Sylex - A Long Long Journey to V8 Awesomeness!

[Sylux]

1: SO IT BEGINS - THE ARRIVAL

2: THE INTENTIONS

3: TAKE II

4: 93 (K) FINALLY OUT!

5: 92 (K) FINALLY OUT!

6: 93 CLEAN-UP BEGINS

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Current Costs:

1. Lexus LS400 - profit of £313 so far (£563 in parts sold)
2. Transport of LS400 - £128
3. Lexus LS400 (Take II) - profit of £130 so far (£380 in parts sold)
4. Transport of LS400 (Take II) - £128

Total so far: Profit of £187 for 2 V8s

Tool Costs (that I didn't have):

1. 2 Ton Engine Hoist - £169.98
2. 680KG Engine Stand - £77.88
3. 680KG Leveller - £25.18
4. 600kg Engine Stand - £50 (second-hand)
5. DeWalt 3/4" Torque Wrench - Approx £260 but got it, new, as payment for a little job (so not included in total)

Total so far: £323.05 (most can be sold on after the project)

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[Sylux]

SO IT BEGINS - THE ARRIVAL

Well lets get the first thing out of the way...boy it's an ugly-assed vehicle! Going to need to get a car cover right away.

It's got about 150K (so I'm told...I need to check in good light...but the cluster isn't lighting up) and isn't in the best exterior condition. The MOT trail stops at 2010 (144903k) and it barely did 700 miles the previous 2 MOTs.

When ticking over it sounds lovely. But there's white smoke!!!! Panicking, I looked around and it seems the power-steering pump has a habit of leaking into the Idle Control Valve that dumps PS fluid into the intake manifold.

Fingers crossed as I'd be one unlucky ####### to have one of the rare BHG on a 1UZ-FE.

BUT...the previous did say they were losing water but they said it was from the header tank. Feck!

I'll update the first thread, throughout the project, with linked categories to follow along. May have to get a moderator to do it when my edit privilege runs out.

[Sylux]

THE INTENTIONS

Basically I plan on converting my beloved 3.0L Diesel manual Surf into a V8 manual 1UZ-FE Surf.

Simples....right?

Well, I've got zero experience, very little tools I need, and not the best room/garage to do it in. Oh, and it's about to go Winter...big time!

However, the plan is to learn as I go. Read all the info here and across the globe. Beg, steal and borrow information, basically.

I'm really excited, prepared to be laughed at, prepared to have failures and prepared to have to throw in the towel.

Prepared...but not expecting

I'll be keeping it in the LS400 throughout the Winter...and it's going to be a long road to completion.

I've already made contact with a few vendors re the manual to engine adapters (aint cheap at around £800). I'm also already building up the special tools I'll need and I should have a decent MIG by the end of the week

LOADS of questions will follow. That much I can guarantee.

[VidaMusic]

I would LOVE to do this to mine! Just bought a new head at £700 tho, so kinda got to see that out first!

[budweiser]

don't forget the pics!

[andyverran]

Nice one Sy...

Out of curiosity, gold or silver badges on the back? Silly question but the gold ones were a horridly expensive option and actually plated with gold....

[Sylux]

Not sure mate...I was busy wincing at the appearance of it! Don't think it's a "gold". None of the paperwork has screamed out anything.

Can't believe the electrics. Even the head rests are electric!

Just hope the smoke is the power steering issue and not a crack or BHG.

###### work. ###### dark nights. Bet in rains this weekend, too!

[Albannach]

When ticking over it sounds lovely. But there's white smoke!!!! Panicking, I looked around and it seems the power-steering pump has a habit of leaking into the Idle Control Valve that dumps PS fluid into the intake manifold.

PS fluid would, I think, cause blue smoke, not white.

And how does PS fluid get from the PS pump to the ICV? The PS pump has a habit of leaking over the alternator.

[Sylux]

I have no idea (although I mean leaking from the ICV). I'm reading threads talking about it somehow getting in there and people adamant that it's a known issue ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

http://www.yotatech.com/f2/beware-po...-valve-246778/

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls40...ing-bible.html

I'll do some basic tests tomorrow and then stress about it later.

Would be a great start if it was the "rarely goes" head

I'm also reading a lot about the alternator, like you mention.

[Albannach]

I have no idea (although I mean leaking from the ICV). I'm reading threads talking about it somehow getting in there and people adamant that it's a known issue ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ah, that's not the I(A)CV I was thinking about. That one looks like an easy check by the look of it, take the hose off, oil = leaky switch

[Sylux]

Apparently if it's cattled I can just plug it with a 14mm 1.50 bolt, instead of replacing it. Could be an option as I'll not be needing its function anyway. Not while I'm just running it over until the weather is more favourable for yanking the engine out.

[zem_41]

Looking good buddy, I'm very limited on specialist tools, so far I have got away with a blue point service set =£99 from a snap on dealer, and a few hand tools.
Keep the posts/photos coming. I just got my power steering hose made up for £46 which consists of about 500mm of braided hose and a couple of shiny fittings from think automotive in twickenham made up while I wait.

[Albannach]

Apparently if it's cattled I can just plug it with a 14mm 1.50 bolt, instead of replacing it. Could be an option as I'll not be needing its function anyway. Not while I'm just running it over until the weather is more favourable for yanking the engine out.

In the end, I didn't use it, but I ran my LS400 for over a year before I was going to transplant it. I kept a wee notebook in the car and took a note of everything that went wrong, so that I could fix them when the engine was out.

One thing that you'll learn is that everything needs to work for everything else to work properly (unless you bin the Lexus electronics and fit aftermarket stuff).

[Sylux]

Gave the car the once over while I had a tiny bit of light.

Oil level is fine and he oil seems fine and doesn't have burnt smell, either.

Coolant looks fine also. Although I'll drain this and replace so I know it's a good mix. But no sign of contamination.

The PS reservoir has a decent level (which contradicts the idle valve thing of emptying it) but beneath it it's definitely had some sort of leak. Couldn't tell what it was as light was low.

Hmmm.

[Sylux]

Oh...and reading this:

http://www.lextreme.com/1uzfe_info.html

For manual gearbox conversions (or operation with a manually shifted automatic transmission) the easiest option is to utilise a Crown ECU, as it will happily operate without the automatic transmission. There are three versions of this ECU with part numbers 89661-30430/431/432. These Crown ECUs have the same physical wiring and are directly interchangeable.

The 90-92 LS400/SC400 ECUs seem to be a problem child for some reason – these have 4 x two-row grey plugs and I have had about a 30% success rate with them so far. They all start and idle ok, but for some reason many won’t rev beyond about 2800 RPM. I do not know hwy this is – it makes no difference whether the loom was cut or intact, whether the auto trans is there or not. I wonder if the missing traction control is part of the problem, but it doesn’t affect any other ECU.

Mine has those 4 x 2row plugs and is 89661-50160. Could be my luck that I've got the one that will cause issues with manual conversions! Digging deeper as we speak