Rockbus

Hi guys.

I have a new to me 04 GX470. Its got 160K miles on it and I'm going through some maintenance. (I'm a jeep guy so this GX is a learning experience for me - Pink Radiator fluid? No tranny dipstick - whats with the World Standard oil? Who decided to put the starter under the intake manifold? What other surprises are there?).

Last Friday me and a guy that knows more about Toys than I do replaced the timing belt/WP/U-L Radiator hoses/Thermostat/serpentine belt.

The Timing Belt looked good so it must have been replaced during one of the maintenance periods by the previous owner (who did all the maintenance at the local lexus dealer like clockwork). WP has the pink dust/crud around it. Looked like the WP Pulley was wearing out - weep hole leak.

Couple issues/comments for anyone else looking to do this job.
1. Removed the radiator which freed up more room to work. Well worth the 15 minutes to do so.
2. Car would not start after buttoning up. Code said CPS Circuit A. Found a pinched wire harness for the CPS behind he AC compressor. So be aware. Added another hour for troubleshooting that problem.
3. There is a little radiator "Y" hose thingy on the front of the engine. Don't know what its called but I did not have the small heater hoses to replace them (short 6 inch pieces) so I'll have to go back and replace them. Looks like 1/2" ID and 3/8" ID hose.
4. Took 2 gallons of the Pink Toyota 50/50 and 12 oz of water to fill up after burping etc.
5. Replace the WP/Hyd Tensioner/TB Idler Pulley. You'd be silly stupid not to.



Gonna go through a few PMS in the next months.

Ray

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

make sure that cps wire is routed behind the fan bracket or the accessory belt will shred it in a few drives when the wire moves around. normally when its behind the bracket it cant reach the belt but its easy to forget and install the bracket first and then yeah repairing the wire is not fun I have done it before.

you dont have to use the world standard trans oil, I use the valvoline synthetic atf jugs lots of people use that instead on the 4runners its just fine. coolant I always use toyota red and mix it myself, toyota pink premix is good also either one works. starter is dumb but if you remove the whole intake as one piece (use extension and just hit the bottom bolts, you can pull the intake with injectors and everything doesn't take very long that way. good luck sounds like you got through the hardest parts already. keep an eye on the radiator they like to fail every 120-150k, and also keep an eye on the rear air suspension, thats about it on major stuff.

there is no dipstick anymore, but you can check the quality of your fluid with the car off just pull the top hose off the trans cooler in front of the radiator and you can see what the fluid looks like. dont let too much out or you will have to do a level check later and its not as easy as looking at a dipstick, you have to get it to the right temp and then check the fill hole for level, its like they went back 20 years in technology so you wont mess with it yourself.

Rockbus

Thanks for the info. I did look at the tranny fluid when some dripped from the hoses when the radiator was removed, and it looked OK. Still red.

I called Lexus about the radiator fluid service and they suggested two things if I wanted the fluid changed:

1 Drain and Fill. Which was $299 and sounded like a rip off to me.
2 Drain, replace the filter, new tranny oil pan gasket and fill. $500ish. This is a rip off.

And they said Lexus does not recommend a "Power Flush".

Called the local Toyota dealer to see if they charge less than the Lexus guys, and the Toyota dealer told me they cannot work on Lexus cars. Both dealers must be must be owned by the same guy.

Ray