stilltippin
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Wow, that thing looks sweet!
Project Thread Project SC400TT
- Thread starter SC400TT
- Start date
The 1UZFE EGR Delete Kit is available for sale here.
No worries John...Ever guy asks that...even the ones that have never met me...
Ryan
Nice work Ryan.. I wonder the same thing as JOHN....
Smitherz, time has proven out that the leak is indeed fixed. So, I am most excited about that. I would say the ordeal is fixed, and oh, the power assist steering works again, just like it used to. If you are referring to the pressure switch as the "plastic thingy", I wonder how much of a difference it really makes...I know the purpose of it, to keep the engine from stalling by creating a vacuum leak when turning the wheel whiel at idle, for example. I have heard more than one guy that has simple eliminated it rather than buying anew one at $120-$130. I chose to buy a new one and employ it...
Thanks Andrew...Yeah, it is certainly some real work to get modified reliably...
Ryan
SC400TT
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- Orlando, Florida
Hey Lextreme gang. I apologize that I have not posted up any replies in a while...I have continued to be very focused and busy at work. With the economy being the way it has been lately, I have found it necessary to work a lot lately. So, I have not been working on my car.
The tuner from NY has been so busy with things up there, that he has been unable to come here to tune my car.
So, I have had to search for another tuner once again. I have fortunately found one of the best tuners around, and he happens to live right here in Orlando. Plus, he has tuned Autronic, so that is a major plus.
I have also been awaiting the Autronic Reluctor interface module so that I can connect that to my stock ABS system for traction control to work on my Autronic SM4. I ordered it over a month ago and it is finally on its way to me. So I will hopefully have it by Thanksgiving. If so, I will install it next weekend, and I sould then be able to do a final review of everything to make sure I am ready to tune the car. So, luckily, I live in Florida, where it does not snow, and the winters are awesome so that I can tune my car in December and drive it around in the brisk cool air...
I also had a leak from the crappy water neck that has been welded and re-welded and just is not repairable, so I had Shane (SCUPRA) make one up for me. He went way beyond the call of duty here...It is machined from a single piece of stainless, and it is gorgeous. Shane always does things right...Take a look. I may install this tomorrow, depending upon how I feel, as I am under the weather with a very sore throat right now, and have been trying to take it easy this weekend...
Ryan
The tuner from NY has been so busy with things up there, that he has been unable to come here to tune my car.
So, I have had to search for another tuner once again. I have fortunately found one of the best tuners around, and he happens to live right here in Orlando. Plus, he has tuned Autronic, so that is a major plus.
I have also been awaiting the Autronic Reluctor interface module so that I can connect that to my stock ABS system for traction control to work on my Autronic SM4. I ordered it over a month ago and it is finally on its way to me. So I will hopefully have it by Thanksgiving. If so, I will install it next weekend, and I sould then be able to do a final review of everything to make sure I am ready to tune the car. So, luckily, I live in Florida, where it does not snow, and the winters are awesome so that I can tune my car in December and drive it around in the brisk cool air...
I also had a leak from the crappy water neck that has been welded and re-welded and just is not repairable, so I had Shane (SCUPRA) make one up for me. He went way beyond the call of duty here...It is machined from a single piece of stainless, and it is gorgeous. Shane always does things right...Take a look. I may install this tomorrow, depending upon how I feel, as I am under the weather with a very sore throat right now, and have been trying to take it easy this weekend...
Ryan
SC400TT
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- Orlando, Florida
BTW, I want to post up a pic of my stunningly beautiful wife...She is not only beautiful outside, but inside too. Compared to my car, she makes my car look like a rotted out stick. I may not keep this picture up long, but I just wanted to post this up for at least a little while here. She is a wonderful woman, and is the most loyal, dependable and reliable woman I know...
Ryan
Ryan
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Very lovely lady there Ryan. What's she doing with you (j/k )?
)?
SC400TT
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- Orlando, Florida
Very lovely lady there Ryan. What's she doing with you (j/k
No worries John...Ever guy asks that...even the ones that have never met me...
Ryan
SC400TT
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- Orlando, Florida
The Reluctor Interface has arrived!! No directions on how to install it, but it has arrived.
Ryan
Ryan
SC400TT
Active Member
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- Orlando, Florida
SC400TT
Active Member
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- 1,280
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- Orlando, Florida
Well I know it has been a little while longer...I will tell you that taking on a project like this is simply mind boggling at times...When blazing a new trail and going where "No man has gone before" is your project, anything and everything can become a challenge...Especially seemingly simple and small items.
I hinted in my most recent posts that I had tuned my car...And indeed, I did have it tuned, and Darin the owner of Double D Race and Tuning (The awesome tuner who formerly built and tuned Titan Motorsport's monster Supras) street tuned my car. We did not dyno tune it due to an unforseen power steering leak at the modified banjo fitting. It was leaking copious amounts of power steering fluid onto the passenger side manifold. Plus, the fuel map in the car was a bit too rich, and even though it was hardly run, the brand new plugs were fouled, so I got a small amount of misfire.
