking from one end - rather than replacing the rack, my plan is to rebuild it with the OEM Toyota seal kit. I do plan on measuring the diameter of the piston/rod (on the rack) in multiple places to try to see if there's any actual wear on the cylinder/rod, or if it really was just a seal that gave out over time. I figure the $50 seal kit (from Impex anyways, and then add in another $30 or so for new boots) is worth a shot as compared to a $700 rack assembly. I've rebuild hydraulic cylinders on my skidsteer before & watched a couple videos on other toyota racks (4Runner IIRC), and it doesn't seem like rocket science to do it. I may film it and through it up to (hopefully) help other folks save money in the future.
Here's the rack after I pulled the inner/outer tie-rods off. Looks like a original (i.e, non-rebuild) rack based on the black stripe there on the left. The steering shaft was rusted a smidge, so that was a giant pain to get off. Definitely plan on hitting that with some anti-seize when I clean it up and put it all back together!
I also noticed that this seal where the shaft exits the firewall was torn - so I ordered that to replace as well.
Once I got the R&P out and the tie-rods pulled off, I started taking the hubs apart. First thing I found when I pulled the dust cap off the passenger side is that some hack had ground the front of the splines (that the C-clip engages) off, and had just thrown a bolt and a stack of washers in to hold the CV axle in place! I didn't grab a picture of when I first pulled it off, but you can see the splines ground off in the below photo. I have no idea why they would have done this, but I guess I get to buy a new OEM CV axle. Upon further inspection, this CV-axle looks like it was slinging grease anyways - so it's time was probably limited. I would have rather just have rebooted it, but I guess it'll get replaced. I'll probably wait till the next 25% off sale to do that! (I ordered a new radiator, AHC fluid, and all new brake pads/shims/fluid a couple weeks ago on the last 25% off sale).
Shockingly, when I pulled everything apart, the splines still looked OK.
The driver side hub still had the C-clip arrangement in place, so whatever hack touched the passenger side must not have touched the driver side. The hub nut on the driver's was entirely too loose however (sub 10 ft-lbs I think), but the bearings on both sides still looked OK. They're Timken, so maybe factory original still? They didn't seem like they had much wear (you can see some discoloration, but definitely couldn't feel anything), but I'm going to go ahead and replace them anyways with the Timkin kits from Cruiser Teq. I'm this far in anyways - would hate to put it all back together and find out I've got a bad bearing.
I got the spindle assembly off the driver's side as well - the boot on the upper ball joint is torn, but it was only evident once I pulled the spindle off. The ball joint itself feels good still (I checked everything for play before I pulled everything apart too), so I *think* I can get away with rebooting it. It looked very clean inside, so I don't think it's been torn long enogh to expose the insides to grit. I'll give it a closer look once I pull the upper control arm off & pull the boot off.
I think that about brings us back up to speed for the moment - I'm out on travel again next week for work, but once I get back I hope to have some more time to be able to work on it!
- Thread starter
- #34
Today I continued on to taking off the passenger side spindle steering knuckle (sorry for the incorrect terminology in the previous post!) today. which was the side where there was no C-clip and just bolt + washers into the CV axle holding things on.
First, this is what the driver's side looks like. Nearly brand new! Needle bearing feels good too. A lot of the grease here (before I wiped it all off prior to this photo) was still white/cream colored, so dirt has been kept out by the seals. Nice!
But then, the passenger side... The bronze thrust bearing fell out when I took the steering knuckle off - it still looks like it's in good condition (based on the depth of the grooves), however, the same cannot be said of the poor undeserving needle bearing:
Absolute carnage.
That's the outer race you're looking at, and yes, those are the leftovers of some of the rollers in the groove/recess before the tighter inner diameter of the spindle starts. Want a better look at those? No? Me either, but here it is anyways:
Nothing like some metal paste and a few chunks of hardened steel mixed in with your grease...
That then left me with the problem of getting what was left of the outer race out of the steering knuckle so that I can order a new needle bearing and install it. There was barely anything left to hammer against, but I was able to use a combination of a tapered punch and a straight punch, finishing up with a big flat blade screw driver to get it out.
And here's what is left of that outer race... not much! I cleaned up the inner bore (gently) with a sand paper flap disk on a dremel, and I think a new bearing + rear seal will take care of me, but man, what a pain. I can't imagine that this felt (or sounded!) good while driving whatsoever.
I also pulled my upper control arms off as well - that just leaves the LCA's and I think I'll be just about done taking things apart in the front of this vehicle for a bit!
First, this is what the driver's side looks like. Nearly brand new! Needle bearing feels good too. A lot of the grease here (before I wiped it all off prior to this photo) was still white/cream colored, so dirt has been kept out by the seals. Nice!
But then, the passenger side... The bronze thrust bearing fell out when I took the steering knuckle off - it still looks like it's in good condition (based on the depth of the grooves), however, the same cannot be said of the poor undeserving needle bearing:
Absolute carnage.
That's the outer race you're looking at, and yes, those are the leftovers of some of the rollers in the groove/recess before the tighter inner diameter of the spindle starts. Want a better look at those? No? Me either, but here it is anyways:
Nothing like some metal paste and a few chunks of hardened steel mixed in with your grease...
That then left me with the problem of getting what was left of the outer race out of the steering knuckle so that I can order a new needle bearing and install it. There was barely anything left to hammer against, but I was able to use a combination of a tapered punch and a straight punch, finishing up with a big flat blade screw driver to get it out.
