[Bitter]

Drove to and from Iowa this weekend to shine up a plane, had a slight problem on my way there but everything turned out ok.

Sent from my SM-G892U using Tapatalk

 

[Bitter]

Been a minute, decided to change the 22yr old original Toyota radiator out for a new Denso radiator which looks to be the same as stock. I got new stock hoses and clamps as well as new Toyota Super Long Life Coolant (SLCC) which is bright pink instead of red, so all the red coolant from 10yrs ago needs to exit the engine since it looks more like the blood at the bottom of your pound of ground beef than it does Toyota red coolant. I drained exactly 1 gallon from the radiator and drained some amount from the block drain on the back of the engine while slicing open the back of my hand on some sharp heat shield sheet metal too. Radiator is just about out, no impossibly seized bolts, and if you zoom in on the passenger side you can see my lovely hand crafted aluminum trans cooler lines to the aux cooler hidden under the very ugly cruise control actuator box.

I just need to figure out how to safely remove the coolant from the heater core, might try to suck it out with my wet/dry vac.

 

[jelazar]

Drain old coolant, add water, drain water, add water, drain water, add new coolant. Run engine before each drain.

 

[Sisyphus58]

Been a minute, decided to change the 22yr old original Toyota radiator out for a new Denso radiator which looks to be the same as stock. I got new stock hoses and clamps as well as new Toyota Super Long Life Coolant (SLCC) which is bright pink instead of red, so all the red coolant from 10yrs ago needs to exit the engine since it looks more like the blood at the bottom of your pound of ground beef than it does Toyota red coolant. I drained exactly 1 gallon from the radiator and drained some amount from the block drain on the back of the engine while slicing open the back of my hand on some sharp heat shield sheet metal too. Radiator is just about out, no impossibly seized bolts, and if you zoom in on the passenger side you can see my lovely hand crafted aluminum trans cooler lines to the aux cooler hidden under the very ugly cruise control actuator box.

View attachment 45099

I just need to figure out how to safely remove the coolant from the heater core, might try to suck it out with my wet/dry vac.

get a gallon of distilled water and about six feet of hose that fits tightly over the inlet and outlet for the heater core. Cut hose in half and attach to inlet and outlet. Then use wet vac or vacuum pump to flush heater core using, one side attached to vac/pump draining into pan, and other side of hose drawing water from the gallon. Suck through about half a gallon, then reverse the process (back flush). You will know by the looks of the drain water if you need to also use a flush cleaner.
If you have city water (low minerals) instead of well, then you can safely use tap water through a garden hose instead, at low pressure, letting it drain into a pan at first to collect the old coolant, than onto the ground once it starts coming out clear. Let it run for awhile, first in the usual direction, then reverse everything to back flush in the opposite direction. Then prime the heater core with coolant using the same hose and a funnel at the inlet side and temporarily plugging the outlet side. Re-attach the heater core hoses and move on to filling the radiator and burping the air.
Remember to raise the front of the car while flushing and replacing the coolant at the radiator, and refer to coolant capacity specs to get an idea of how much old coolant came out. About a month or so later, drain the radiator again and refill, which if done periodically, increases the time period recommended to do full flushes.
The heater core is more fragile than the radiator, so be cautious about the pressure you use, air or water. I don't recommend using a compressor, though.
Might as well put in a new thermostat and gasket, too, seeing how you are replacing the hoses anyway.

 

[Bitter]

Good advices, but I'm lazy, almost out of distilled water, and not looking forward to making several extra gallons of waste water since I have to take it to work for disposal.
I'm still working on getting the upper hose off at the engine end, it's really buried in there! I'll have to bring home some specialty pliers from my tool box at work to reach the clamp and then getting the new clamp set in there is going to be a real joy too. I can't put the lower hose on until I clean up the thermostat housing neck, it's got some corrosion on the aluminum and that won't make a good seal on the new hose.
I'll also finally be installing my new to me intake manifold before the front bumper goes on, it would be easier to pull the intake manifold and get to the upper hose but I like to complete one project before starting another one however I may have to side step my rule about stacking up projects for this one.

 

[Sisyphus58]

Good advices, but I'm lazy, almost out of distilled water, and not looking forward to making several extra gallons of waste water since I have to take it to work for disposal.
I'm still working on getting the upper hose off at the engine end, it's really buried in there! I'll have to bring home some specialty pliers from my tool box at work to reach the clamp and then getting the new clamp set in there is going to be a real joy too. I can't put the lower hose on until I clean up the thermostat housing neck, it's got some corrosion on the aluminum and that won't make a good seal on the new hose.
I'll also finally be installing my new to me intake manifold before the front bumper goes on, it would be easier to pull the intake manifold and get to the upper hose but I like to complete one project before starting another one however I may have to side step my rule about stacking up projects for this on e.

