tradosauru

Before I bought my 2005 Lexus LS 430 last week the salesman said the timing belt was done. Even the advertisement stated the same.

However the Mylexusdriver website doesn't show anything about a timing belt being completed.

Talking to a Service advisor this evening at the Lexus dealer I bought the car, he stated there should be a sticker under the hood that say the timing belt was completed.

Lifting up the hood I found the following sticker but with no mileage or dates. Should I assume then that the timing belt was indeed changed?

AandSC

How many miles on your car? Did the dealership say when the timing belt was replaced, or is he just going by the sticker? The sticker should be a good indication that it was changed....would be good for you to know when and how many miles.

KING

iTrader: (1)

Ummm, if the sticker doesn't have any writing on it, and the My Lexus Service History website doesn't show it being done, or at least specifying a date that it was done, I'd call them out big time.

Seems like they might be trying to get away with advertising what they do not provide!

Salesman will more than likely say they've done so and so to the car... especially when there isn't a way for you to check if they're telling the truth.


I'd honestly make a big deal out of it, and in case they weren't able to provide proof of it being changed, I'd ask them to change it on their expense, or just take my business somewhere else. But, that's just me Truth and transparency is what I would expect when doing business with whomever.

tradosauru

Well the Lexus dealer is about a 3 hr drive from me. I'm just trying use any excuse of not having to tear down the vehicle to inspect the timing belt.
The car has 107,500 miles and I was told that right before it was sold to me the timing belt was done. For all I know a service tech took a 50 cent timing belt sticker and attached it under the hood without doing any work.
I guess I won't really know unless I look at the timing belt myself. I'm wondering if I can pull the timing belt top cover off fairly easy to look at the timing belt?
Hell, I guess I will just plan on buying all the parts after winter and doing the job myself. If it looks like all the parts are new then I will send the timing belt kit back.


I am planning on jacking up the car this Friday and with the wheels off inspect the brakes pads & rotors, look at the color of the transmission fluid and do a general inspection under the car.

takimanpgt

Time value of money. If you plan to do this all yourself, no point in wondering if the timing belt was done or not.

AandSC

How does your coolant look? If they replaced the timing belt they should have replaced the water pump, which means replacing the coolant. Also, can you see any impact wrench marks on the damper pulley bolt? That would also be an indication that the belt has been changed.

It's not that hard a job to pull a timing belt cover off and look at the belt. Probably worth the peace of mind to do that. Not sure if you can get one of the covers off without removing the coolant manifold off the top of the motor....but if you can it should just be a matter of removing the engine cover, air intake assembly, drive belt and then the cover.

The best tutorial I've seen is the YouTube video

tradosauru

Good point about the impact marks on the crankshaft bolt. I will pull the timing cover off of both sides if I can and check the belt also. The fluid condition would also help.

BradTank

That's definitely a crappy situation.

I never really thought about it, but even if the sticker had a mileage written on it, that doesn't really mean anything either if you're dealing with someone dishonest.

I wonder though if those stickers only come with a timing belt kit? If so, I think that makes it unlikely someone bought a timing belt kit, grabbed the sticker out, but then never installed it. It's not like an oil change reminder sticker where shops have hundreds of them floating around at all times. I think the only way you get that specific sticker is when you buy a timing belt.

To me, the real question is "did the Lexus dealership that you bought the car from perform the timing belt service, or did they purchase it that way and the previous owner had it done elsewhere?" If they maintain they did the timing belt service themselves, I would at the least make them guarantee that in writing considering there's no record of it in their own system, yet it was sold that way to you.

campisi

I was thinking the exact same thing as BradTank. If you're not the trusting type even if the sticker had a date and mileage written on it how do you know it was really done? I think it's likely that it really was done. Pull off the engine covers and look at all of the things that had to be taken off to do it. As someone suggested look for marks on the crank bolt, check the foam surround around the radiator. That thing ALWAYS disintegrates when it's removed and it will either be new, in pieces or not there at all if the belt was changed. Check all of the front covers and bolts for being nicked or clean. Clean means they were probably pulled. Not sure you could tell much by looking at the belt as mine was at 94K when I changed it and it looked pretty darn good. Markings were different though. Also not sure you could tell much by the coolant as mine looked like new when I replaced it. Oh,also check the transmission coolant line clamps to the radiator, they should be marked up if they were removed. All of these things should give you an indication of wheither it was done or not.

takimanpgt

Many complicated solutions being proposed to you. But I just read your other thread about purchasing the car. And saw that the salesman SHOWED you paperwork attesting to the timing belt being replaced by the dealership after the car was traded in. So the only thing missing is an update on the mylexus site and a date/mileage on the sticker. You can do both yourself manually. I wouldn't worry about this any longer.

JffGRY706

maybe the writing wiped off. try a blacklight or ultraviolet light to see if the image can be seen. that is not the sticker that Lexus dealers use, when my timing belt was done they did not put any sticker on at all.

tradosauru

I don't think the writing would have wiped off within 2 weeks but I will try.

Is your timing belt replacement listed on the Mylexusdrivers website? You also state that the sticker is not the one the Lexus dealer uses but you don't have one under your hood? How do you know what the sticker looks like? The Lexus service advisor I called said there would be a sticker if the timing belt was completed.

tradosauru

Having the engine covers off today I looked at the crankshaft bolt and it appeared that there was a bit of scoring on the corners of the crankshaft bolt. I didn't get a chance to take off the timing belt covers. The radiator fluid looked clean.

I did replace the serpentine belt as it didn't look new but I don't know if this would mean anything.

JffGRY706

yes, my 90,000 mile service with details are on the my lexus report. mitsuboshi sells kits on ebay, don't think dealership would need kit from ebay. the stickers I have seen are smaller and white and don't name mitsuboshi

tradosauru

Does anyone that has had their timing belt changed at a Lexus dealer have a sticker underneath their hood? If so what does it look like?