And here's what is left of that outer race... not much! I cleaned up the inner bore (gently) with a sand paper flap disk on a dremel, and I think a new bearing + rear seal will take care of me, but man, what a pain. I can't imagine that this felt (or sounded!) good while driving whatsoever.
I also pulled my upper control arms off as well - that just leaves the LCA's and I think I'll be just about done taking things apart in the front of this vehicle for a bit!
- Thread starter
- #35
I had some time last weekend to swing one of the 'new' tech school blocks over to the machine shop - they said the mark in one of the cylinders is entirely superficial and not to worry about it. I went ahead and ordered new bearing inserts for the crank and connecting rods though - probably not entirely needed, but I figured I might as well be safe. Also ordered new bolts for the crank caps & connecting rod caps, since those seem like they're TTY based on the FSM tightening procedure.
My parts from Impex that I ordered back in March are nearly here! Just clearing customs & hopefully I'll have them next week - then the fun will really begin! My plan is to reassemble the engine & get that buttoned back up first, and then move on to everything else. Thankfully PartSouq seems to be nearly infinitely faster than Impex at getting an order put together, so my new main bearings/bolts/head gaskets/etc that are coming from PS that I ordered last week should be here this coming week. I also ordered my new wheel bearings from @cruiseroutfit and a snazzy key shell from @suprarx7nut in the limited 'Northern Lights' color that I think will look good with the Vapor Blue LX...
In the mean time, my life has been consumed by removing bushings. So. Many. Bushings. LCAs (including frame side), UCAs, front shocks, front diff, steering rack...
Once I got the procedure down, it wasn't too bad - here's what I found to work really well:
#0: Use sawzall to cut metal 'washer' off of front of UCA bushing.
#1: Drill out rubber between inner/outer sleeve with a 'normal' drill bit, making 6-8 holes around the perimeter.
#2: Use a hole saw to then 'core out' the center metal sleeve and as much as the rubber as you can (ideally, your hole saw is just barely smaller than the outer metal sleeve of the bushing).
#3: Use a hack saw to make a slit in the outer sleeve of the bushing, being careful not to cut into the actual control arm sleeve.
#4: Use a hammer and chisel + maximum violence to curl one side of the bushing inwards right next to where you just made that slit.
#5: At some point during #4, the bushing will start moving out. Keep beating on it till it does.
#6: Repeat this for the 29 other bushings on the vehicle (OK, maybe it's not quite that bad...)
This is definitely way easier with a bench vise - when I did the same thing with my 2003 Sequoia, I didn't have a vise yet, so I did it in my driveway - not fun.
In the below picture, you can tell that I could have made that slit in #3 a little deeper - oh well, just made me work harder during step #4.
My vise bite through the paint a bit, so I primed & repainted those sections. Not an exact match, but by the time I fluid film this when I'm all done + it gets some dirt, you'll never be able to tell, haha. The exposed primer inside where the bushings go will get hit with a flap disk on a dremel to take it off before the bushing (with some anti-sieze) goes in.
The steering rack bushings are actually easy in comparison (well, assuming your rack is out of the vehicle like mine is...). I was able to just beat these out with a chisel + hammer without having to do the whole hacksaw thing. There really wasn't too much rust at all on the surface of these bushings between them and the rack body, so if you've got a rusty LC/LX then you'll probably need to follow the procedure above to get these out:
For the front diff, I'm replacing the bushing 'arms' entirely, which will take care of 2x of the bushings, however, the front bushing is part of the front cover of the diff so that needs to get replaced by itself. I unbolted the front of the diff from the frame & then supported it with a jack, pushing it upwards so that the metal around the bushing touched the frame. This puts a little bit of downward pressure on the bushing itself, which will help motivate it to start moving. Just be careful that you don't put excessive pressure on the diff with the floor jack.
Then, I started hammering around the lip again. It took a minute, but I got it out! You can see it's started to move in the below picture. Again, not much rust on the body of the bushing itself - if there was, then this would have sucked way more:
(I just noticed this photo makes it look like the jack is pressing on the bushing - it's not, it's gently pressing on the diff housing itself)
The front bushing for the diff was definitely very soft & was cracked in the back when I took it off:
I removed the bushings in the AHC 'shocks; in a similar vein as the LCA bushings. I need to check to see if I ordered the 'cushions' for the top of the shocks where they mount to the frame - if so, I'll order the o-rings for the hydraulic lines so I can replace those (as per the FSM) when I replace the cushions.
Overall, I'm definitely glad I'm doing all this work on the bushings now with every thing apart. It's a bunch of work, but this lets me rebuild the control arms with $30 of OEM bushings from Impex per control arm, which is way cheaper than the whole LCA/UCA assembly. The ball joints still felt good, so we'll see once I get everything running again if I'll have to replace those with the 555's or not.
One thing I'll say is that I do wish I had bought an air hammer at the start of this - would have saved a lot of effort I think! I swore I'd do that after I did this same thing with my Sequoia, but I didn't... Maybe the next Toyota I rebuild? Hahahha.
I think that's it for now! Making progress slowly but surely - maybe I'll have it running by the end of summer?
My parts from Impex that I ordered back in March are nearly here! Just clearing customs & hopefully I'll have them next week - then the fun will really begin! My plan is to reassemble the engine & get that buttoned back up first, and then move on to everything else. Thankfully PartSouq seems to be nearly infinitely faster than Impex at getting an order put together, so my new main bearings/bolts/head gaskets/etc that are coming from PS that I ordered last week should be here this coming week. I also ordered my new wheel bearings from @cruiseroutfit and a snazzy key shell from @suprarx7nut in the limited 'Northern Lights' color that I think will look good with the Vapor Blue LX...
