Got $100 Get Some Performance ,gas And Smoothness Back

SKperformance · March 16, 2009

Ok so i like to make a good title so you already know what i am going to say.

It has been mentioned before but i had to put my name behind it as well .

I bought each for $50 and WOW the difference is more than substantial to each as i did not do them at the same time so i could compare them.

Both are OEM Toyota parts and not aftermarket.

The coolant temp sender is located under the throttle on the passenger side.

Open the rad cap to release the pressure ,( don't need to mention the engine should be cool) then re cap it to keep it from leaking out.

You have to remove the plenum cover and altleast push aside the intake if not pop it off .

Its on an angle and it easy to find as it is copper. You 'll need a extension that is able to get into tight spots .

It is easy enough to release with a bit of force , I did not replace the gasket just a touch of teflon tape and it is still not leaking a month later.

Screw in the new one , and rev the engine to 2500 for 5 minutes (cap off)to make sure no air pockets are in the system and your done.

So here are the results from this mod over the month, The throttle and tranny can be sloppy .

Instantly the throttle and tranny shifter in sync. No more lagging and unknown gears to go into . It holds gears long enough and the throttle is very crisp . With my exhaust i can also hear a much sharper valve note which is usually only at cold start up. I always thought i had to live with the soft response , not any more and i love it.

The gas is pretty much the same but i keep pressing it as it feels like a good 20 hp gain . Yeah that sounds impossible and i can't prove it .

If you ever noticed you car seems to perform much better when the engine is cold and then really sloppy when at operating temperature this is for you.

What i have also learned is the sensor is filled with wax that is measured by its viscosity to tell the temps. Well this wax breaks down and hardens causing the readings to be off.

The tranny mount is sort of easy to change .

You need a set of jacks and stands to get the car up .then another jack to hold the tranny in place so it does not stretch the other mounts and break them or strain the engine to tranny connection. The main point is being able to get the mount back in place as it just cradles the tranny up to the subframe.

I read before it was real easy to do . Well it is easy but not quick.

You need to loosen a ton of bolts

3 for the pan shield to bracket

4 for the bracket to subframe

4 for the bracket to mount

4 for the mount to the tranny. ( i think)

Install is the reverse. (just incase )

Anyway it took an hour(not the 20 minutes i was expecting) as i was going slow , under a car and working around my modified exhaust.

It tires your arms because of the angles.

The old mount was separating from the molded steel bracket but not cracked only slightly showing compression lines.

It was also very hard as it held tight as i loosened the bolts on it .The new one was very soft and kept swinging around as i tightened them up.

So immediately I noticed a change in everything again.

I could no longer feel the sine wave of ignition i have previously ( unless i look/feel for it). Ever since i could remember i could feel the ignition change up and down in a slow drone when i rev to 2000 rpm parked.

It is not dynamic as i can feel it parked ,

it is not rpm dependant , it creates a faster or slower sine wave type vibration depending on the engine temp ,so it is not a physical weight imbalance ,

the colder the faster or shorted waves it has.

Only thing left is ignition timing as a result of o2 sensors usually after the cats since the ecu creates a sine wave using fuel to tell if they are working or not.

I already replaced the 2 after the cat , so i am stumped for now. other than changing the pre cat ones.

(that is another issue altogether i am tracing) .

No vibrations at all now , also the highway ride is much smoother , everything is smoother , i love this piece of rubber.

I have engine mounts but am doing things in stages to gauge their actual results not a combined result.

I have a list of about $1000 worth of parts no labor for all the things i am maintaining on my car this year.

What do you expect for 350 000km.

Do it and you'll feel like you bought a brand new car.

SKperformance · March 16, 2009

BTW ,any toyota over 100 000 you should change the sender as they will fail and change the ecu mapping with wrong information.

lexfourcam · March 17, 2009

hahah man that sounds sick ive always wanted my car to run like it does when it first starts. i swear i leave tire marks everywhere when it first starts. could this be done to 94 ls? wow finally a solution to that. the trannny shifts soooo damn good when it first starts too.

jcrome04 · March 17, 2009

Did you replace the coolant temp sensor??

SKperformance · March 18, 2009

Yeah , it is the coolant , sender i was half asleep when i wrote this.

jcrome04 · March 18, 2009

I have been thinking about changing the temp sensor as well as the trans mount. I will have to do it.

Marklouis · March 18, 2009

will replacing the Temp Coolant sensor also apply to the 95-97 LS?

Great write-up! always encouraging when little fixes make a big difference!

:cheers:

jcrome04 · March 18, 2009

Much easier for the 95-97. It's like a 20min job.

Marklouis · March 18, 2009

Much easier for the 95-97. It's like a 20min job.

Cool! adding that to my list of to do's B)

blake918 · March 19, 2009

I just changed mine. It took about 10 minutes. I'll write back after I put some miles on it to see how it's changed. I'm sure something will change because the old one doesn't look so hot.

SKperformance · March 20, 2009

Looks mean little as it is just copper and oxidizes easily but is very effective at heat transfer.

