Piston Smack: There Once Was a Mark X in Myanmar…

Hailing from Myanmar, I have a first-gen Toyota Mark X. Barred in the U.S., and of interest to many JDM enthusiasts, I happen to think it’s just a spread Lexus IS two hundred fifty (but not fairly a GS). It’s got the Two.5-liter 4GR-FSE engine, and I’ve had this cold commence rattle for a few seconds every morning, and sometimes during the day as well. The issue’s well known and attributed to the cam gears in the VVTI system. Mine is a two thousand five model with more than 100,000 miles on it, so I wouldn’t want to spend a substantial amount of money if it’s not necessary.

So, if there are makeshift fixes that’ll hold it up until I let it go in a year or so, I’d like to know. If it is a real issue that menaces engine failure, I’ll get it stationary. What would you do?

Another problem: I think the Mark X is well made and mostly a nice car, but I have gripes with its (surprise!) steering feel. So I exchanged out the steering rack bushes with aluminum ones (pretty xxx, huh?). The on-center feel improved a entire lot, and I now have this hands-on-asphalt feel in a Toyota midsize sedan. The problem is, once I embark to turn the steering wheel (this being electrical steering), it’s floaty and I still can’t feel how far I’ve turned the wheels! I never thought a car with so much feedback on center would have problems with feel while off-center. For better steering feedback for the EPS system, I’m thinking of pulling the fuse for the electrified steering. I looked for the response on the interwebs but couldn’t find any — would running the electrified power steering system without power assist harm the innards of the system or not? I find a lot of people encouraging it as an enthusiast’s option, but no mention of possible harm to the steering system or not.

How cool is it to get a Piston Smack query from Myanmar? Very cool, as latest events encourage me to get another stamp on my passport.

To your very first query, cold embark rattles are annoyances at this point on the depreciation curve. The forum posts you mentioned mirror the “problem” I have with my ’95 Lincoln Mark VIII. Just last week I noted how Houston’s triple digit weather (i.e. hot oil) effectively muffled my rattling timing chain guides upon cold commence. Sure, there are chain guide upgrades to Ford’s Modular V8, but considering these motors are good for well over 250,000 miles before losing significant amounts of power…why bother?

Run synthetic oil and let the motor rattle when cold. It’s not gonna switch anything for a long, long time. If the motor’s fresh to the synthetic stuff, it might leak in a few catches sight of (oil filter adapter gasket), but hopefully it’s no worse than when I made the switch on my Mark VIII. That’s a petite price to pay for the extra protection.

Your 2nd question? Go ahead and pull the fuse (or disconnect the wiring corset) to the assist motor. If common sense and GM recalls are any indication, these systems are designed to operate even when the motors fail to provide assist. But your tiller will undoubtedly hate you tugging against that poor leather wrapping with every labored yank on the wheel.

Unlike my power steering-free Ford Sierra, the Mark X is a mighty vehicle with an engine above the turning wheels. Since the tires are significantly larger (and the tiller smaller) than old-school rails with no power assist, just a single maneuver into a taut parking spot shall make you regret this decision.

I wouldn’t even do the aluminum bushings — I hate unnecessary NVH — but since you did, I reckon you’ve done all you can to improve the Mark’s vague electrical steering. Perhaps one day there will be a superior motor upgrade for all systems!

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