Depends how long the original axles were in service with little to no grease in them. Replacing boots is very messy but not difficult. BTW EMPI makes good axles but I don't see them around much anymore.

 

Boot came in, dropped it off at Toyota Thursday night and had it back Friday night. 3 hours labor at $165, no alignment. Indy shop wouldn't re-boot it with the kit (couldn't get to it until 12/4 either); and after watching The Car Care Nut's video on it, I would only trust a Toyota/Lexus dealer to do it. A friend that's a tech told me to take it there since alot of them were done as warranty work, and it was a common repair for them. Pretty involved to do it correctly, and I have OEM parts on it, so I'm happy. Now I just have to figure out the LR knocking sound over bumps--sway bar bushings didn't fix it; also need to source a used rear sunshade since mine has quit. 191k and things are starting to wear out finally.

 

Did your car vibrate before re-booting the cv axles even slightly? And did you notice a difference after re-booting them?

 

This morning I dropped my car at the mechanic for the cv axles replacement. I just got a call from him saying that my power steering pump and one of the power steering lines are leaking and need to be replaced ($800 job). I trust my mechanic and I told him to go ahead with it.
The thing is, when I bought the car, the previous owner did an inspection on it at a reputable shop and they said there was seepage around the timing chain cover, but no action is required at this point. I'm hoping my mechanic didn't confuse that with power steering lol.
Also, he said transmission fluid is pretty dark after 270k km. So I will grab 12 liters of ATF WS from the Toyota dealership and drop them at the shop later today to do a transmission fluid flush. Hopefully, it won't need anything for a while now.

 

The timing cover leak on the 3.5 engine is rarely worth repairing as the cost benefit is not worth it. The leak is hardly ever more than enough to make a small mess at the lower part of the engine (it usually seeps/leaks at the lower, left rear side of the timing cover, it is a manufacturing problem with uneven distribution of sealant). Having said that, the leak never is enough to require adding oil. The problem is that to fix the timing cover leak the engine has to be removed and it costs $3000 more or less, which may be half the value of some of these old cars. Just clean it off with brake cleaner and keep an eye on it. Some have tightened the timing cover bolts and some have also added more RTV sealant around the leak area to try and slow it down or fix it.

I suspect the power steering leak could have been mistaken for a timing cover leak, depending on how closely they inspected it.

 

Thanks Clutchless for your valuable input. Yes, the timing cover from what I heard is not worth fixing if the leak is minor which is the case for most of these cars. Mine has just seepage around the area you mentioned I have looked at it myself, will let my mechanic know and see if it's actually a power steering leak.

 

Just talked with my mechanic again, he said they're pretty sure the leak is from the power steering pump. They said it was dripping on the cv axle and it was throwing it on the bottom side of the timing cover. They will clean everything after the repair, so I guess we'll see if I have timing chain cover leak or not.

 

Posted this in another thread regarding transmission fluid change, reposting it here because it's relevant to cv axles:

"Ok, so I just picked up my ES from the shop today. I asked them if they noticed any grit or metal shavings in the transmission fluid and they confirmed they didn't. They showed me a sample of the flushed fluid and it was just dark. I drove the car home and it shifts beautifully (same as I drove it in). There was a bit of traffic so I couldn't test it at high speeds for an extended stretch (will do that in the next few days). They replaced the cv axles, power steering pump, one of the power steering hoses and transmission fluid (I supplied Toyota ATF WS 12 quarts). The slight vibration that I had when accelerating (due to the leaky axles) is gone. I replaced the OEM axles with APWI and they seem to be good for now (I know they're new, but I've heard that aftermarket cv axles on these Lexuses usually vibrate as soon as you install them because of their bad quality).

The only thing I noticed when I got home was what appears to be a belt that is squealing. I'm thinking maybe one of the belts got some oil on it from when they changed the power steering pump. I will give it a few days and see if it goes away on its own, if not back to the shop it goes."