mine is a DD, so I always plan ahead and usually replace parts BEFORE they fail, for example I have 93k on the car and already bought everything I need to change the timing belt AND water pump, even though both are still working fine. As they say, somethings are best replaced together. When I went to replace my struts, I ended up replacing my entire front suspension AND axles. I'm on a mission to replace EVERY part on this car, with tons of spare parts waiting in the shed to install. LOL

 

[Bitter]

The thermostat is a little over 10years old but it's not been a bunch of miles, I had replaced it with a dealer part a little after I got the car. It's behind the alternator partially and while I can sneak it out it's a pain to do and working fine, car hits normal temps in normal amount of time and isn't winter driven so hot heat isn't a priority. If I were to change it I might grab one slightly cooler but it's fine as it is. I had thought about replacing the radiator fan motors but dealer parts are about $300 a motor! Aftermarket fan assemblies are cheaper but the quality is a lot less too.

Sent from my SM-G892U using Tapatalk

 

[Bitter]

Going out later today to get a hose pick set because it's the one tool I didn't think to bring home from work on the long holiday weekend, should be able to get the upper hose off, new hoses on, and cooling system filled then bled of air this weekend so I can move onto installing the intake manifold. Clearly I'm putting in the long hours on this one. Work for 5 minutes, get stuck, take 2 hour break.

Edit: It's tomorrow now, I got my hose picks yesterday when we went out for some other things and got the hoses changed today. 1 gallon of fresh coolant is in and I'll let it sit a few hours while we walk the dogs then add some more tonight and let it sit overnight and hopefully self-bleed most of the air out of the system for me because I left my hand-held scan tool at work and I really like to see actual coolant temp when I'm running an engine to purge air. Gauges are so inaccurate, especially computer driven ones like mine. It'll tell you it's cold, it's normal, or it's overheating but that's about it.
I will say I am surprised by how soft and loose the old hoses were compared to the new ones, I expected some difference but yikes big big difference there.
Edit2: Ran the engine tonight and got the thermostat opened up easily, pink coolant is pretty red but whatever it's mostly fresh stuff now so good enough. I'll run it a few more times before I drive it to ensure all the air is out so I don't get in trouble on a test drive. Without the scan tool I can't tell the exact thermostat opening temp but it might be a little below the rated temperature. Found a few places my trans cooler lines need extra protection from rubbing the body or other parts of the car so I'll slide some vinyl onto them in those areas when I get a chance.

 

[Bitter]

Update time!
Pass side HID ballast failed in the most Toyota way possible. It's producing too many watts! Ordered a newer used pair from a reputable vendor that should be in this week. What a stupid adventure this has been. Once it's fixed I can park it outside so the garage door springs can be replaced, one broke.

Sent from my SM-G892U using Tapatalk

 

[stent]

I'm on a mission to replace EVERY part on this car, with tons of spare parts waiting in the shed to install. LOL

hahahaha, i've got a good start on my pile-o-parts.............rock auto, the local mitsu dealer & JY's like me better now...........

 

[Bitter]

It's together and I test drove it last night enough to get it hot, brakes clean, and tires round again. It's still filthy tho so I'll wipe it off before I go out to the car meet.

Sent from my SM-G892U using Tapatalk

 

[Bitter]

Says 'just follow us' then proceeds to absolutely hammer it for the next 3 miles. The 300 is a 6.1 Hemi with Comp Cam, full length headers, straight pipes, and a tune...on bags because why not I guess. It absolutely rips! The two Celica ahead are one stock WRC GT4 and one hand built GT to GT4 conversion that's around 300-330AWHP. I am the slowest car by at least 100HP and probably more than that to be honest. I still have fun and because thankgod there's these things called curves I can sort of catch up and keep up a little bit. Meet was fun, car was exactly the same as ever. No issues with the new radiator and hoses at all, just need to top up the coolant a little and monitor the level to ensure no small leaks. Next project after I clean up my mess from this one is to drop the bumper again and get the intake manifold installed and see how it runs without a tune and then start figuring out how to get a tune and some control over lift engagment point while keeping the stock ECM happy enough to run the transmission. I still have to go through emissions every 2 years so I need to keep things happy enough that it'll pass through the self testing to clear monitors for the plug in testing, there's no under hood check here thankfully.

 

[Bitter]

Tangential to car stuff, finished most of the garage lighting upgrade. 2 4x48" flourescent converted to LED with some Sylvania 'truewave' 5000K daylight bulbs. Really easy to wire up and have excellent color reproduction with honestly no eye strain.
Also getting some shelves up to better organize everything. Overkilled the brackets by screwing directly into the studs but I'll never ever have to worry about the shelf coming down. I could probably sit on it.

Sent from my SM-G892U using Tapatalk

 

[Bitter]

Some weird shit happening.

 

[Bitter]

Giga-chad intake pipe!