In the mean time, my life has been consumed by removing bushings. So. Many. Bushings. LCAs (including frame side), UCAs, front shocks, front diff, steering rack...
Once I got the procedure down, it wasn't too bad - here's what I found to work really well:
#0: Use sawzall to cut metal 'washer' off of front of UCA bushing.
#1: Drill out rubber between inner/outer sleeve with a 'normal' drill bit, making 6-8 holes around the perimeter.
#2: Use a hole saw to then 'core out' the center metal sleeve and as much as the rubber as you can (ideally, your hole saw is just barely smaller than the outer metal sleeve of the bushing).
#3: Use a hack saw to make a slit in the outer sleeve of the bushing, being careful not to cut into the actual control arm sleeve.
#4: Use a hammer and chisel + maximum violence to curl one side of the bushing inwards right next to where you just made that slit.
#5: At some point during #4, the bushing will start moving out. Keep beating on it till it does.
#6: Repeat this for the 29 other bushings on the vehicle (OK, maybe it's not quite that bad...)
This is definitely way easier with a bench vise - when I did the same thing with my 2003 Sequoia, I didn't have a vise yet, so I did it in my driveway - not fun.
In the below picture, you can tell that I could have made that slit in #3 a little deeper - oh well, just made me work harder during step #4.
My vise bite through the paint a bit, so I primed & repainted those sections. Not an exact match, but by the time I fluid film this when I'm all done + it gets some dirt, you'll never be able to tell, haha. The exposed primer inside where the bushings go will get hit with a flap disk on a dremel to take it off before the bushing (with some anti-sieze) goes in.
The steering rack bushings are actually easy in comparison (well, assuming your rack is out of the vehicle like mine is...). I was able to just beat these out with a chisel + hammer without having to do the whole hacksaw thing. There really wasn't too much rust at all on the surface of these bushings between them and the rack body, so if you've got a rusty LC/LX then you'll probably need to follow the procedure above to get these out:
For the front diff, I'm replacing the bushing 'arms' entirely, which will take care of 2x of the bushings, however, the front bushing is part of the front cover of the diff so that needs to get replaced by itself. I unbolted the front of the diff from the frame & then supported it with a jack, pushing it upwards so that the metal around the bushing touched the frame. This puts a little bit of downward pressure on the bushing itself, which will help motivate it to start moving. Just be careful that you don't put excessive pressure on the diff with the floor jack.
Then, I started hammering around the lip again. It took a minute, but I got it out! You can see it's started to move in the below picture. Again, not much rust on the body of the bushing itself - if there was, then this would have sucked way more:
(I just noticed this photo makes it look like the jack is pressing on the bushing - it's not, it's gently pressing on the diff housing itself)
The front bushing for the diff was definitely very soft & was cracked in the back when I took it off:
I removed the bushings in the AHC 'shocks; in a similar vein as the LCA bushings. I need to check to see if I ordered the 'cushions' for the top of the shocks where they mount to the frame - if so, I'll order the o-rings for the hydraulic lines so I can replace those (as per the FSM) when I replace the cushions.
Overall, I'm definitely glad I'm doing all this work on the bushings now with every thing apart. It's a bunch of work, but this lets me rebuild the control arms with $30 of OEM bushings from Impex per control arm, which is way cheaper than the whole LCA/UCA assembly. The ball joints still felt good, so we'll see once I get everything running again if I'll have to replace those with the 555's or not.
One thing I'll say is that I do wish I had bought an air hammer at the start of this - would have saved a lot of effort I think! I swore I'd do that after I did this same thing with my Sequoia, but I didn't... Maybe the next Toyota I rebuild? Hahahha.
I think that's it for now! Making progress slowly but surely - maybe I'll have it running by the end of summer?
- Thread starter
- #36
Well - it's been a super busy few weeks!
First - rebuilt/resealed both the steering rack and the power steering pump with OEM Toyota kits. The rack had a leak out of one side - figure a $40 (from Impex) seal kit is worth a shot as compared to a $700 rack! The pump wasn't leaking, but this gave me a good chance to inspect everything and preemptively replace the seals for cheap.
The rack came apart pretty easily - I 3D printed a custom tool to let me get the octagon nut off the inside of the control valve assembly. I unfortunately didn't take many pictures of anything , other than using this SILLY giant pipe wrench to get one of the main end caps off - I tried first with a 14" pipe wrench, but it wasn't moving!
The rack really wasn't that difficult to rebuild/reseal- definitely took a lot of different sizes of sockets to knock seals out and back in, and overall just patience and cleanliness. We'll see how long she holds!
I then moved on to the power steering pump. which is definitely a pretty easy job to reseal.
I always find hydraulic components fascinating - the precision which everything has to fit together with is awesome. Here's the vane pump guts (plus nutrition information on some cottage cheese...):
This is inside housing once I took everything out - this old fluid left in there was gross, and definitely smelled BURNT. Certainly couldn't have hurt to clean this out.
Here's all the insides of the PS pump + the new seal kit - be careful setting the internals down, you don't want to nick anything:
Per the FSM, I measured all the vanes via a micrometer - they were all within spec, so here's to hoping for a long life for the pump!
And here it is all buttoned back up. Everything got wiped down/cleaned thoroughly before getting coated in new ATF as it went back together:
Once I finished with those two sub-projects, I moved on to the main affair - getting the 'new' engine put together. This engine came from a Tech school - never started, but taken apart at least once. The cylinder walls still looked great according to the machine shop (one had a very minor mark, but not actually through the crosshatch), so I proceeded. I ordered all new bearings (using the markings on the block, crank, and conrods), new bolts, and already had new gaskets on the way.
