Stemmer

Having a transmission drain and refill and coolant drain and refill shortly. '99 RX over 200,000 miles and to my knowledge it has the original radiator hoses. Is this something I need to replace as preventive maintenance? It's never been recommended during any general inspection. Think it will cost me $50 for a coolant drain and refill or $300 to replace both upper and lower hoses and coolant. The mechanic will look at the two drive belts changed 65,000 miles ago and advise if they need replacement. Does the same go for the radiator hoses, that they can be observed or am I simply overdue and need to do it, OR, are the hoses really a lifetime deal. I'm planning on keeping the vehicle for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for any thoughts.

hypervish

I would suggest to replace both the upper and lower hoses. It's a pretty simple job, if you want to take it upon yourself to change them out. I figure it's cheaper to replace a hose, than to fix a overheated engine (head gasket, or even worse it'll seize). $300 sounds excessive to me though, but maybe he's going to flush the entire cooling system, and not just drain the radiator.

My uncle just had one of his lower rad hoses pop on his 93' GS300, luckily no damage occurred.

The drive belts, are something that should be looked at and replaced if need be. It's never fun to be stranded out on the road without power steering but at least it won't cause much damage if it breaks. I usually check my belts before leaving for a road trip (every month). My A/C belt is squeaking a little bit, but only on very humid mornings. I haven't ever replaced it, the last time it was replaced was probably 90k miles.

To be honest, I never do coolant drain and fills. EVER... But, I'm thinking about maybe doing one next summer. Just for the hell of it.

mckellyb

Replacing the upper/lower hoses on this engine is a breeze! Don't forget heater hoses. I've had that bite me int the past with other vehicles.

When you do it, make sure to keep the old, but still 'good', hoses so you have a backup in case you ever need one. Same thing with belts. Insurance, and all. I keep all the leftovers in the depression of the plastic spare tire cover and over where the tire-changing tools are.

code58

That's good advice, and most people don't think of that. I once replaced the hoses on a Chev' PU that I ordered new and the NEW hose failed in a month or so because of a manufacturing flaw. Hoses today are MUCH better quality than they used to be. Just like belts (timing and drive), hoses are made of materials that are far superiour to what wa used in the past. (Simply a matter of increased knowledge in how to build and GREATLY improved material techknowledgey). I personally keep an eye on ALL things, but specifically things like belts and hoses. If the are not cracked, are soft and pliable, I keep on running 'em. My DIL and Son traded their '97 Suburban in '08 and with 180K mi. on the original hoses, they still were quite soft and absolutely no sign of deterioration and my DIL's '99 RX still has the original hoses (in excellent condition) at 155K mi. You understand why I don't automatically change 'em. I do the work on their vehicles. If you buy replacement parts from a parts store, I can almost GUARANTEE you, you will be replaceing with a much inferior product than the car was built with.

mckellyb

Used to be, 20+ years back, it was easy to see when hoses/belts were worn/tired. Not now, though!

A tired hose had the wrong feel to it. Belts...you could feel little bitty cracks in the running surface, if you knew to look for it.

They're made of more durable materials today, but I'm not convinced the penny-pinching isn't prominent in the manufacturing aspect. Hence, if you have spares, they don't take up much space/mass, so why not keep 'em around?

I may even keep the old timing belt, just in case. Y'never know....

I've changed one in a rest stop, once (not on this car), and I don't want to do it again, but will if need be.

Stemmer

Appreciate the replies. I will have my indy perform a general inspection for replacement recommendations as my RX went in service June '98 and obviously has lots of original parts. But in all likelihood I will replace the radiator hoses. I'm not a DIY'er unfortunately.

code58

MCK- Read up on what the OEM belts and hoses are made of now and HOW they're made, as compared to the past. Then you'll understand why many cars could go the life of the vehicle today without the belts or hoses actually breaking. It's a different universe compared to what it used to be. I actually have seen people who had the funds to do so replace ALL belts and hoses every 2 years. Maybe made a little more sense then than now. Today that's living 30-40 years ago, rather than keeping up with modern techknowledgey. I spent my life in automotive and what is available today in materials bears NO comparison to what used to be available. I CAUTION, we're taliking OEM parts and materials, NOT AFTERMARKET! There it's an UNKNOWN, some good, some BAD! ALL bets are off, down that road, especially with so much stuff coming from 3rd world countries now, even in the big brand name stuff.

mckellyb

Oh, I can dig it, I know the materials and construction are USUALLY much, much better, but I'd rather change mine every 8-10 years/100K miles, and have extras. $75 for piece-of-mind works for me. Plus, this forces a change of coolant and poking around, underhood.

I have had new-construction belts fail, though it was only a partial failure on a serpentine belt. Still got me home, which was 300 miles. SO much better than the "good old days"!

I'm a better-than-average gearhead, but I never have liked repairing things, roadside.

Oil changes are another thing people REALLY overdo, today. I run 10K mile changes on the RX, on Mobil 1 and an extended-length high-quality NAPA filter. The STS I have has an oil life indicator, hold 7-8 quarts, and is also on M1. Looks like I'm going to do about 12-13K mile changes on it.

@100K miles, the RX consumes -0- over this time frame, which blows my mind.

