Regarding radiator. A recent poster said their car temp would climb slightly under loads after radiator replacement. Turns out the aftermarket radiator had considerably fewer cooling channels in it, making it incapable of cooling properly under high heat or strenuous conditions. Glad you ended up with OEM. Did you get the improved, updated radiator? The old model (still available) is known for breaking the nipple off easily. If not, be careful around it and all is well.

 

Yep I installed the upgraded radiator and larger hose. I checked our other vehicles they already have the updated version.

 

That's great. I believe I spotted the large air filter in one of your photos. Just 5 years ago, OEM was expensive and no others available. In my 460, it's only for rear ac system but does double duty in the hybrid.

 

I swapped all my practically new filters from the gold car over too. I do remember that rear ac filter being $$$.

 

While it is fresh in my mind I wanted to post a few engine mount tips. I'll post some more pics later. The second time around went much faster.

To replace awd engine mounts:

1. All control arms can remain bolted in place
2. The sway bar can stay mounted
3. I removed the steering rack to be cautious but I believe you can leave it mounted. The electrical connectors on the steering rack are very close to the engine. If the subframe moves rearward you may crack one of the plastic rack connectors. If you leave the rack mounted the steering shaft should probably be unbolted to prevent damage. I don't believe the shaft has enough play to drop down a 1/2".

4. I removed the air strut / shock ( to lower the subframe)
5. Remove the 4 horizontal crash bar to subframe bolts
6. Loosen the 2 forward main subframe bolts but DO NOT remove. Simply back them out 1/2" or so.
7. Remove both rear main subframe bolts.

The front of the subframe will pivot on the 2 forward subframe bolts which you only backed out 1/2". Using a jack on the back of the subframe slowly lower the subframe until the mounts slip out. Don't forget to transfer the plastic spacer from your old mounts to the new ones! Slide your new mounts in.
8. Jack the rear of the subframe back into place. Reinstall your bolts, done.

Another number 4. option is to possibly leave the air struts mounted to the control arm...
If you have a few helpers It might be ok to only remove the 3 strut mount nuts under the hood for each strut. Also remove air line. Thus leaving the strut still mounted to the control arm. In step 8 the helpers can guide the struts back into place when you jack the subframe back up. This could be tricky as getting the new engine mounts lined up with their holes while jacking the subframe up is almost a 2 person job. Ideally you'd want 5 people. 1 guiding each mount, 1 guiding each strut, and a person jacking.
If you attempt this...There is one possible problem. The upper control arms may contact the strut as you lower the subframe. This could prevent the subframe from lowering enough as the struts will be tight against the front side rail frame of the car. You could pop the upper control arms out of the steering knuckle. But then the steering knuckle would need to be supported somehow....
After giving this some thought I think popping the upper arms out of the knuckle and supporting the knuckle is the better method. It is easier on the rubber bushings. I'm replacing all of my control arms so I didn't mind letting everything hang unusually low.

 

I have to say that replacing engine mounts (LS460 AWD) made the biggest difference on ride quality. I just unbolted the subframe with the engine supported by a jack. Raised the engine, and the dropped the subframe just enough. The right mount can be removed with mounting gear. The left mount is easier to remove on its own. It came out much easier than went back in. I used a pray bar to force it in its place.

 

I wondered if the engine could be lifted enough. Nice. I jacked mine up maybe 1/4".

 

What contraption did you use to access the upper mount nut ?

 

I used a flex head ratcheting wrench, surprisingly, I was able to get my hand in there just enough to remove and guide the nut.

 

Silver 600 items done so far....Posting this so I can keep track too. It'll be edited as I think of stuff.

- Replaced radiator
- 4 air filters Swapped
- ac blower motor Swapped
- hybrid battery Swapped
- 4 air struts swapped
- Replaced engine mounts and all 8 control arms
- Replaced fwd right inner cv boot.
- Installed small clamp on fwd left outer cv boot ( was missing) squeezed in a few oz of cv grease too.
- Transmission filter, gasket and fluid replaced
- Transmission drain and fill 2 times. (Fluid was still black after dropping pan and changing filter)
- Drained and filled rear diff. Drain plug was leaking.
- Left bank spark plugs replaced ( very worn)
- Interior led lights replaced / updated
- Oil change, also replaced oil filter housing mount o-rings
- Swapped headlights and foglights
- Swapped Fuse box assembly to fix headlight
- replace right bank spark plugs
- reseal hpfp's
- replace valve cover gaskets and all spark plug tube seals
- replaced rubber mounts for air strut compressor
- Transmission mounts replaced ( brand new ones used)
- Rear brake discs swapped
- Radiator fan motors wobble, caused plastic fans to crack where they mount ( Internal worn motor bushings or shafts) Replacing with aftermarket fan assembly.

To do:
- Fix folding side mirrors
- Brake hold slow to respond


To figure out:
- Brake hold feature is slow to release when pressing gas pedal. Takes 1 second longer than our other car. Just annoying, not a big deal.
- Cylinder 7 misfire under moderate to heavy acceleration It doesn't throw a cel, nor can the misfire be felt. I'm crossing my fingers driving it a long distance clears this up. Swapped port injectors, no change.
- Swap mirror motors or replace, they don't fold in. Right one tries sometimes.
- Cd/ dvd fails to spin on occasion Swap stereo or fix . CD's seem to be functioning fine.
- Outside odors enter cabin, blend door seems to function fine.

 

Changed the tranny fluid today. I was surprised to see the tranny pan isn't the same as our gold one. 2 magnets vs 4 on gold. Fluid was much darker than our gold car. I suspect the gold car had the fluid replaced before I purchased it.


Are the lights on the side mirrors stock? I don't care for them much.



Silver pan



Gold pan

 

Brake hold issue may need doing dreaded isolation valve calibration. This can doom abs unit if it's not ideal. Please don't use this as advice.

 

Thank you Boykie. If the abs unit goes kaput even better! It should be covered under the recall until next year.

 

Unless it just causes a slow death to ABS, after program ends.

 

This can be cheated by using a known good car to calibrate the module off the bad car. I regularly use my car to recal other 460s when they have this or similar problems