Just like rebuilding the steering rack and power steering pump, cleanliness is key here. After I tore the block down, scraped all the gasket surfaces with a gasket scraper, and lightly hit them with some red scotchbrite by hand, I then rolled the block outside, and scrubbed it with soap, water, and nylon brushes to make sure any dust/grit/etc was out. I immediately dried it & hit it with an entire can of WD40 just to push water out and prevent flash rusting.
I used lacquer thinner and brake cleaner to wipe the crankshaft down (especially the journals) as thoroughly as possible, multiple times. I did the same thing with the crank bearing journals.
I put all the main bearings (plus the thrust bearings) in their place, and set the crank in & put the bearing blocks on top. The below picture was taken before I put the bolts in & torqued them all down in the specific order.
OF NOTE: The FSM doesn't tell you how to set/align your thrust bearings (or even tell you that you should). It's easy, but you need to do it before you torque the center bearing block (where the thrust bearings ride on) down. I didn't realize under AFTER I torqued everything down, so I had to undo those bolts, align the thrust bearings, then buy new bolts for that center crank bearing cap. Toyota says you can reuse both the crank bearing bolts and the connecting rod bolts, but they're torque-to-yield, so I replaced them. The FSM does have a spec for the minimum diameter of bolt you can reuse (measuring in the yield section), but still...
I then inspected all the piston & rings - everything looked perfect (as I would have hoped for an engine that never ran!), so they all got put back together and put back into each of their places with new bearings/bolts/etc.
Here's the shortblock all back together now. This was SO much work & stress to get to this point & make sure I kept things clean, and made sure I didn't scratch a cylinder wall, but it eventually all went in. It felt AWESOME to get to this point!
After that, my giant order (350ish items!) from Impex FINALLY arrived. I ordered this back on March 25th - took until May 27-ish to get here. Prices are great, but they can be slow for sure! I sorted things into categories (gaskets, hoses, suspension, hardware, etc):
First - rebuilt/resealed both the steering rack and the power steering pump with OEM Toyota kits. The rack had a leak out of one side - figure a $40 (from Impex) seal kit is worth a shot as compared to a $700 rack! The pump wasn't leaking, but this gave me a good chance to inspect everything and preemptively replace the seals for cheap.
The rack came apart pretty easily - I 3D printed a custom tool to let me get the octagon nut off the inside of the control valve assembly. I unfortunately didn't take many pictures of anything , other than using this SILLY giant pipe wrench to get one of the main end caps off - I tried first with a 14" pipe wrench, but it wasn't moving!
The rack really wasn't that difficult to rebuild/reseal- definitely took a lot of different sizes of sockets to knock seals out and back in, and overall just patience and cleanliness. We'll see how long she holds!
I then moved on to the power steering pump. which is definitely a pretty easy job to reseal.
I always find hydraulic components fascinating - the precision which everything has to fit together with is awesome. Here's the vane pump guts (plus nutrition information on some cottage cheese...):
This is inside housing once I took everything out - this old fluid left in there was gross, and definitely smelled BURNT. Certainly couldn't have hurt to clean this out.
Here's all the insides of the PS pump + the new seal kit - be careful setting the internals down, you don't want to nick anything:
Per the FSM, I measured all the vanes via a micrometer - they were all within spec, so here's to hoping for a long life for the pump!
And here it is all buttoned back up. Everything got wiped down/cleaned thoroughly before getting coated in new ATF as it went back together:
Once I finished with those two sub-projects, I moved on to the main affair - getting the 'new' engine put together. This engine came from a Tech school - never started, but taken apart at least once. The cylinder walls still looked great according to the machine shop (one had a very minor mark, but not actually through the crosshatch), so I proceeded. I ordered all new bearings (using the markings on the block, crank, and conrods), new bolts, and already had new gaskets on the way.
Just like rebuilding the steering rack and power steering pump, cleanliness is key here. After I tore the block down, scraped all the gasket surfaces with a gasket scraper, and lightly hit them with some red scotchbrite by hand, I then rolled the block outside, and scrubbed it with soap, water, and nylon brushes to make sure any dust/grit/etc was out. I immediately dried it & hit it with an entire can of WD40 just to push water out and prevent flash rusting.
I used lacquer thinner and brake cleaner to wipe the crankshaft down (especially the journals) as thoroughly as possible, multiple times. I did the same thing with the crank bearing journals.
I put all the main bearings (plus the thrust bearings) in their place, and set the crank in & put the bearing blocks on top. The below picture was taken before I put the bolts in & torqued them all down in the specific order.
OF NOTE: The FSM doesn't tell you how to set/align your thrust bearings (or even tell you that you should). It's easy, but you need to do it before you torque the center bearing block (where the thrust bearings ride on) down. I didn't realize under AFTER I torqued everything down, so I had to undo those bolts, align the thrust bearings, then buy new bolts for that center crank bearing cap. Toyota says you can reuse both the crank bearing bolts and the connecting rod bolts, but they're torque-to-yield, so I replaced them. The FSM does have a spec for the minimum diameter of bolt you can reuse (measuring in the yield section), but still...
I then inspected all the piston & rings - everything looked perfect (as I would have hoped for an engine that never ran!), so they all got put back together and put back into each of their places with new bearings/bolts/etc.
Here's the shortblock all back together now. This was SO much work & stress to get to this point & make sure I kept things clean, and made sure I didn't scratch a cylinder wall, but it eventually all went in. It felt AWESOME to get to this point!
