Knock Sensor Failure Likelihood 3.4L with 70,000 miles.

Damn nice! And Toyota (TRD) Red at that. Hmmm. Ideas..

 

Yeah you can do it now as the engine is out of the truck, soooo easy now

 

Sweet deal. Did you sand any before he took them?

 

No but after, I cleaned them up with a file. They wouldn’t sandblast them they hot tank em, and boy I recommend cleaning the vc vents by several soaks with gasoline then soapy water followed by some isopropyl alcohol to clean the vents out. I was blowing air through the vents and baked on brownie bits shot out like crazy, they were spotless before but hot tanking made me notice black sludge on the clean insides that led me to clean the vents. I’m gonna buy more pcv valves now. I should have got pics of the shit that came out, Gross.

 

I have to keep up with you 97, lol, you’re charger had me drooling after the port job, then I test drove the trd pro and decided I’m going to go ape on my truck the new ones scare me! I wont get into that, 45k is no joke and 20mpg for a stocker. I’d rather be running a first gen boosted w/methonal and get 20+ mpg, like you.

 

I keep vat with about 3 gallons of this stuff for soaking parts. It lasts a long time. I can freshen it up with some Naptha if it starts to lose its kick.

 

I've had good luck on steel parts with VHT ceramic paint. The trick to using that product is to soal the parts in acid to thoroughly clean, then prime and follow the baking process to get the ceramic to kick. I know I can't dip aluminum parts in acid. I'm not sure how VHT ceramic header would work on aluminum. Powder coating may be the answer.





After being exposed to exhaust temp heat for 5 years, these parts still look great.

 

You refreshed a VH45 and a VQ30 huh? What were those in. The VQ30 was short lived in the states, the VH was around a while and is a great swap motor..

I just did similar to a VG30 haha

 

I'm loving this 5VZFE 3.4L. It reminds me of an easy to work on mix between a VH45 and a VQ30. I'm really starting to love Toyota.

The VH45DE is in this Q45. It has a tuned ECU (Stage 2 and Stage 3) buddy with one like it took it to 160 MPH. I don't want to talk about how far I've pushed it.

These are all running daily.



It's been upgraded to Phase II TCU, Drive Shaft and Injectors. It has a LevelTen transmission that was originally built for the NICO club founder.



The VQ30s have been for 4th gen Maximas. I've had five of them. Two most recent 4th gens are. The 4th gens have been lowered with H&R springs. Koni Orange struts. The suspensions have sub-frame spacers made up from parts from Z32/S14, Suba WRX, and some Delrin bushings for a Titan Truck.

99 SE 5MT



98 Automatic with the VLSD transmission from an I30T.

 

That awesome! I've had two gen 4 maxis a gen 5.5 and a gen 3. Never bothered to mess with the VQ30 but it was a great reliable beast. I did play with the 35 and right now I'm working on my VG30 in my Z31.

I've always viewed Toyota and Nissan as similar in quality, at least up until Renault bought Nissan and Mitsubishi. But Nissan was always more power ambitious than Toyota.

 

please feel free to get into it!

 

LOL. This was when I first got the truck. The fluid was practically black! I have a Motive bleeder which makes it quick and easy so I tend to do it on my vehicles every year.

 

I need to get a Motive adapter for Toyota.

 

You asked so here goes...F@&k that they are nice looking but I could build a few first gens long travel, with custom nearly, every single thing and for 45k thats utter b.s.. for 1 truck. All I kinda want is those sexy wheels but it’s mainly the hubcaps I like. Here goes some hate, no sticks just paddle shifters too many ecu’s controlling lane assist and a mode to get ya off the road for a nap, Toyota is catering to some fu fu stuff. The fox shocks are cheapo versions of real mid travel ones, man I better stop. I hate that I’d love to have one, lol. Oh damn the seats are sweet but would be sweeter in our trucks.

 

fu fu

thanks for the rant, i like my truck just a bit more now
my seats are not that bad for their age, can ride with ease for more than an hour before I need to stretch

 

@CS_AR @Speedytech7 do you have part numbers for any WYIT items while replacing the knock sensors and harness? I don’t wanna get too carried away but is that one coolant line a common failure? Perhaps some other little coolant hoses or vacuum lines as alluded to earlier in the thread?

If anyone has part numbers for prudent WYIT stuff I’d appreciate it.

Thanks.

 

I can't remember specifically, but I normally replace the KS sensor harness along with sensors in a major refresh. Since the replacement engine had low miles, I most likely wrapped it with silicone tape and wiring insulation. One item that I didn't expect to replace was the injector pigtails. It turned out that O'Reilly carried the pigtails. I kept the original wires and replaced the plastic part of the pigtail that was crumbling from age. Also, consider sending your injectors out for cleaning and servicing to get new o-rings and screens. It usually costs around $25 per for good servicing.

When you pull the intake, post a picture to let us see if you have any pitting on the head surface around the coolant ports then we can advise from there.

 

Ok, the coolant ports would be the small circular openings in a zig zag pattern?

Did you replace any other hoses and seals while you were in there? Thanks again.

 

The coolant ports are the square openings. The oval/rounded-shaped ports are for valves. The heater coolant pipe is nickel plated as I recall. That took RTV to seal it to the block -- no gasket required.

I replaced every rubber coolant, fuel, and vacuum hose during the refresh. I might have kept one vacuum line that was like new.