justthefac

My car is 1999 GS300 with 213,000 miles is in great shape and I love the car and take good care of it. Recently had timing belt changed at local shop. Shop is well know for working on Lexus and higher end cars and have used them in previous jobs with no problems. We talked about what they would do and check for leaks of water pump and other seals on front end. They found no problems. As soon as I got car back noticed oil leak coming from under the timing belt cover that I know had not been there before. I advised them of the problem and they said to bring it back and they would look at it and let me know. Got call back and was told that a cam shaft seal was leaking and they would replace both cam seals and the crank seal. I said ok and just wanted it fixed. Went to pick it up and they had replaced the timing belt due to oil getting on it at no charge to me and only charged me around $100 labor and $33 for seals. After driving car for a couple of days I notice oil is still leaking and I have also notice several recent looking scratches on very end of VVT pulley and groves on crankshaft pulley have been damaged. I am looking for thoughts on what they may have done and where do I go from here. Am tempted to take it to Lexus to fix and ask them to pay the repair bill and of course am wishing I had taken it to Lexus to begin with. Thoughts, and thanks for your help.

iToaster

The VVT pulley itself is probably leaking. There's a seal inside of it that keeps the oil in that likes to get hard with age. A new pulley will run around $150, which is the only Lexus approved way of stopping this leak, or you can attempt to replace the seal if you can find one of the companies selling them.

justthefac

Thanks Toaster I will make sure to mention the pulley to them.

ttaylor993

justthefac,

JeffTsai, a frequent contributor to this forum and an expert on servicing the 2jz engine, has a youtube video out on how to rebuild the VVTi cam pulley. If you don't want to rebuild it yourself, he will sell you a rebuilt one for less than half of what the dealer charges. Or he will rebuild one for you. Here is a link to the video, fyi.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KQGRulDJSk

justthefac

Thanks Taylor. I watched the video and very impressive. I often wish I knew more about our cars and I do know more than the average person I guess thanks to this forum. I just love to drive my car and wish I could personally fix everything that goes wrong with it but of course I cannot.

mk2tmr2

iTrader: (1)

Here's a link to Jeff's online store that carries the rebuild kits and/or rebuild services - whichever you prefer.

ttaylor993

justthefac,

Don't sell yourself short. Working on the 2jz is a lot easier than you might think - especially if you use the information in this forum. You may want to try changing the VVTi pulley yourself. Jeff has a series of youtube videos on how to change the timing belt, water pump, seals, etc. I watched them and am giving a shot at servicing my '00 GS3 myself. It'll save me over a grand with all that I am doing. I'm just an average guy who hasn't done more than change plugs, wires or a starter or alternator in the past. And this was long time ago; before OCDB II codes, ECUs and all the electronics in today's cars.

Jeff makes it look easy, so I said what the hey! Anyway... here are the links to the videos in case you want to give it a shot:

Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: Part 4: part 5:
Good luck!

justthefac

Taylor, some very good videos and very well done. For sure looks like he understands our engines and had a great looking garage and setup. Thanks.