Is it an oem sensor you bought as i notice it is slightly different than the original.

I also cracked the socket taking the old one out. LOL

You should be able to notice the first time it gets to operating temp and you floor it.

BTW how many miles are on the car for the sensor you replaced?

blake918 · March 20, 2009

Looks mean little as it is just copper and oxidizes easily but is very effective at heat transfer.
Is it an oem sensor you bought as i notice it is slightly different than the original.

I also cracked the socket taking the old one out. LOL

You should be able to notice the first time it gets to operating temp and you floor it.

BTW how many miles are on the car for the sensor you replaced?

Nope, it's not OEM. I thought $50 for the Lexus sensor was fair enough, but for some reason I had a problem with paying $12 for shipping. I read that the guy on ClubLexus who wrote up a tutorial used one from AutoZone with great results, so I got this one from Advance Auto. It was $30, and it looks and feels just as good as the Toyota one that came out of the car. I didn't even feel it crack. I guess it's from having to get the deep socket in to a tight squeeze, and the old one was in there pretty tight, so I had to use a little muscle. My '99 only has 179k miles.

I've already noticed that it seems to shift smoother and quicker. I'm going to put some highway miles on it this weekend to see if my mileage has gone up.

killerFatty · March 21, 2009

Looks mean little as it is just copper and oxidizes easily but is very effective at heat transfer.
Is it an oem sensor you bought as i notice it is slightly different than the original.

I also cracked the socket taking the old one out. LOL

You should be able to notice the first time it gets to operating temp and you floor it.

BTW how many miles are on the car for the sensor you replaced?

Nope, it's not OEM. I thought $50 for the Lexus sensor was fair enough, but for some reason I had a problem with paying $12 for shipping. I read that the guy on ClubLexus who wrote up a tutorial used one from AutoZone with great results, so I got this one from Advance Auto. It was $30, and it looks and feels just as good as the Toyota one that came out of the car. I didn't even feel it crack. I guess it's from having to get the deep socket in to a tight squeeze, and the old one was in there pretty tight, so I had to use a little muscle. My '99 only has 179k miles.
I've already noticed that it seems to shift smoother and quicker. I'm going to put some highway miles on it this weekend to see if my mileage has gone up.

I got mine for $29.99 at autozone and took about 45min to replace on my 93 at 179K. Gas milage went back to normal, and throttle response and power increased.

dashan · March 21, 2009

What's the size of the socket used to remove the sensor?

A deep socket might be helpful.

thanks

jcrome04 · March 21, 2009

I think it's a DEEP 19

killerFatty · March 21, 2009

What's the size of the socket used to remove the sensor?
A deep socket might be helpful.

thanks

A really deep 3/4" is what I used

jcrome04 · March 22, 2009

Metric for the best fit. Just to be safe.

SKperformance · March 24, 2009

I would not recommend an aftermarket sensor as it is a variable sender.

Aftermarket ones are ok for simple things like position or a sensor that is either an on or off signal like a cam.

When it comes to this sensor OEM is the best bet as it will tell the ecu excatly what map to use which will make or break the performance and milage of the car being proper true . It is only $50.

jcrome04 · March 24, 2009

I would not recommend an aftermarket sensor as it is a variable sender.
Aftermarket ones are ok for simple things like position or a sensor that is either an on or off signal like a cam.

When it comes to this sensor OEM is the best bet as it will tell the ecu excatly what map to use which will make or break the performance and milage of the car being proper true . It is only $50.

+1

:cheers:

jcrome04 · March 27, 2009

Any torque specs for the temp sensor?? i have a 97

jcrome04 · March 28, 2009

Well I just swapped out my temp sensor yesterday.

It was more of an Indiana Jones type move cause when I pulled the old one out coolant started gushing everywhere... thought that wasn't supposed to happen..... lol

Seems a lot smoother now..

But now I have a CEL........ WTF :censored:

My CEL has never come on before I AM PI$$ED!!!! :(

I hope it's not cause of the sensor...

chilkoot · March 28, 2009

was the CEL on as soon as the engine started after replacing, or after it warmed up?

jcrome04 · March 28, 2009

It came on on my way home from work. I had probably... a good hour of overall running time before it came on.

One other thing.. the smallest nipple on the intake pipe that mounts directly to the engine broke off.. I just have it jerry rigged with some electrical tape for now... It was almost all the way broken when I first got the car.. It must have been VERY very brittle because it just kind of fell off when I put the hose back on it.

Would this cause the CEL?

Here is the part. It is #6 on the exploded view.

http://www.parts.com/oemcatalog/index.cfm?...playCatalogid=0

jcrome04 · March 29, 2009

Well I reset it yesterday before I left for work. Hasn't come back on yet. I think if I make it through today without it coming on I hopefully should be in the clear.

I hope.

knock on wood B)

SKperformance · March 30, 2009

it is 14 pounds for torque , i would jb weld back that vac plug as it can cause the light

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