After that, my giant order (350ish items!) from Impex FINALLY arrived. I ordered this back on March 25th - took until May 27-ish to get here. Prices are great, but they can be slow for sure! I sorted things into categories (gaskets, hoses, suspension, hardware, etc):
- Thread starter
- #37
This isn't quite chronological order at this point, but it makes sense to stick with the engine work I think. Once the shortblock was back together, it was time to put the rear main seal & oil pump back on. Those went on without too much trouble, though I realized a solid two days after that I had rolled the front crank seal when I put the oil pump on. Doh! Luckily I had an extra already, but I ordered another one from CruiserTeq with some balljoints. You can't see it here, but the bottom of the front crank seal must have caught on the crank & it folded forward.
Again, it's worth repeating - everything needs to be CLEAN as you do this all. I've gone through SO MANY paper towels it's just silly.
After getting the rear main & oil pump on, I put the oil pickup + strainer on, then the upper oil pan with FIPG. The FSM has torque values for all the bolts. These parts were reused from m old engine, because the upper/low oil pan are different between the Sequoia/Tundra and the LC/LXs.
I put the lower oil pan on just with the two nuts that go on the studs for the moment - wanted to make sure I could get back in there later on if I needed. Obviously that'll get FIPG & will get all the fasteners torqued in when I'm all done.
With that taken care of, it was time to move on to the heads. I cleaned all the FIPG off the front bearing cap/valve cover area, cleaned everything, blasted the intake valves with brake cleaner with them open to get rid of any grit there, then lightly cleaned up the headgasket surface with red scotchbrite (again, by hand, and cleaning VERY thoroughly afterwards to get rid of any abrasive dust that came off of it). I pulled the valve buckets out, cleaned them all, and reoiled them. There was one shim that was missing under one of the buckets (looked all over for it to make sure it wasn't somewhere it shouldn't have been in the head...), so I had to strip the cams out of my blown engine to be able to get to the shims in it.
I checked the block and heads for flatness with a precision straight edge, and as expected, they were pretty well perfect. Time to put some heads on! I'm sure it'll come as a shock at this point when I tell you that I cleaned the head gasket surface on the head and block multiple times to make sure it was as clean as I get it. I then put the correct gasket on each side, and set the heads down onto them.
The head bolts get torqued to something like 24 ft-lbs per the FSM in a specific order, then cranked another 90 degrees in that same order, then fnally another 90 degrees (for a total of 180 degrees after that 24 ft-lb initial torque). That is a shoulder workout for sure across 20 bolts! I used a paint marker to make sure each bolt ended up where they needed to be:
Once both heads were on with the new gaskets, I started on getting the cams in and verifying valve clearance. Just like everything else, the cams and journals got cleaned thoroughly, then I first put them in dry to measure valve clearance. There's a specific order that you have to slowly tighten down the bearing caps to make sure you don't put a burr on the thrust journal, so watch out for that. It's a slow process, so just be patient. I ended up having to swap one shim for another one from my old engine on the righthand bank, and the lefthand bank was fine. Once I put the cams in, measured everything, I then stripped them out again, cleaned everything again, then lubed everything up & reassembled it with FIPG under the front bearing cap/valve cover.
And here's where the engine sits today - water pump is on, water bypass pipes are in place, and cam seals are installed! Isn't it all so shiny? Best looking $1200 engine I'll probably ever find, hahah. Granted, after all the new seals, thermostat, water pump, tensioners, belt, bearings, bolts, etc, I'm probably bumping $2K all in on it, but still, for a 0 mile engine, that's not bad at all! I think a short block + a pair of heads new is like... $12K from Toyota?
(The cams on the ground are from the old engine, haha).
I've got some other stuff to update on (brake booster, brake caliper rebuild, etc), but I'll save that for a later time once I get some more items done. Like I said, getting the engine to this state has been a TON of work, but I've definitely learned a lot. Certainly more complicated than the 2 cylinder 1970's lawn mower engine that I rebuilt a couple years ago, haha. The FSM has certainly been a great resource though.
Again, it's worth repeating - everything needs to be CLEAN as you do this all. I've gone through SO MANY paper towels it's just silly.
After getting the rear main & oil pump on, I put the oil pickup + strainer on, then the upper oil pan with FIPG. The FSM has torque values for all the bolts. These parts were reused from m old engine, because the upper/low oil pan are different between the Sequoia/Tundra and the LC/LXs.
I put the lower oil pan on just with the two nuts that go on the studs for the moment - wanted to make sure I could get back in there later on if I needed. Obviously that'll get FIPG & will get all the fasteners torqued in when I'm all done.
With that taken care of, it was time to move on to the heads. I cleaned all the FIPG off the front bearing cap/valve cover area, cleaned everything, blasted the intake valves with brake cleaner with them open to get rid of any grit there, then lightly cleaned up the headgasket surface with red scotchbrite (again, by hand, and cleaning VERY thoroughly afterwards to get rid of any abrasive dust that came off of it). I pulled the valve buckets out, cleaned them all, and reoiled them. There was one shim that was missing under one of the buckets (looked all over for it to make sure it wasn't somewhere it shouldn't have been in the head...), so I had to strip the cams out of my blown engine to be able to get to the shims in it.
I checked the block and heads for flatness with a precision straight edge, and as expected, they were pretty well perfect. Time to put some heads on! I'm sure it'll come as a shock at this point when I tell you that I cleaned the head gasket surface on the head and block multiple times to make sure it was as clean as I get it. I then put the correct gasket on each side, and set the heads down onto them.
