wbmx1981

I changed my timing belt and did the whole 90k service myself in January. Yesterday I realized my car was leaking oil from the Vvti pulley. I'm going to need to take the car apart and get it replaced. I'm going to do the timing belt just to be safe. It looks like it might have oil on it. It shouldn't be so bad this time around since all the other 90k parts are still new. The first time it took me two days. It's still cheaper than a new car payment, but most importantly I love this car.

aneidiaz

Good luck bro! I hope everything goes well and it's up and running excellently in no time!

wbmx1981

Thank you man! I'm just going to take my time. Even though I've done this before, I will have the manual in front of me.

aneidiaz

Smart man! I'm sure it will come out good!

ttaylor993

I changed my TB a couple of months ago and had the same problem. In addition to the VVt-i pulley leaking, I also failed to tighten the cap that holds the exhaust cam/seal. The belt got some oil on it over the couple of days before I noticed the leaks. I dried it off real good and reused it. I checked it every other day or so for a while to make sure everything was OK. I think it will be OK. I believe as long as they are not constantly exposed to oil and fluids the belt should be fine. Btw, things will go a lot smoother the 2nd time going in.

wbmx1981

The new vvt-i pulley arrived from sewell earlier this week. I tore into the car and replaced the leaky pulley. The car is all put back together leak free.

mikeloc24

Now I'm dealing with a leaky VVT-I pulley....I got a tune up today along with having the valve cover gaskets changed when my mechanic discovered the leaky pulley. I'm waiting until Monday to hear what the part costs but I'm assuming it's about $200....

I'm hoping this is it because I've dropped about $2k into this car in the last month in just maintenance

ttaylor993

You can re build that pulley for $20 in parts. All you need is a new O-ring from Jeff Tsai and about 15 minutes of time (for the rebuild). Here is the link on how to DIY.


Or you can send the pulley to Jeff and he'll rebuild it for you for $50; or he will sell you a rebuilt pulley for $100 and will give you a $50 refund when you send him your old pulley.

This will save you a few bucks.

wbmx1981

You can rebuilt it for $20, gamble and take it apart or you can buy it directly from Lexus Sewell and sleep really good at night. I chose to sleep really good at night.

ttaylor993

That's an interesting point of view from someone who would eagerly tear into a motor to change the VVT-i pulley; a task that includes removing and re-installing the timing belt. All of which is considerably more complex than replacing an O-ring in the pulley. With that line of thinking, why not just let the dealer do that pulley/TB work for you. Anyway... to each his own.

wbmx1981

I see your point. I actually thought about the pulley O ring route. I just didn't want to do all that work then cross my finger hoping I didn't screw up the pulley that's all I was getting at.

GSGenesis

I don't know what in the world all the hype about the pulley not being allowed to be taken apart is all about.....give a 1st grader with the common knowledge of stacking lego's a VVTI pulley, mark 3 red points on the pully, one on each piece, take it apart and tell him to stack them so the red dots meet again... Hell do it. It honestly won't... Go back together if it's not positioned correctly... I don't understand why the dealer has said such a thing... The only thing that's tricky, is making sure, or having confidence in yourself, that the O'ring was compressed right at the right time to sit in it's groove.... As seen in his video, I think, you have to stretch the O'ring out much larger then it's bedding, and as it shrinks to correct size you are putting the cap on which then just holds it in place, there's no stretching it to seat it then caping it, by then it's shrunk to small and has came out of it's bed. Get me? That's really all that is "iffy" should I say, hence why I used a bead if FIPG outside of the orings diam. And also in it's bedding hoping it may act as a little glue extending that time frame for caping it by maybe a second? Or two? Lol... You can honestly feel it though, you know if it sat correctly or not. I knew 100% my pully would be GTG. I went to the dealership and also bought a new crimp/rubber washer for the front cap, that you'll want to replace as well, otherwise that can very easily leak if not.. And your good! It's much easier than it sounds believe me don't waste the $250.

mikeloc24

This post is extremely useful. I'm paying a mechanic $304.00 tomorrow to do this repair because I simply don't have the time to do it myself. I'm sure Jeff's rebuild kit is substantially less than $304 and the job is so easy a child who loves legos could do it.

ttaylor993, thank you...I should rebuild it myself but I just don't have the time these days. It sucks that I have to pay someone $304 for something I could do myself for $20.

GSGenesis

Why don't you ask someone, like Jeff, or say.... Myself.... To do it for a fraction of that $304... And, $304.... lol why $304? HAHA that's like Jeff sellin the O'ring for $19..... Hahaha crazy mechanic...

nikko2jzge

Bringing an old tread to life. After replacing my leaky VVTi pulley, I started the car up and it ran rough. All the timing marks line up. I went back to tear everything down and noticed that the VVTi pulley doesn't move freely (independent of camshaft) anymore. I loosed the 10mm hex bolt and it was able to move freely. How tight is too tight? Seems like it took a lot of force to get the old one off (which would move 30 degrees on the camshaft. What am I missing?