RA40

iTrader: (6)

Good job! Thanks for the pics and tips on the A/C, PS and alt.

basilpluss

that’s why I am here, lol. glad to help! If you or anyone has more questions let me know. I currently have the “old motor” on an engine stand so I’d be more than glad to take a few pictures of it to guide anyone who needs to know where those hidden 10mm and 12mm bolts are at...

WhiteUCF

Gates used to be my go to on all of our race cars. Everything from b18c Type R engines to the 1.5jz in the rx7. Never would've guessed they would do that in such a short period of time.. Don't have any of those cars anymore but I'm going to pull apart my ls400 soon to redo the timing. Guess I'll find out what the previous owner used for a timing belt very soon.

Thanks for sharing, Basil!

basilpluss

do yourself a favor!!! Change the crank pulley seal while you are at it. It’s only $7 and the only way to change it is by removing the timing belt and crank pulley. It might be a pain in the a$* but it’ll be well worth it trust me haha. I had to redo a timing belt because of this. If you do change it, but some black Toyota rtb around it. Not orange but black rtb.


edit, there is no OE gasket for where the thermostat housing connects to the water pump but there is an aftermarket fel-pro gasket which I recommend using. I personally picked up about 20 of these gaskets they are relatively cheap and you can damage them easily. What I recommend doing if you do use the gasket instead of silicone is put the housing on first and then just slide the gasket in between the two parts after, and be careful because if the bolt catches the gasket and it gets caught in the threads you just started cross threading the bolts (don’t ask me how I know :/)

part number :

FEL-PRO Water Pump Gasket 35552

WhiteUCF

All I'm doing is fixing the P1346 and P1351 at this point, unless the belt looks like the one you posted. Then I'll have to rip it all apart.

Have you used many Felpro gaskets over the past few years? I haven't had any luck with them whatsoever. Like Gates, they used to be my go to. I used one for the water pump on my stepson's Sentra about a month ago and it started dripping two days later. The Mr. Gasket gasket is holding up fine though. I used a few Felpro gaskets on my Silvia and they started leaking prematurely.

basilpluss

I just had a p1346 code. If its the driver's side VVT solenoid then it will be really easy to change, whereas the passenger side, err not so much, you gotta remove the throttle body. As far as the fel-pro gasket goes, I typically don't like using aftermarket gaskets, but then at the same time, I have run into issues where the coolant will start leaking from where the thermostat housing meets the water pump on RTB gasket. And out of all the 5 ls's that we own and have put these gaskets on no problems or leaks. I just sleep better at night knowing that there is a physical gasket instead of RTB I guess...

WhiteUCF

I agree on using a gasket. I'm always concerned that some excess rtv will break off and cause an issue internally. Had that happen on a rushed engine build about 10 years ago. Had two days to get my bare shell of an s13 back together before a track day. Long story..

I've been through the harness and ocv's already. I knew it was timing all along but figured I'd start with the less time consuming stuff. The previous owner said the code set after the timing belt was done and he didn't have the funds to diagnose the issue. I thought I finally had time to pull the front apart and re-time it but I've made zero progress other than removing the intake. Oh well.