The head bolts get torqued to something like 24 ft-lbs per the FSM in a specific order, then cranked another 90 degrees in that same order, then fnally another 90 degrees (for a total of 180 degrees after that 24 ft-lb initial torque). That is a shoulder workout for sure across 20 bolts! I used a paint marker to make sure each bolt ended up where they needed to be:
Once both heads were on with the new gaskets, I started on getting the cams in and verifying valve clearance. Just like everything else, the cams and journals got cleaned thoroughly, then I first put them in dry to measure valve clearance. There's a specific order that you have to slowly tighten down the bearing caps to make sure you don't put a burr on the thrust journal, so watch out for that. It's a slow process, so just be patient. I ended up having to swap one shim for another one from my old engine on the righthand bank, and the lefthand bank was fine. Once I put the cams in, measured everything, I then stripped them out again, cleaned everything again, then lubed everything up & reassembled it with FIPG under the front bearing cap/valve cover.
And here's where the engine sits today - water pump is on, water bypass pipes are in place, and cam seals are installed! Isn't it all so shiny? Best looking $1200 engine I'll probably ever find, hahah. Granted, after all the new seals, thermostat, water pump, tensioners, belt, bearings, bolts, etc, I'm probably bumping $2K all in on it, but still, for a 0 mile engine, that's not bad at all! I think a short block + a pair of heads new is like... $12K from Toyota?
(The cams on the ground are from the old engine, haha).
I've got some other stuff to update on (brake booster, brake caliper rebuild, etc), but I'll save that for a later time once I get some more items done. Like I said, getting the engine to this state has been a TON of work, but I've definitely learned a lot. Certainly more complicated than the 2 cylinder 1970's lawn mower engine that I rebuilt a couple years ago, haha. The FSM has certainly been a great resource though.
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- Thread starter
- #38
While doing the engine work, I also took some time to pull the brake booster/master cylinder (which is NO FUN on an VGRS-equipped LX, because there's a big boot on the interior steering shaft that makes accessing two of the nuts a PAIN - definitely recommend having a 12mm flex head ratcheting wrench!). This looks like the original booster assembly (250K miles), so I wanted to at least rebuild the master cylinder with the kit from Toyota, and check the condition of the motor commutator and wire. Glad I did! This is a rust-free LX, but I'm guessing that the brake fluid was overfilled at some point, based on the condition of the wire contacts under the boot on the ABS module. Like @2001LC has said, this is most likely from someone overfilling the reservoir, then it overflowing down into this boot. The corrosion on these contact increases resistance in the system, which puts more wear on the commutator bars.
One of those I was able to break free - the other one I had to (very carefully) drill out. Once I got the motor apart, it was clear there was a significant amount of wear on the copper commutator bars:
The groove is about ~0.8mm deep. The commutator thickness itself is about 1.5-ish mm, so definitely non-trivial wear. The primary issue is that once you wear a bare spot in the commutators, the motor may not start moving when it needs to - leading to (near) total brake failure once the pressure in the accumulator drops. Definitely a ton of GREAT info in the long thread here on MUD (Poll on total brake failure in 100 series - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/poll-on-total-brake-failure-in-100-series.872498/page-59). I'm curious how much longer this motor could have gone? I figured 250K miles is a pretty good run though, so might as well rebuild it. Do keep an eye out for the little wave spring/washer that sits at the rear of the motor housing (opposite from where the above picture is taken) - that'll need to go back in to keep proper thrust tension when you put things back together.
The brushes were still in pretty decent shape FWIW:
Toyota doesn't sell this motor separately from the $1300 booster/master cylinder assembly unfortunately. However, there is a shop on Ebay based in the UK that will sell you a rebuilt rotor for $200-ish shipped DHL (no core charge). I decided to order it and see what I thought when it showed up:
It seems like a great rebuild, and those NSK bearings give me at least some confidence! Now, there's no guarentee that my pump/accumulator assembly won't give up the ghost, but, the motor is typically the part that suddenly fails with (often) zero warning. My understanding is that if the pump, accumulator, or master cylinder has issues, the motor will have to run longer to build pressure and brake performance might be reduced, but you'll at least have warning & still have brakes for a while. This is compared to when the motor dies & suddenly you have no brakes with no warning. From a safety standpoint this made sense to do I think.
I put that all back together (minding the little wave spring at the back of the housing), then rebuilt the master cylinder in accordance to the FSM and this thread: Master Cylinder Rebuild - DIY - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/master-cylinder-rebuild-diy.406533/ . The interior of the MC seemed to be in good condition, so hopefully the non-replaceable parts are all still good. I won't really know until I keep the vehicle all back together and running again I guess...
Total cost of the motor, master cylinder kit (from IMPEX), and resovoir grommets was ~$300ish, so I figure if I can get five years out of the whole assembly it was a good deal. Will that happen? We'll see. This at least should mitigate any critical safety issues.
I replaced the rusted motor contact screws with stainless steel M5 hardware, then filled both boots full of dialetric grease. Don't forget to ziptie the motor wire back into place (not done yet in the below photo).
And while we're on the topic of brakes - I also rebuilt the front brake calipers (and will do the rears when I get there). My calipers & piston bores were still in great condition, but the rubber is 19 years old with 250K miles on them. The rebuild kit is like $30 from IMPEX (and each kit [front, rear] does both calipers, which is great, except I ordered two for both the front and the rear because I thought they were per caliper... Anyone want one for cheap? Haha.). Again, this is easy, just keep things clean & orderly. Just keep in mind that if you have pitted pistons or bores, this isn't going to help things. However, replacing the pressure seals & dust covers should help extend the life of these calipers for years to come.
