jegyed

Took my 01 gs430 in for timing belt and water pump. Car has 177,000 on it last done at 80,000. They called and suggested that I replace the other accessory belt , fine, but all the pulleys and tensioners as well for an additional 600 in parts cost no extra labor. To quote the service person " the Mechanic said they are noisy so now is the time".

Then they said the power steering pump is leaking ( no problems that I can tell) for $1000. Next up Engine Trans mounts for $800.

What makes me question them is they also want to do a fuel injection power flush for $189.
Brake flush for 105. It says 4% moisture dissolved solids. Can they actually test it?

They suggested other things like spark plugs a HD fuel treatment ? and a new PVC valve for $300

I told them I would come down and look at it and discuss it with them. I suspect that I will not be able to visually tell if the extra pulleys and tensioners are noisy since they have been removed from the car at this point.

Thanks for any insight.
I am ok with a wrench and will do the plugs PVC myself. Tempted to do the Power Steering pump and mounts as well.
John

bruceb58

I replace all the timing belt pulleys on my GS300 whenever I do the timing belt.

I also change my brake fluid every 3 years.

jegyed

I told the repair shop no on most of the items. For $600 they are doing the water pump mount pulley, tensioner, and one other pully ( forgot the name) The mechanic showed me the parts and they had a tiny bit of play in them but spun true. The play was if you pushed or pulled on them. He told me there should be absolutely none. They made no noise which is what the service manager said. Quote - REPLACE TIMING BELT-LEXUS/TOY V8: Customer Request- Phone Quote
08-05-2016
Replace Engine Timing Belt, T Belt Idler And Tensioner Pullies, Inspect Hyd Dampner,
Replace Drive Belt, Water Pump And Complete Coolant Service. Inspect Sepentine Belt
Pullies, Fan Clutch, Fan Bracket And Automatic Tensioner
Note: T Belt Hydraulic Tension Adjuster, Fan Bracket, Serpentine Belt Idler And Tensioner
Pully Or Tensioner Assembly, Cam Seals Will Be Inspected While Dissembled
L 535.60
1 62.30TIMING BELT (OEM)P 62.30
13568-09070
1 191.96Water Pump Kit (OE) 3/36P 191.96
16100-59275-83
1 44.28IDLER PULLEY, TIMING BELT - OE LEX/TOYP 44.28
13503-0F010
1 73.30TENSIONER PULLEY, TIMING BELT (OEM)P 73.30
13505-0F010
1 49.87Drive BeltP 49.87
BAN6PK-2240
1 25.30Coolant, Pink Super Long-Life (OE)P 25.30
00272-SLLC2
1 4.94Parts Cleaner, Non Chlor 14ozP 4.94

So it looks like the three other parts are adding up to $670 no additional labor. Called another shop that has a good reputation for general work and they are $350 for the Power Steering pump and $500 for the Engine mounts and the Transmission mount. Vs $1100 and $749. I know I am getting a rebuilt pump, but for that price difference its pretty hard to turn down.

badblackgs

iTrader: (1)

dont be so fast to jump at another shop quoting you a cheaper rate. its highly likely their not using quality mounts like ones from toyota or lexus. there is a company called anchor that is installed in alot of cars because shops get them for cheap and can turn around and have a large mark up on the parts. the problem is, the aftermarket motor and trans. mounts use a cheaper rubber durometer and that transfers alot of the engine vibration into the cabin. you should be asking what brand parts they are. also, DO NOT pass up on the hydraulic timing belt tensioner. That is a crucial part. even if they say its not leaking, replace it with a genuine toyota part.

newgsman

iTrader: (4)

Here's my experience with this stuff.

I just did my timing belt on my GS400 a few weeks ago. I changed both timing belt pulleys, tensioner, and the water pump (comes with idler pulley) I bought a Denso/Mitsoboshi kit from Rockauto.

I also did the accessory belt and the topmost idler pulley.

As I was reinstalling the tensioner pulley for the accessory belt the casting around the bolt hole on the tensioner basically fell apart. This was the 18 yearold factory original part. I guess they don't last forever There was absolutely no indication that this part was about to fail. I was in a rush so I picked up a cheap aftermarket one locally. The idler pulley on the faux fan bracket has been making noise for some time now. I ordered a Gates aftermarket unit from Rockauto. Plan to install this weekend.

I replaced my power steering pump about three years ago with an aftermarket (Cardone??) unit. It was leaking shortly after the install. I started putting Lucas stop leak in it and after a few months it stopped leaking. Hasn't been leaking for at least a year.

While doing the timing belt I also did the motor mounts. It is easier to access the passenger side mount from the front of the car with all of the accessories removed. The driver side is a pain... I used the cheap aftermarket ones, mainly because they were cheap. So far I am satisfied with the vibration isolation they provide. Sometimes I don't even notice the car running. Time will tell how long they will last.

My car has 415K Km so most of these parts were definitely due for replacement. The timing belt has been done twice before and the accessory belt once. The accessory pulleys are not a big deal because they are relatively easy to replace so you could just wait for failure or excessive noise.

jegyed

Thanks for the advise I will check on the quality of the parts. I was looking at Rock Auto at the same pump and after hearing about your leak will not buy it. If i were driving the car I would try the Lucas stop leak, but my daughter will be taking the car to College about a 1000 miles away so there is now way she monitor it properly. She loves the car and if you guys are getting 400K miles out of them, then doing it right is important.

Here is what the additional parts were Hydraulic Tensioner for the Timing belt $65, Tensioner for Auto belt $112 Idler pulley for Serpentine belt $111, and Acc Belt Idler assembly ( pulley and bracket) 314.09. I kept the idler assembly and will be showing it to a friend who is an engineer with Nissan to see if was required. The Mechanic told me that if I was only going to do one thing he recommended the Hydraulic Tensioner, as did you guys.
As for the power steering pump, it was right there with everything else off the car, why they wanted full book rate on labor? I should have asked becouse the service manager probably did not think about it the job being easier.

I just called the second shop and asked for the brand of mounts and he said he was not sure so I told him to quote me for the factory mounts.

CIGLexus

iTrader: (1)

They are doing an upsell on you plain and simple.

These people are obviously not Toyota mechanics, which never use the word "flush" for anything.

jegyed

I think your right the guy working on my car was nice enough but in talking to him he mentioned "Just last night in class we were talking about air filters". This shop presents themselves as former Lexus employees and Toyota Lexus experts. Which I suppose if that is all you work on you will eventually become one.

As far as upselling I am not used to anything that aggressive, the Dealer here in Nashville area, is much more laid back.

jegyed

[QUOTE=badblackgs;9587809]dont be so fast to jump at another shop quoting you a cheaper rate. its highly likely their not using quality mounts like ones from toyota or lexus. there is a company called anchor that is installed in alot of cars because shops get them for cheap and can turn around and have a large mark up on the parts. the problem is, the aftermarket motor and trans. mounts use a cheaper rubber durometer and that transfers alot of the engine vibration into the cabin. you should be asking what brand parts they are. also, DO NOT pass up on the hydraulic timing belt tensioner. That is a crucial part. even if they say its not leaking, replace it with a genuine toyota part.[/QUOTE


Thanks for the advice, I needed a part and went to Napa and for our cars they sell anchor. I asked the counter rep and he said Anchors version of Hydraulic has sand in it. A competitor did a training class and cut one open for them. Unfortunately that company does not make ours.

Thinking OEM or Beck Arnley, no one has the OEM's in stock and I have a time crunch.