werewolf

See the part with the hard grey piping (i.e not the rubber hose)? That part of the fuel line does NOT move . You need to get the other nut to unthread so the part with the hard grey piping you need to hold in place (with a crescent wrench) while unthreading the other part connecting to the manifold

FrankT

OH LINE WRENCH please...

...may the Force be with you.

Pogigreg

I finally got the intake off, That was a real lesson for the first time.

What I am a lot curious about is what is the best way to get at the bolts holding in the rest of the starter?

werewolf

1st thing, there are a ton of posts on what actually fails in the starter. Shortcut -- its the contacts in the solenoid (that part you've removed already).

You may want to simply swap out the contacts, put the solenoid back and see if that solves the problem. Get the parts at a Toyota dealer as Lexus does not sell it. They are the same parts as for a Tundra 4.7 v8

Seating the starter against the flywheel is not fun. If you do need to remove the entire starter, I would remove the coolant bar that sits at a right angle over the starter. I would also remove the coolant pipe that runs north-south in the engine bay. That way you can get an angle on the starter bolts (they stick out at you (like nipples lol) so the bolt heads are behind the engine block). Again this is NOT fun.

Don't forget to send your new friends some beer when you're done

Pogigreg

Man, it wasn't fun up to this point. So would it be better to replace the contacts or replace the whole starter?

FrankT

If you want to buy a new starter go OEM(Toyota). The dealer also have remanufactured starters much cheaper.

I have done many Toyota/Lexus starters by replacing the contacts and plunger, because my friends and I have more time than money, over many years, not one has failed. Heck that is what a remanufactured starter is.

...this one is your call.

werewolf

I bought a remanned OEM Denso/Toyota starter from a Lexus dealer, put it in and found it to be a dud. I would just replace the contacts in the solenoid.

Not sure if you can even get a new (not remanned) starter anymore

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

Might as well replace the WHOLE starter... You don't want to open it up again. Just a thought.

Pogigreg

I got the starter off. What an experience. I started this yesterday afternoon. But it has been so dang hot. Tomorrow, I will check Toyota for prices. The starter in the car was a reman starter. No telling when it was put in there. Is it better to get everything from Toyota or go to Oreilly/Autozone?

werewolf

Get an OEM part. Also consider replacing the gaskets on the coolant bar you took off. FWIW I paid 170 for an OEM denso remanned part from a Lexus dealer.

I think the failure cycle is once every 100k miles or so, so it makes sense your car was on its 2nd starter

BTW clean out your V-bank, manifold and throttlebody while you've got everything off

Congrats I think this is one of the harder DIYs out there

werewolf

I'm too late here but getting a 'new' starter may not be a long-term fix (wasn't for me). At this point, you can rebuild your starter for $50 in parts or buy a remanned starter (comes with 1 yr warranty)

Pogigreg

Well, this is weekend #2, and the reassembly begins. I got the starter back in, and I am taking it slow, double checking my work. I sure don't want have to go back in there because I left something unplugged. I ended up going to the O'Reilly's for the starter because it was $100 cheaper than a reman Lexus was charging for $290.00. I did get the intake gaskets and crossover tube gaskets from Lexus though. I have a question about the knock sensor connector. The clip broke, and it slides on and off. What is the best way to secure this connector?

BIGCARL78

Could be the neutral safety control switch. Put it in neutral then try to start it.

werewolf

RE: Knock sensor, I did the same thing. I ended up getting some bailing wire and making a figure 8 locking cage around the male and female part of the pigtail. This seems to work for me

One thing before you put the intake manifold on, make sure your starter is seated correctly against the flywheel. Grab a 22mm wrench and turn the crankshaft (front of engine) and listen for weird, metal grinding sounds (bad sign)

Pogigreg

Cleaned out the V shaped area a little bit. A lot of crud built up. I installed new gaskets for the coolant crossover, $11 each, and new lower intake gaskets, $34 each. Now I put the intake back on.