What's the hardest repair to do on the UZ engine?

[Eicca]

I was thinking the other day on how easy these engines are to work on. Spark plugs, cake. Alternator, minor irritation. Power steering pump, moderate irritation. AC, haven't tried yet... Starter, tedious and long but not that difficult, really. Timing belt? Compared to a lot of other cars out there, actually not too bad.

American cars used to have that sort of "easy to fix" stigma but I think the UZ V8s take the cake.

What's your experience with ease of repair on these engine?

 

[REZARF]

The starter is a pain in the butt. I was floored when I found out where it was. I was told it was to avoid heat soak from the exhaust, but man its a pain to get to. Other than that, these are pretty easy to work on.

 

[taco47001]

I did a valve seal job not too long ago on my wife's GX...same engine. While not entirely "difficult" per-se, it is VERY time consuming.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Hardest? Full rebuild.

 

[BullElk]

Hardest? Full rebuild.

Haaa. Good thing that is never needed with these engines.

 

[Visceral]

Bent rod?

 

[mattafact]

R&R

 

[Eicca]

The starter is a pain in the butt. I was floored when I found out where it was. I was told it was to avoid heat soak from the exhaust, but man its a pain to get to. Other than that, these are pretty easy to work on.

I hear the starter on the UR V8s is even worse. On the 5.7s the exhaust manifold has to come off (and a good amount of the suspension to get to it), and the official procedure at the dealer for the Lexus F models is to pull the whole engine.

 

[REZARF]

I hear the starter on the UR V8s is even worse. On the 5.7s the exhaust manifold has to come off (and a good amount of the suspension to get to it), and the official procedure at the dealer for the Lexus F models is to pull the whole engine.

WHAT!? Say it ain't so! Wow, sometimes I wish the engineers would get out and wrench on truck every now and again to bring them back down to earth.

 

[Eicca]

WHAT!? Say it ain't so! Wow, sometimes I wish the engineers would get out and wrench on truck every now and again to bring them back down to earth.

For real. Aside from the starter I feel like the UZ engines were built sensibly. Sadly I haven't met any other engine that feels that way.

 

[gpxl]

WHAT!? Say it ain't so! Wow, sometimes I wish the engineers would get out and wrench on truck every now and again to bring them back down to earth.

They probably do. But have access to every specialist tool made and a lift unlike the rest of us.

 

[ewrk1989]

As an engineer, the good ones know when something sucks. But the other subsystems folks/subcontractors/schedulers/managers/lawyers/accountants/marketing folks can get in our way

 

[brando1]

Do not try this at home

 

[REZARF]

Nobody but a engineer made the decision to pop the starter inside the engine. You aren't getting off that easy @ewrk1989 !

 

[ewrk1989]

Hahaha, fair enough

 

[Eicca]

Found a sucky one: Fan pulley bracket. Several hours of work for one lousy pulley?

 

[elk]

I don't think I'd like to do a cam seal on a VVT-i motor. Thankfully mine still look good.

I've done the T-belt, water pump, and alternator. They weren't too bad. I suspect I'll have to do a starter soon since I'm at 220k miles.

It seems that the hardest thing about these motors is the related electronic management systems such as the numerous cases of the immobilizer or fuse blocks acting up. I hate diagnosing electrical systems and would prefer to dig deep into a motor over chasing wiring diagrams.

 

[nissanh]

Heater core.

 

[medtro]

I hear the starter on the UR V8s is even worse. On the 5.7s the exhaust manifold has to come off (and a good amount of the suspension to get to it), and the official procedure at the dealer for the Lexus F models is to pull the whole engine.

I know someone who replaced the starter without removing the exhaust or engine. There is enough room in fender well to get to the starter.

 

[Eicca]

I know someone who replaced the starter without removing the exhaust or engine. There is enough room in fender well to get to the starter.

Did they happen to do a write up? I imagine it was on an SUV. Those F Sport engine bays are cramped.