Correcting the plugs was easy, buy a new set and gap them to .025, and install them.
Repairing the leak was much more challenging, and took up several weeks of time, research and trial and error to remedy. For those of you that ever need to replace your high pressure side of your power steering, you know that Lexus wants your right arm for a new one...Well over $600.00. As well, if you modify your car like I have mine, there is not sufficient room for the inflexible hard line either. So, I modified the fitment on the rack, as well as to the power steering pump with AN fittings, and I had Amazon Hose and Rubber make a hydraulic, high pressure Steel braided line for me to replace the factory OEM hard line. The cost was about $65 for that line with prefessional machine grade crimping on the fittings. All went well. Then came the connecting of the modified banjo fitting that mounts to the underside of the pump...That became the bane of my existance.
Here is a pic of the original modified one:
As you can see, it has a few deep nicks in the mounting surface from a wrench...This cannot be sealed with the Copper crush gasket because it is too deep, so that leaked at the time of the dyno.
I took it off and looked at the nicks and decided it would be a great idea to put on a bench grinder to smooth out...WRONG! That smoothed out the surface, but it was no longer parallel to each side, nor was the center axis of the fitting perpendicular to the floor, so this caused it to leak much worse.
I then took it to a maching shop that machined it, and they stopped mid way stating that since there was no "square" surface left anymore because I had bench ground both sides of the banjo fitting, they did not feel it could be remedied.
I went to a second shop that specialized it making small parts and had them machine it. They got it right, but a new issue was now apparent...Not only was the banjo fitting no longer even close to its original width, but the machining also removed enough of the weld that it unknowingly opened up a seam that would leak once agian on me.
The narrower banjo would also present a problem with the way it lined up with the banjo bolt. This proved to be a significant problem, because the banjo fitting not only has an entrance for fluid from the pump and an exit for fluid to the rack, but it is routed inside the fitting all the way around the complete circumference of the fitting for proper pressure and flow of the fluid. Narrowing the banjo fitting threw this completely off. But, there was another issue with this that I was not even aware of until I, by chance, decided to order a new banjo bolt fromLexus because the head of the bolt I had was beginning to round out a little, and I did not want to have trouble in removing and tightening that bolt...Especialy since I was having to install and remove it so many times.
When I went to Lexus to get some additional crush washers, I had previously ordered a new banjo bolt...When Brian Burns (Lexus Parts Extraordinaire) looked at my bolt, he asked where I got that from? I replied that it was the one I thought belonged to the fitting...Come to find out that it was not...I had inadvertantly used the wrong banjo bolt and it was impossible to align it to the banjo fitting so that the correct alignment and pressures would flow inside and through the banjo fitting. This was perhaps the worst part of the whole modified banjo fitting and bolt as not enough fluid would flow through it and into the rack...Hence the major difficulty in turning the steering wheel.
Here is a picture showing the incorrect and the correct banjo bolts...The correct one is the longer one:
While all of this was going on during the lasat several weeks, I contacted David Phan (Mr. Lextreme extraordinaire), and he graciously sent me a very nice and like new, but used power steering hose with banjo fitting intact. He refused to accept payment from me, not even for shipping! He would not even accept a donation to his site! Kudos to David, as he saved me a huge chunk of change, and saved the day as I could not have remedied this leak with out that part! David, YOU DA MAN!!
Once I received the banjo from David, I located an awesome welder/fabricator, Kevin over in Longwood Fl, and he welded a new AN onto the fitting I received from David. Here is a pic of the new one, properly welded, properly sized, and with a brand new pressure switch attached:
As you can see, there are no nicks in the surface, nor are there any open seams in the weld to leak power steering fluid. Here is a pic of the new crush washer, correct banjo bolt, and the properly welded banjo fitting...What a lesson this one was:
BTW, the steering wheel immediately turned with ease when the correct bolt was used along with the correct and original sized banjo fitting, plus no leaks at all. The shortend bolt was actully causing a big part of the leak as the pump was pressurizing the system, but not enough of the fluid was transferring from the pump to the power steering hose through the banjo because of the incorrect and mis-aligned bolt. Again, a lesson learned...
Here is a pic of the water nect that Shane Ligon made from billet stainless, modified and angled it, as well as polished it for me. It also works quite well and remedied the coolant leak from the previously welded and poorly fabricated water neck from another guy:
So, next: Dyno Tune, here we come!!
I will update you all soon.
