Brian S

I had the local mechanic do the timing belt on my 98 LS400. No dealership or good import shops around here. They do good work, but don't really have any experience with Lexus. The did everything except for the crank and cam seals. They said they did not have the tools to do them and they looked dry. Should I really worry about them?

Also, they figured they'd go ahead and do the plugs, so they put standard ones in there. Guess that's a no, no. I'm driving around with standard plugs for the next week or so until I get some Iridiums.

Brian

Lexusfreak

How much for the TB & did they replace the water pump?

hyperopt

A screwdriver and a hammer are needed to replace the seals. Your mechanic didn't have those?

Brian S

It was $278 to replace everything, including water pump, idlers, and tensioner. I brought my own parts which I paid about $390 total for from Carson.

The only defense I might have is maybe normally you use some tool to replace these?? Maybe they didn't want to half-*** it? But I really don't know, that's why I'm here. Are they are hard to remove? I don't think they were trying to skip replacing parts, becuase I have the old ones of all the others sitting in a box.

BTW, I got new torquemaster plugs and a set of OEM wires from Carson. A total of $200. In the meantime, my car seems to be running fine on the ones they stuck in there.

Thanks,

Brian

yoji6365

Im gussing the plugs just wont last as long as iridiums. You'd probably notice some performance and efficiency issues later as well.

Thats not a bad price for changing the timing belt.

hyperopt

Shop manual calls for screwdriver & hammer to remove those seals and seal driver to put the seals in. Seal driver is nice to have but not really required. Seals are easy to replace.

VVT-i

Brian S on the 98 LS400 with VVT-i engine. The crank shaft seal is easy to replace, but the cam seals are not.

To replace the cam seals on this engine you will have to remove the valve cover, cam shafts, and undo the VVT-i gears. Then you can slide the cam seals out . I did this one time and it took me about 6 hrs just to do one side. A pain in the neck, especially those VVT-i gears.

hyperopt

Oops, I was thinking about non-VVT-i engines.

VVT-i

Yeah, when I got the job I was thinking the same thing too.. . Well, by the time I know how deep I'm in..it was too late..

Brian S

Are these things I should really worry whether they replaced or not? Do you think it will be good for another 100,000 miles?

I appreciate everyone's input. I'm a newb when it comes to mechanicals.

Thanks,

Brian

VVT-i

Don't worry about it. If those seals leaking oil and you see the oil spot on your garage floor, then you can worry about it and pay the bill. To do the cam seals on the 98-05 LS its may cost you over a $1,000.00 just for labor. Fortunately, I've not seen any of the V-8 with VVT-i with leaking cam seals yet.

Brian S

Thanks for the reassurance. I just want to know I can drive it with confidence that things were likely done right.

Welp, I have the seals in case I ever need them. I just wonder why the Carson parts guy suggested I replace them along with the other stuff.

Thanks,

Brian

Brian S

It looks like wrong spark plugs was the least of my problems. My car blew its head gasket yesterday evening:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=159005

Blanco

iTrader: (8)

Looks like I might the first. Friday I went and had an alignment done because a few weeks ago I had the L-tuned s/s installed on my 98 GS400. Tech says I've got a leak, he thinks it's the high side power steering line. Immeadiately after alignment is done I drive over to JPI. Jason takes a look....After removing the cam gear cover we see oil all over.

Lucky me, I was planning on having the timing belt and pump replaced later this fall, but now I'm having it done now to save some on labor to have the cam/crank seals done at the same time. Funny thing was, 2 weeks ago when Jason install the s/s the engine was dry and clean, so it looks like we caught it early before any damage could be done. Got home last night and noticed only a couple of drops of oil on the garage floor.......Looks like I dodged a bullet this time.