 

[Bitter]

Almost have all the parts now. Waiting on a 3/8th stainless through hull boat fitting to get IAC air from the intake pipe, a 1/2 stainless through hull fitting for breather air, a step drill bit, and 1/2 aluminum coil fuel line. I've got my wire and tube holders, 3/8th aluminum fuel line, some 3/8th trans/oil hose, some 1/2 trans/oil hose, 2 70mm 90 deg pipes, the 90mm 90 deg, all my couplings, enough clamps, and a catch can which I may not bother using since my stock intake had almost no oil in it. I'll have a long 5 day weekend coming up so I'll double down and try to get it assembled and running,only thing I'm missing is some tube or hose for the evap line to the intake manifold.

 

[Bitter]

Well slight change to the intake pipe plans, my 90 to 90 turns won't have enough room so I'm going to harvest a straight section from the gigachad pipe and do this instead...
Throttle body to 90mm 45 degree to straight 90mm pipe to reducer to maf to 45 degree 70mm pipe to air filter. It's a better path for air anyway, less bends is better and it'll let me put the MAF on a straighter section of pipe for better air metering and let me position it at the minimum distance to the throttle body for slightly snappier throttle response. In hindsight I probably should have done 80mm to the MAF for a less dramatic step in size but eh, if I want to it's not a huge expense or hassle to fix that later, now I just want it done and driving for the 29th meet this year. I can re-work things after that. I have a lot to do yet but it's all pretty basic stuff, mostly about having all the parts and tools here to get it done.
One thing I did goof up a little bit, the canister close valve (because Toyota has a weird EVAP system) needs air from before the maf but after the air filter. I forgot to get a nipple for that so I need to figure something out that's not another $16 stainless steel through hull boat fitting. Might just stick a small engine fuel filter in the end of the hose until I figure something out, since it's not sucking metered air anyway. I had thought about T'ing off the IAC air feed but there might be some vacuum present which could donk up the EVAP system and throw a code.

 

[Sisyphus58]

Well slight change to the intake pipe plans, my 90 to 90 turns won't have enough room so I'm going to harvest a straight section from the gigachad pipe and do this instead...
Throttle body to 90mm 45 degree to straight 90mm pipe to reducer to maf to 45 degree 70mm pipe to air filter. It's a better path for air anyway, less bends is better and it'll let me put the MAF on a straighter section of pipe for better air metering and let me position it at the minimum distance to the throttle body for slightly snappier throttle response. In hindsight I probably should have done 80mm to the MAF for a less dramatic step in size but eh, if I want to it's not a huge expense or hassle to fix that later, now I just want it done and driving for the 29th meet this year. I can re-work things after that. I have a lot to do yet but it's all pretty basic stuff, mostly about having all the parts and tools here to get it done.
One thing I did goof up a little bit, the canister close valve (because Toyota has a weird EVAP system) needs air from before the maf but after the air filter. I forgot to get a nipple for that so I need to figure something out that's not another $16 stainless steel through hull boat fitting. Might just stick a small engine fuel filter in the end of the hose until I figure something out, since it's not sucking metered air anyway. I had thought about T'ing off the IAC air feed but there might be some vacuum present which could donk up the EVAP system and throw a code.

Perhaps you should start a separate thread regarding your Toyota so idiots like me don't get so easily confused about your mods?
Interesting stuff, though...

 

[Bitter]

This is a thread about my Toyota....? And has been since 2009 lol.

Sent from my SM-G892U using Tapatalk

 

[Bitter]

Cut by hand with hacksaw but finished and chamfered on a sanding table for a smooth end and outer bevel, deburred the inside with a dremel flap wheel. All the pipes need a good washing before final assembly.

Here's where the down turn and reducer will go, for now. I think I'm going to cut the Giga-Chad 90mm elbow today since the boat through hull fittings will work better on a larger diameter pipe. Speaking of the through hull boat fittings...here's the 3/8th (drilled out to 5/16th ID) test fitting to a cut of the 70mm pipe.

As you can see the larger curve of the 90mm pipe, I'm still going to need to trim the round inner flange into a more oblong oval shape to better allow the o-ring to seal against the pipe but these fittings will work great and would probably even stand up to boost if one needed a non weld way to get a nipple into pipe or manifold or oil pan without any risk of a nut falling off inside. I know most people just ram a pipe thread nipple into the pipe wall but I don't trust that long term given how thin the pipe wall is and how I'd get 1-2 threads engaged to the pipe wall. Welding wasn't an option because I don't know anyone and these cheap pipes probably weld for shit and welding won't let me quickly change my mind as I build.

And so here's my bashed together janky setup so far, I'll likely cut the other elbow to replace the red lower pipe but it was pretty close to what I needed to just see if this was all going to work. I'd like to have the lower elbow with a little more of a straight section so I can attach a honeycomb airflow straightener in the pipe ahead of the MAF for better readings. It looks like I have room above the MAF housing to move it up the pipe enough to make room for that. I'll rivet it into the pipe in a few places with some dabs of JB Weld epoxy at the rivet spots to 110% lock it into place.