Ryan
I hinted in my most recent posts that I had tuned my car...And indeed, I did have it tuned, and Darin the owner of Double D Race and Tuning (The awesome tuner who formerly built and tuned Titan Motorsport's monster Supras) street tuned my car. We did not dyno tune it due to an unforseen power steering leak at the modified banjo fitting. It was leaking copious amounts of power steering fluid onto the passenger side manifold. Plus, the fuel map in the car was a bit too rich, and even though it was hardly run, the brand new plugs were fouled, so I got a small amount of misfire.
Correcting the plugs was easy, buy a new set and gap them to .025, and install them.
Repairing the leak was much more challenging, and took up several weeks of time, research and trial and error to remedy. For those of you that ever need to replace your high pressure side of your power steering, you know that Lexus wants your right arm for a new one...Well over $600.00. As well, if you modify your car like I have mine, there is not sufficient room for the inflexible hard line either. So, I modified the fitment on the rack, as well as to the power steering pump with AN fittings, and I had Amazon Hose and Rubber make a hydraulic, high pressure Steel braided line for me to replace the factory OEM hard line. The cost was about $65 for that line with prefessional machine grade crimping on the fittings. All went well. Then came the connecting of the modified banjo fitting that mounts to the underside of the pump...That became the bane of my existance.
Here is a pic of the original modified one:
As you can see, it has a few deep nicks in the mounting surface from a wrench...This cannot be sealed with the Copper crush gasket because it is too deep, so that leaked at the time of the dyno.
I took it off and looked at the nicks and decided it would be a great idea to put on a bench grinder to smooth out...WRONG! That smoothed out the surface, but it was no longer parallel to each side, nor was the center axis of the fitting perpendicular to the floor, so this caused it to leak much worse.
I then took it to a maching shop that machined it, and they stopped mid way stating that since there was no "square" surface left anymore because I had bench ground both sides of the banjo fitting, they did not feel it could be remedied.
I went to a second shop that specialized it making small parts and had them machine it. They got it right, but a new issue was now apparent...Not only was the banjo fitting no longer even close to its original width, but the machining also removed enough of the weld that it unknowingly opened up a seam that would leak once agian on me.
The narrower banjo would also present a problem with the way it lined up with the banjo bolt. This proved to be a significant problem, because the banjo fitting not only has an entrance for fluid from the pump and an exit for fluid to the rack, but it is routed inside the fitting all the way around the complete circumference of the fitting for proper pressure and flow of the fluid. Narrowing the banjo fitting threw this completely off. But, there was another issue with this that I was not even aware of until I, by chance, decided to order a new banjo bolt fromLexus because the head of the bolt I had was beginning to round out a little, and I did not want to have trouble in removing and tightening that bolt...Especialy since I was having to install and remove it so many times.
When I went to Lexus to get some additional crush washers, I had previously ordered a new banjo bolt...When Brian Burns (Lexus Parts Extraordinaire) looked at my bolt, he asked where I got that from? I replied that it was the one I thought belonged to the fitting...Come to find out that it was not...I had inadvertantly used the wrong banjo bolt and it was impossible to align it to the banjo fitting so that the correct alignment and pressures would flow inside and through the banjo fitting. This was perhaps the worst part of the whole modified banjo fitting and bolt as not enough fluid would flow through it and into the rack...Hence the major difficulty in turning the steering wheel.
Here is a picture showing the incorrect and the correct banjo bolts...The correct one is the longer one:
While all of this was going on during the lasat several weeks, I contacted David Phan (Mr. Lextreme extraordinaire), and he graciously sent me a very nice and like new, but used power steering hose with banjo fitting intact. He refused to accept payment from me, not even for shipping! He would not even accept a donation to his site! Kudos to David, as he saved me a huge chunk of change, and saved the day as I could not have remedied this leak with out that part! David, YOU DA MAN!!
Once I received the banjo from David, I located an awesome welder/fabricator, Kevin over in Longwood Fl, and he welded a new AN onto the fitting I received from David. Here is a pic of the new one, properly welded, properly sized, and with a brand new pressure switch attached:
As you can see, there are no nicks in the surface, nor are there any open seams in the weld to leak power steering fluid. Here is a pic of the new crush washer, correct banjo bolt, and the properly welded banjo fitting...What a lesson this one was:
BTW, the steering wheel immediately turned with ease when the correct bolt was used along with the correct and original sized banjo fitting, plus no leaks at all. The shortend bolt was actully causing a big part of the leak as the pump was pressurizing the system, but not enough of the fluid was transferring from the pump to the power steering hose through the banjo because of the incorrect and mis-aligned bolt. Again, a lesson learned...
Here is a pic of the water nect that Shane Ligon made from billet stainless, modified and angled it, as well as polished it for me. It also works quite well and remedied the coolant leak from the previously welded and poorly fabricated water neck from another guy:
So, next: Dyno Tune, here we come!!
I will update you all soon.