3mo/3K miles is very 1952-1982. 6mo/5K miles is very 1992. I'm tempted to go with 15K mile changes, but this car doesn't see a great deal of miles. That'd be two years, and oil can hold gasoline blow-by acids only so long. 'Bout a year for synthetics. This is why there is a time limit on changes, too. It's not like the oil 'goes bad'.

code58

MCK,
I have no problem with what anyone does with their own vehicle (as long as they don't send me the bill-) Many people come to forum sites looking for information because they don't really have any idea what the facts really are. There were 5 of us boys and ALL of us worked on our own cars. 3 of us made our living working on them. I told my oldest brother (since deceased) and my youngest brother (not yet deceased ) when they aquired their new cars to forget all they knew from 10 or 20 years ago, and I meant it! More changes in 1 year now than used to change in 10 years! A large # of car owners are living in the past (sometimes distant) and are completely out of touch with current cars. I agree with you concerning the oil, though I've been a 3K mi. oil changer my whole life, which is now out of touch. Our '11 Camry comes with synthetic from the factory and the 10K mi. changes it calls for is what it's going to get. At over 8K it's still on the full mark and very clean. I also agree with you (for most people) in the belts and hoses (emphasis on the MOST) As for me, my head is always under the hood, even on the new car. I virtually don't know what a breakdown is because of PREVENTATIVE maintenance. I probably will continue to "run" current hoses and belts regardless of miles, with frequent inspection, because of experience, NOT because I'm cheap, have never been.

mckellyb

Yep, it's the cheap man who often pays the most. "Cheap" and "frugal" are vastly different.

I'd rather have to learn about something from scratch than "take it to someone". I'm just that way. Was even underhood, yesterday, on the new-to-me '05 STS checking intake manifold bolts. GM doesn't subscribe to using even the gentlest of Locktite.

I'm going to change the belts on my wife's '02 RX300 when I do the timing belt this winter, both just 'cause, and because the A/C belt makes a small bit of noise. I quite literally have to remove 'em to do this job, anyway, so I might as well replace 'em while I'm there.

code58

Interestingly mck, I replaced the drive belts on my DIL's RX because they were showing a little wear. I was at Pep Boys for something else and noticed that the original belts on the RX said "Toyota manufactured by Dayco", so, since they carried Dayco belts I went ahead and got the new belts there. I had problems with the grooved A/C/Alt. belt squealing although it was tight enough. I put the old belts back on and no squeal. I took a mic and miced the grooves and they were faintly different than the old one. I returned them and went to Toyota to get OEM belts and to my surprise the OEM belts were somewhat cheaper RETAIL than the Dayco aftermarket that I bought at PB. I'm still shocked at that!

BTW- I spent most of my life replacing parts WAY before they needed to be because of my consevative nature and the fact that, working in the trade, I could always buy parts at cost. With major improvement in quality in THE RIGHT parts I have tended to become more realistic about when I replace parts. Never inviting failure, but not replacing parts that simply had a good safety margin left in them. When going on a long trip I would often replace many parts that were only at a half way point in their life.

mckellyb

Wow! OEM parts at a lower cost than aftermarket. Amazing.

I'm with you on doing my best to replace before failure, on the stuff you may see coming. Belts, hoses, front-end parts, and the like. This is because I don't like walking, however...

I'm not about to replace an alternator/power steering pump because it has 125K miles on it...unless it gives me good reason to. Now, if I'm about to take a cross-country trip, and I wonder about something, if I happen to have a spare, I'll keep it with me, and bring the tools I need to change it. This is quite infrequent, however.

I'd take any of our vehicles cross-country, right now, without a second thought, and without any special preparation. Well, the RX could use tires, soon, but as long as it's not snowing or a frog-choker of a storm, they'd be fine for 5k miles.

Time for sleep...I hope. Insomnia is a drag.

artbuc

Interesting discussion. I still follow this forum even though my RX got totalled last year. I also follow a Toyota forum since I own a 99 Avalon which has many of the same parts as my RX. One guy over there is a strong advocate of replacing fuel pumps on a PM basis. He swears that when he changed his at 200k miles, he saw a dramatic improvement in engine performance. I chimed in and said I would not replace a fuel pump unless it failed electrical and pressure checks.

Roger, would you ever replace a working fuel pump just as a precaution? I guess if I had 175k miles on my Avy (or RX) and was taking her out for a long trip, I might consider it.

Lexmex

I have considered replacing my fuel filter, but not my pump. However, I also have had people with a variety of cars report the same positive response, increased performance. The filter is not really that expensive from my recollection, but it's something I'd have to find time to do.

code58

Art- Good to see you haven't abandoned us. You were always a valuable part of this forum.
One thing I would like to know (not before answering this question) is HOW MANY RX owners (or other T/L owners that use FP/filter arangements like the RX) actually have EVER changed their fuel filter??? I know my DIL's RX has never been changed in 155K mi. that it now has on it. I also know (not from personal experience, but observation of others experience) that MANY fuel pumps fail from running the fuel too low on a regular basis and overheating the pump as well as not replacing the fuel filter (when becoming obstructed at all) and causing the FP to work too hard and causing premature failure. I feel that with the use of top tier fuel, always filling up when the tank hits NO LOWER than 1/4 tank and preferably 1/3 tank and making sure the filter is ALWAYS unobstructed (meaning keep check on it even if it is an intank filter like the RX) that there is a good chance the car will go to it's grave with the original pump. Those pumps are amazing, and if they're kept cool with adaquate fuel (as well as lubricated with that same fuel) they do an incredible job. The problem is, I doubt that more than more than 1-5 in 100 ever meet all of those goals. As far as myself, I probably wouldn't change the pump AS LONG as I met those goals, for the reasons I've mentioned.

Please do us all a favor and all who pass this way chime in on the fuel filter maintenance and replacement on your T/L vehicle with the intank filter. Thanks in advance.

Roger