RXGS

iTrader: (2)

You have a great shop that's willing to take responsibility and rectify the problem. Most places would say its normal and say be on your way. Best bet is to let them tear into and let them find the issue. It must be the same part as it goes away when they replace it, so maybe its a poor quality part? Try opting for the OEM one if you haven't already and hope for the best.

NOVARX300

I dropped off my RX300 yesterday and just got a call from the shop. They spent 7 hours pulling everything apart and found the problem. It's the Hydraulic Tensioner which they say usually never needs to be replaced and I saw on one site can easily last past 200k miles. My RX300 still has less than a 100k miles. The shop never recommends replacing the HT while replacing Timing Belt & Water Pump because it usually outlasts engine life expectancy. Apparently, when the idler bearings were replaced (both times) it was just a matter of time until the noise would reappear. Glad I was persistent in having them identify the problem because left unattended the failure could be catastrophic for the engine. I'm being charged ($357) this time for parts and labor since the HT was not part of the original work and caused the idler bearings to fail. Shop is going to check if it can be covered by the warranty but expects it to be turned down since they already covered replacing the idler bearings the previous two times and HT wasn't replaced during the original TB & WP replacement in July 2015. When you buy the TB kit, does it come with a new tensioner? If so, wouldn't it be the responsibility of the shop to replace everything that comes with the TB kit? When the warranty was researched and they agreed to pay for the work done on the idler bearings (twice), do they have any responsibility to inquire, make sure, or pay for the work if the TB kit came with a new tensioner?

I'm assuming that the TB was adjusted to spec each time the idler bearings were replaced and it would just be a matter of time until the failed HT wouldn't adjust the tension on the TB and the noise (eventually leading to idler bearing failure) would reappear. I plan to ask the shop later why the difference on a daily basis between cold start up (no noise apparent) to a while later when engine is hot and noise reappears. Wouldn't HT just fail completely and cause the noise to appear whenever the engine is running? A little surprised that if the HT was the problem - wouldn't they have found a loose TB while replacing the idler bearings that would have ultimately led to the failed HT being the problem? I'll need to confirm with them if the noise was from the TB being loose on the teeth of the camshaft and whether it was hitting something - the cover. Was it jumping time?

Thoughts?

Chocolate

Anyone who is doing the timing belt and water pump, get the OEM part kit (Bando, Mitsuboshi parts) on ebay and find a mechanic to install them. Trust me, don't ***** around with a Continental kit, my engine ran another 25,000 miles without an issue but the engine never sounded the same. After that experience, any moving engine part is OEM.

artbuc

Sounds like the shop can't find the real reason (or is not willing to tell you the real reason) so it is blaming the HT and/or just trying to recover some labor. Did they show you the HT and explain how it failed and how it caused other bearing to fail? Any competent tech would check the HT when doing a TB job. Whole story sounds fishy. I bet the original tech made the same mistake twice which was discovered by him or another tech on the 3rd try. Rather than admit the mistake, they blamed the HT, saved face (not really) and recovered some dough.