Ryan
Last edited:
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- Houston, TX
Great update Ryan, and glad to hear you got that banjo fitting sorted.
Can't wait to see/hear it make some noise now.
Good luck!
Can't wait to see/hear it make some noise now.
Good luck!
Lextreme II
Just call me "Lex"
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Very lovely lady there Ryan. What's she doing with you (j/k
Nice work Ryan.. I wonder the same thing as JOHN....
Smitherz
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- Central Coast, CA
Oh man that's a headache. I hope that's the end of that ordeal. I went through some of the same hassle with my swap. I found an incredible old school agriculture hose and supply shop that made my custom high pressure power steering fitting and adapted a standard high pressure hose so that in the event of a puncture or break (offroad truck remember : ) I could just go to any shop and grab a standard hose. When my pressure switch started to leak I just broke it off with a hammer and welded up the hold in the middle of the thing so that was a permanent fix that worked great. Works great, no leaks and got rid of the fragile plastic thingy that is prone to be bumped as it sticks out and is vulnerable.
turboandrew
Member
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- 571
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- Austin, TX
Nice work on the power steering. I have to figure out what I am going to do with the Supra, and I think you have just convinced me to use all OEM parts on the Supra. I am hoping I can just use all the SC400 factory lines and it will work with my Supra steering rack, but I have not really looked into this. Anyone interested in selling a full set of factory PS hoses from near-1998 SC400, especially the high pressure lines, please PM me!
SC400TT
Active Member
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- Orlando, Florida
Smitherz, time has proven out that the leak is indeed fixed. So, I am most excited about that. I would say the ordeal is fixed, and oh, the power assist steering works again, just like it used to. If you are referring to the pressure switch as the "plastic thingy", I wonder how much of a difference it really makes...I know the purpose of it, to keep the engine from stalling by creating a vacuum leak when turning the wheel whiel at idle, for example. I have heard more than one guy that has simple eliminated it rather than buying anew one at $120-$130. I chose to buy a new one and employ it...
Thanks Andrew...Yeah, it is certainly some real work to get modified reliably...
Ryan
SC400TT
Active Member
- Messages
- 1,280
- Location
- Orlando, Florida
Fun once again, at last!!
Gang,
since i have repaired the leak, and replaced the fouled plugs, my car starts up quickly and runs quite well. There are some tweaks yet needed, but I have been able to drive it on the street without any issues. I am just about finished heating off the copious amount of spilled power steering fluid that spilled onto the DEI lava wrap...So, not to much smoke anymore!!
But, the best thing is driving the car...And that is fun!! Hitting the curves, acclerating easily thorugh break in time, braking, etc. Most fun!! Finally, after over 5 years since the beginning of Stage 1 of this project, and now onto Stage 2 nearing completion, this is fun...Just driving my car!!
I am ecstatic at this point!!
Ryan
Gang,
since i have repaired the leak, and replaced the fouled plugs, my car starts up quickly and runs quite well. There are some tweaks yet needed, but I have been able to drive it on the street without any issues. I am just about finished heating off the copious amount of spilled power steering fluid that spilled onto the DEI lava wrap...So, not to much smoke anymore!!
But, the best thing is driving the car...And that is fun!! Hitting the curves, acclerating easily thorugh break in time, braking, etc. Most fun!! Finally, after over 5 years since the beginning of Stage 1 of this project, and now onto Stage 2 nearing completion, this is fun...Just driving my car!!
I am ecstatic at this point!!
Ryan
SC400TT
Active Member
- Messages
- 1,280
- Location
- Orlando, Florida
Here is a video I made tonight from my phone cam, and this is the way a properly tuned Autronic SM4 sounds. The SM4 is the Bomb!! Car is running exceptionally well. Thank you Darin Dichiara, Master Tuner!! Dyno Tune is at the end of this month.
I am stoked guys and gals!
Ryan
I am stoked guys and gals!
Ryan
Lextreme II
Just call me "Lex"
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Finally!!!!!!! Ryan is back...... Congrats.... Sounds fantastic. Engine looks AWESOME>>.. ALL SHOW AND GO>...
stevechumo
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Very nice! I'd like to see a huge dyno number.
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Bahh, all the fun stuff seems to happen when I'm stuck in the sandbox and can't access videos!
Good luck Ryan, and I'll have a look at your videos when I get back home in two weeks.
Post some dyno figures though!
Good luck Ryan, and I'll have a look at your videos when I get back home in two weeks.
Post some dyno figures though!
SC400TT
Active Member
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- Orlando, Florida
Thanks Steve and Cribb. I will post up the dyno numbers as soon as I get them. It should be at the end of this month when I get the car on the dyno.
Ryan
Ryan
SC400TT
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- Orlando, Florida
Transmission tune and Dyno Tune are scheduled for this Thursday afternoon. Cross your fingers that all goes well...
Ryan
Ryan