Here's some of the bores before getting cleaned up - a little wear marking, but certainly nothing that you can feel, and it's well behind the pressure seal/o-ring:
And here's the exterior (sealing side) of one of the pistons - no wear/pitting/etc that I can tell! All of the front pistons looked like this. I marked where each piston came from, so I could put them back into their original spot once I had cleaned everything and replaced the pressure seals/o-rings.
And here's one of the finished front calipers. The 'inside' of the pistons (exposed to the elements) are sorta gross, but again, the import surfaces are all pristine. The kit also comes with new brake bleeder caps & copper crush washers. I'm pairing these up with the stainless steel braided brake lines from Slee:
Slowly making progress towards getting this thing put all back together! One step at a time...
One of those I was able to break free - the other one I had to (very carefully) drill out. Once I got the motor apart, it was clear there was a significant amount of wear on the copper commutator bars:
The groove is about ~0.8mm deep. The commutator thickness itself is about 1.5-ish mm, so definitely non-trivial wear. The primary issue is that once you wear a bare spot in the commutators, the motor may not start moving when it needs to - leading to (near) total brake failure once the pressure in the accumulator drops. Definitely a ton of GREAT info in the long thread here on MUD (Poll on total brake failure in 100 series - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/poll-on-total-brake-failure-in-100-series.872498/page-59). I'm curious how much longer this motor could have gone? I figured 250K miles is a pretty good run though, so might as well rebuild it. Do keep an eye out for the little wave spring/washer that sits at the rear of the motor housing (opposite from where the above picture is taken) - that'll need to go back in to keep proper thrust tension when you put things back together.
The brushes were still in pretty decent shape FWIW:
Toyota doesn't sell this motor separately from the $1300 booster/master cylinder assembly unfortunately. However, there is a shop on Ebay based in the UK that will sell you a rebuilt rotor for $200-ish shipped DHL (no core charge). I decided to order it and see what I thought when it showed up:
It seems like a great rebuild, and those NSK bearings give me at least some confidence! Now, there's no guarentee that my pump/accumulator assembly won't give up the ghost, but, the motor is typically the part that suddenly fails with (often) zero warning. My understanding is that if the pump, accumulator, or master cylinder has issues, the motor will have to run longer to build pressure and brake performance might be reduced, but you'll at least have warning & still have brakes for a while. This is compared to when the motor dies & suddenly you have no brakes with no warning. From a safety standpoint this made sense to do I think.
I put that all back together (minding the little wave spring at the back of the housing), then rebuilt the master cylinder in accordance to the FSM and this thread: Master Cylinder Rebuild - DIY - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/master-cylinder-rebuild-diy.406533/ . The interior of the MC seemed to be in good condition, so hopefully the non-replaceable parts are all still good. I won't really know until I keep the vehicle all back together and running again I guess...
Total cost of the motor, master cylinder kit (from IMPEX), and resovoir grommets was ~$300ish, so I figure if I can get five years out of the whole assembly it was a good deal. Will that happen? We'll see. This at least should mitigate any critical safety issues.
I replaced the rusted motor contact screws with stainless steel M5 hardware, then filled both boots full of dialetric grease. Don't forget to ziptie the motor wire back into place (not done yet in the below photo).
And while we're on the topic of brakes - I also rebuilt the front brake calipers (and will do the rears when I get there). My calipers & piston bores were still in great condition, but the rubber is 19 years old with 250K miles on them. The rebuild kit is like $30 from IMPEX (and each kit [front, rear] does both calipers, which is great, except I ordered two for both the front and the rear because I thought they were per caliper... Anyone want one for cheap? Haha.). Again, this is easy, just keep things clean & orderly. Just keep in mind that if you have pitted pistons or bores, this isn't going to help things. However, replacing the pressure seals & dust covers should help extend the life of these calipers for years to come.
Here's some of the bores before getting cleaned up - a little wear marking, but certainly nothing that you can feel, and it's well behind the pressure seal/o-ring:
And here's the exterior (sealing side) of one of the pistons - no wear/pitting/etc that I can tell! All of the front pistons looked like this. I marked where each piston came from, so I could put them back into their original spot once I had cleaned everything and replaced the pressure seals/o-rings.
And here's one of the finished front calipers. The 'inside' of the pistons (exposed to the elements) are sorta gross, but again, the import surfaces are all pristine. The kit also comes with new brake bleeder caps & copper crush washers. I'm pairing these up with the stainless steel braided brake lines from Slee:
Slowly making progress towards getting this thing put all back together! One step at a time...
Last edited:
2001LC
SILVER Star
Great job restoring! Looks like you're building a 1 million mile engine. Kudos!
FWIW:
Vane pump:
The 2005 FSM has a misprint (wrong) torque spec, for the vane pumps, three 14mm mounting bolts. The correct torque is 13ft-lbf.
Brake caliper:
The piston bore in the brake caliper, is of no real concern. Provide the grove for the piston seal within it and the lip for outer dust boot, are in good sealable condition. The piston walls however, must not have any scoring/scratches. Basicly the piston walls, need to be in perfect condition where seal rides. No need to be concerned with placing pistons back in same bore of caliper (mix all you want). Just that large piston in larger bore, small in small, all of proper size for the year 100 series.
(Note: 03-07 front calipers, have larger pistons than 98-02)
Little known fact;
The pistons seal, is a squared edge O-ring. As we brake, pushing piston outward. The seal curls. As we release brake pedal, the curled tension of seal retacts, pulling piston back in (away from disk/rotor). For this reason we must have the proper outer anti squeal shims in place, which clip into piston. Additionally, we must install the fitting kit, which holds shims to pad at out edge of pad. (Toyota has two P/N for the anti squeal shim kits of the 100 series. One P/N for 98-02, the other for 03-05.)
