plugmaster

I'll be buying a 2000 ES300 within the next couple weeks and just had a few questions.

I looked under the hood earlier to figure out how difficult maintainance is going to be. I currently have a Chrysler that takes 8 hours to change the plugs out in because theres so little hand room and so many darn screws and bolts on the back side of manifolds that you cant get to. It looks like on the Es300 there's a manifold on top that just has three screws in the front, and i'm assuming all 6 cylinders are under there. Is it really that easy? Just those three screws and i'm done? Or is there something else major that I can't see yet? And if so, how long does it take to get to the cylinders?

Question #2, it doesn't look like K&N or AFE make an intake system for the Es300, what brand do you recommend? and is there a sponser that gives us a discount?

What other minor mods/improvements would you recommend?

Thanks for the help!

ari07

Changing the plugs is that easy, not much more to it. This car is very easy easy to deal with maintenance wise. Changing out the oil is very easy too. Weapon-R makes 2 different applications for the ES300 intake (a little pricey) and I believe www.lextasy.com also makes a Typhoon intake.

Pheonix

You can do the plugs with the right flexshaft extension & u-joint, otherwise you need to take the upper intake air chamber off to take the rear bank out. Once you do it a couple of times, it takes about 5 min once you get started, no big deal.
There are a hand full of intakes, but none of them do anything. Just makes the car louder... Which is cool, because they sound like a Porsche on speed , but nothing performance wise.
Pay 250-350 for a custom y-pipe made. That's the only thing intake/exhaust wise that's going to actually do anything. 10-15bhp. After that, if you want a bit more N/A, spend a few hundred on getting the heads ported & polished.
Otherwise, n2o, a custom turbo, or the crap TRD charger.
Everything else either doesn't do anything, doesn't do anything for the money spent, or is a huge trade-off that simply isn't going to be any better on the long run(cams/headers are all 3).

lexusk8

The front 3 spark plugs are located under the engine cover you directly see (just gotta take those metric hexhead bolts off to get at them). The other 3 plugs, though, are located between the firewall and the throttle body. It can be time-consuming and a real pain if you don't have all the right tools. You will most likely need a socket set, flexible extensions and a set of skinny arms to get to the rear plugs. When I had my spark plugs changed last time, it took about 2-3 hours for my mechanic friend to do all of them. I treated him to a couple beers in return

ayjabri

Pheonix are you sure those things doesn't add any value to the horse power of the car?

Stub333

Not to be a **** but if it took your 'mechanic friend' 2-3 hours to do ES plugs something is wrong there we did mine in 1/2 an hour! It all comes down to the person using the tools, not so much the tools...

aswang

iTrader: (4)

i Know K&N makes a drop in filter...better than nothing That's what i'm probablly gonna do as far as engine mods go, unless I can get a hold of a TRD supercharger later.lol

Leets

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the 2000 ES has the same dual-tb as the 2001. After spending some time under the hood it would appear that on these models the only gain to be made, as far as airflow is concerned, is to replace the stock resonator box that leads into the dual-tb. However, the only intake I've seen for the 00-01 model seems to be the Akimoto one on Lextasy. If the picture is any indication, it only replaces the stock components after before this y-type resonator box. That would explain why there's literally no gain in power; it actually appears like you would lose power by using this system because of the smaller filter surface area of the conical filter and the fact that it's no longer drawing air from in the bumper. And speaking of the bumper, don't forget to remove that horrible resonator box that's hidden down in there. It's free and will get you the same increased airflow that the $250 Akimoto intake will... only the air will actually be cooler than what the Akimoto pulls.

Lexmex

True...intakes makes a lot of noise and minimal power gain as opposed to the big whopping power you might be looking for. You really need to shield any inside air with a shield to prevent as much hot air from getting in as possible. Even then, not much difference.

It takes a lot of trial and error before you get it the way you like.

ari07

speaking of heat shields has anyone got a cold air box for their intake. I've tried buying the Weapon - R one from at least 4 different sites. Turns out many companies claim to have them over the phone, but then when you buy them, they say it can take months and put you on a waiting list. I went to the source and called up Weapon -R, they said the cold air boxes never made it to production. Just a tip for those seeking one of their boxes or are currently on a wait list.

Pheonix

ayjabri , yes. Tested @ compaired & retested many times over. There is no appreciable difference.


FYI only vvt-i 1mz-fe's have the dual throttlebody setup.

Lexmex

I had the same problem and sat on the wait list for 6 months (almost forgot but luckily canceled) They had ones for the RX that some CL members got a few years ago, but later my cousin offered to make me one of his own that now sits in my RX, not a full box, but a cut up cooking pot strung over my Blitz SUS filter cut aesthetically.

3rdelement

iTrader: (1)

2kracing.com has the AEM and that has worked well for me.

plugmaster

remove the exhaust box or the intake resonator box? will that really increase hp, or just make it sound louder? How hard is it to remove, and if exhaust box, will that at all mess with a smog check (or am i thinking of the wrong component?) as i'll be moving in a few months and i'm sure a smog check will be required for new registration.

3rdelement

iTrader: (1)

your engine will sound like crap then. to raspy.