joemg

After digging deep on CL to find ways to add some power, I came across this thread where a LS400 (same intake manifold as us) gained 20hp/25tq and the power starts 500rpm earlier in the band.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...rude-hone.html

So I grabbed a manifold off ebay (I used a LS430 manifold, same thing but has an extra vacuum port or 2 to cap off) and shipped it off to Extrude Hone in Irwin, PA. This is the same shop that did the one in the thread above.

They were easy to work with and turned it around pretty fast.

(NOTE: you'll need new gaskets if you do this since they take it apart to extrude hone it. You need the manifold gaskets, the plenum gaskets (gasket between top and bottom pieces), the side gasket for the vacuum actuator, and the throttle body gasket.)


I also installed this catch can after seeing how much buildup was on the inside of the TB/manifold (I have 106k and it was BAD, I want to keep the new one clean):


For $25 you can't go wrong, it's solid CNC aluminum. Just don't use the hose included, there are a lot of complaints, get some fuel line to be safe. I used 3/8" fuel line.

I'll take a pic of the catch can next time I pop the hood. It's mounted off of my driver side strut tower brace. This thread used the same catch can I did, they mounted on the passenger side strut tower brace:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...with-pics.html


I don't have any dyno numbers for you, but it certainly is a noticeable change and seems consistent with the dyno sheet that the power comes on sooner and harder.

Sorry if the pics aren't great, it's a hard thing to really show you, it just looks shiny and smooth.

I think I may have found a place that can tune our ECUs, so I'll have a dyno sheet of the result of all my mods after the tune.


PS. If anyone decides to do this, my take-off manifold is available.

RRocket

Since (I think) I was the one who pointed you in that direction, it's great to see you took the plunge! Well done...and I'm especially glad that you can feel some gains.

Looking forward to the dyno tune when the time comes.

Everything looks so smooth and clean after it's been extrude hones, eh?

joemg

I think you may have put that in my ear on my failed Tundra intake manifold thread which sent me digging through the archives of CL and led me to that thread above. Thank you very much for the suggestion!

It should be interesting to see just how much we can squeeze out with all the possible boltons (extrude honed manifold, headers, & exhaust) and the tuning. The VVTI tuning should yield some gains from what I've seen on other engines.

I'll start a thread about the tune once everything is locked in. I've been talking with Frank Smith from TTFS (http://tuningtechfs.com) on the East Coast, he comes to San Diego several times a year and just happens to be heading this way in a couple weeks, so I'm going to schedule the tune while he's here. I saw a lot of CL threads for ISFs and other, more modern cars on here that said good things.

RRocket

I think you'll need a piggy back though.....for tuning.

joemg

Ahh, thats the rub. I will not be doing a piggyback, this is a reflash of the oem ECU. There are now several companies with hardware that can do it. So they can tune everything, not just air/fuel.

Check out this thread I've been posting on at Lextreme:
https://www.lextreme.com/forums/inde...e-flash.17541/

RRocket

That's among the most important parts IMO. If the car is running lean or rich...they have no way to tune it. Makes it somewhat pointless IMO.

If I had a choice, I'd contact RR Racing...or send my ECO to them. Many, many satisfied customers on the forum..plus the are a sponsor IIRC.

joemg

Sorry, I don't follow you... they'll be able to tune air/fuel as well as VVT and any other parameters, so they'll be able to make sure it's not lean or rich.


I reached out to RR racing in that lextreme thread, they say they can do it, but you likely have to send the ECU out for a base map on a SC430 and I think they would just send you custom map, not a full dyno tune. I liked that TTFS can do a local or remote dyno session.

RRocket

I misread.

I thought I saw "not tune air/fuel" rather than "not just" as you typed.

I can't wait to see your results.

joemg

Here are the pics of the catch can. I strongly recommend getting one of these, they're so cheap. I wish I had taken pictures of how disgusting the buildup on the throttle body/intake manifold was before cleaning it.

Apologies for the lighting, the sun wasn't cooperating, lol.

digitatc

Please update this thread 6months/1year down the road when you clean the can. I was looking into the oil catch can as well but then dropped the idea after reading about it not helping much.
Kudo for the effort with extrude honing, you're the first to do it with the SC430.

Coleroad

The reason for the oil in the intake tube. Is a malfunctioning PCV system. So on this car either a bad PCV valve, or a plug somewhere in the system. If you were running forced induction, the story could be different. The catch can doesn’t stop the excessive crankcase pressure from the non functioning PCV system.the ctach can is kinda like giving the car an aspirin. It doesn’t fix the issue, it just masks it .

joemg

Can you elaborate on this? Isn't this the function of the PCV valve, to blow off the oily air out of the crankcase and into the intake tract? My understanding is by its very nature, without a catch can, oily air dirties up the throttle body/manifold/etc.

What leads you to believe the PCV isn't functioning correctly?

RRocket

I've had a couple of these engines with 400k on them.

Cars ran issue free...which makes me believe it's no issue on these cars. At least measurably so.

joemg

My understanding of PCV systems in general is that they blowoff oily air, which won't affect the longevity of the engine but in theory would reduce its power the same way carbon buildup does in the head.

It's not a huge issue or anything, but I'd rather just avoid it, especially after going to the trouble of extrude honing the manifold to get the walls smooth and free-flowing.

RRocket

Either way, I don't think you have anything to worry about.