Brake master & booster motor:
I grade brake masters.
1) Damage seals.
2) Gunk in ABS screens and valves.
The issue of booster motor running excessive long. Has same effect as high resistance in brake control wire (corroded). They both, result in increased heating at commutator to brush contact point. Which result in excessive commutator wear. Reducing life of motor.
Booster motor run excessively long, due to:
(Other than low voltage, from battery)
Note: Caliper bleeder leak, is due to: Not using bleeder cap/boots. Which results in rust at/in seat area of bleeder plug and caliper. This can damage the caliper.
FWIW:
Vane pump:
The 2005 FSM has a misprint (wrong) torque spec, for the vane pumps, three 14mm mounting bolts. The correct torque is 13ft-lbf.
Brake caliper:
The piston bore in the brake caliper, is of no real concern. Provide the grove for the piston seal within it and the lip for outer dust boot, are in good sealable condition. The piston walls however, must not have any scoring/scratches. Basicly the piston walls, need to be in perfect condition where seal rides. No need to be concerned with placing pistons back in same bore of caliper (mix all you want). Just that large piston in larger bore, small in small, all of proper size for the year 100 series.
(Note: 03-07 front calipers, have larger pistons than 98-02)
Little known fact;
The pistons seal, is a squared edge O-ring. As we brake, pushing piston outward. The seal curls. As we release brake pedal, the curled tension of seal retacts, pulling piston back in (away from disk/rotor). For this reason we must have the proper outer anti squeal shims in place, which clip into piston. Additionally, we must install the fitting kit, which holds shims to pad at out edge of pad. (Toyota has two P/N for the anti squeal shim kits of the 100 series. One P/N for 98-02, the other for 03-05.)
Brake master & booster motor:
I grade brake masters.
- Color of fluid.
- Staining in reservoir.
- Condition of brake control wire.
- Pumps of pedal, to evacuate accumulator, IG key off.
- Booster motor run time to change accumulator, with battery at 12.5volt or better.
1) Damage seals.
2) Gunk in ABS screens and valves.
The issue of booster motor running excessive long. Has same effect as high resistance in brake control wire (corroded). They both, result in increased heating at commutator to brush contact point. Which result in excessive commutator wear. Reducing life of motor.
Booster motor run excessively long, due to:
(Other than low voltage, from battery)
- Air in system. This is actually, what the FSM time test (less than 40 seconds) is prescribed for after bleeding.
- Wrong fluid. Toyota brake fluid: Is a special formulated heavy brake fluid. Some non Toyota fluids, result in long accumulator charge times, seeming like weak accumulator. Some non Toyota brake fluid, results in excessive moisture content, in very short time frame.
- High moisture content in fluid.
- Seal(s) leak(s). I've found, if reservoir stained, it's a clue. That a non replaceable internal seal in master, will fail if we increase brake pressure back to factory spec. This is the dying seagull sound, accompanied by bubble in reservoir. Which sound & bubbles, is brake fluid passing internal seal under high pressure. At first only occasionally, before fluid/seal warms up. But condition worsen with time and use. Then booster motor runs excessively long duration, even after seal warmed up. There can also be leaks at caliper piston o-ring seal, but less common and leak can be seen.
- Weak accumulator. They do deplete. Pedal pumps to evacuate, are somewhat if a clue here.
- Weak pump. Not very common.
- Excessive flex of flexible lines. This seems to have, the least effect, on long motor run time to charge.
- Bleeder, flex line or banjo fitting leak. Which are easily seen.
Note: Caliper bleeder leak, is due to: Not using bleeder cap/boots. Which results in rust at/in seat area of bleeder plug and caliper. This can damage the caliper.
- Thread starter
- #40
@2001LC thanks for all the good info! I wondered why the 'o-rings' in the brake calipers were shaped that way. Definitely different than what I've seen in other hydraulic assemblies.
I ordered all new OEM equipment to load the calipers with (pads, clips, Shims, etc) so I'm definitely interested to see how it all goes together once I get there.
One thing I didn't mention - the brake booster motor ran for 35-ish seconds (obviously tested before I pulled the front calipers off!) at the start of all this. There was very minimal, if any, staining in the resovoir & while the fluid wasn't clear, it was still pretty light amber-ish. Once I pulled it off the master assembly, I cleaned it out with denatured alcohol and then followed that up with rinsing it with new brake fluid. I ordered a bunch of bottles of Toyota OEM fluid, so that's what I'll flush the whole system with and use when it gets put back together.
I didn't actually count the number of pumps till brake pressure dropped when I drain it - I just did 40 pumps. I'll keep that in mind when I put it all together!
I ordered all new OEM equipment to load the calipers with (pads, clips, Shims, etc) so I'm definitely interested to see how it all goes together once I get there.
One thing I didn't mention - the brake booster motor ran for 35-ish seconds (obviously tested before I pulled the front calipers off!) at the start of all this. There was very minimal, if any, staining in the resovoir & while the fluid wasn't clear, it was still pretty light amber-ish. Once I pulled it off the master assembly, I cleaned it out with denatured alcohol and then followed that up with rinsing it with new brake fluid. I ordered a bunch of bottles of Toyota OEM fluid, so that's what I'll flush the whole system with and use when it gets put back together.
I didn't actually count the number of pumps till brake pressure dropped when I drain it - I just did 40 pumps. I'll keep that in mind when I put it all together!
