PjLex

I have a 98 Ls400 with 208,000 miles. The timing belt was last changed at 90,000 miles. I am getting ready to replace the timing belt and water pump, and most of the other important things. I.E. tensioner, idler pulleys and some o-rings. I have been looking around at different timing belt kits. I either want to get the aisin timing belt kit or get oem lexus parts from either sewell lexus online or someother lexus oem parts site. I would be willing to pay for the best quality. I have read that aisin is the oem supplier for toyota. Is it worth to pay up for Lexus parts from a dealership? I am not even sure if I have to replace all those parts or just the timing belt.
I called up Superior Lexus in Kc, mo. They told me around $550.00 for all the parts and fluids. I looked at sewell parts. com and it was about $350 for all parts except fluids. And I looked on drivewire.com at the aisin timing belt kit for $240 except the tensioner and fluids. I just don't want to pay more for the same thing or product.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks. Preston

randal

If you do a simple search on "Timing Belt" you will pull up a ton of info on this very subject. I understand the Aisin kit is very good. You do need to replace ALL of those parts now. Who knows what exactly was replaced at 90k? Perhaps the belt only.

deanbrown

I got mine from TimingBeltKit.com, through amazon. It was around $300 for the whole kit, and I've seen Aisin and 'made in Japan' all over the parts.

Also, that company you can call in the day time and they are very helpful. They don't have specific car experience, but they answer the phone and you can speak to a decent mechanic.

rishi

i got some info for you... check out my thread i posted few weeks ago... 1998 with 2000 motor you will see everything i got... i can get it for you also, have a look on the thread and see what you think... i'd to the thermostat and check out the drive belt also...

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

my nephew and I have done 5 TB/WP jobs, on mine and friends LS's. I used aisin one time and 4 times from: http://www.store.partsdinosaur.com/page247.html
everything fit perfect, and the car runs fantastic. the seals are cheap too from them, and did NOT come with the aisin kit, which ran the cost up.
that's my 2 cents worth, so you do what makes you "feel" the best... and good luck,

OH! on the 98+, skip the cam seals, unless they are leaking (big job).

deanshark

You do need to change all the other components, (water pump, tensioner, 2 idler bearings, crank seal) those usually go bad which causes belt damage. I use http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php for my parts. They got an Aisin kit for your car for $160 without the hydrolic tensioner which is $40, or a Gates kit for $166 which includes the tensioner. You would also need to get a crank seal for $12. As Billy said, don't do the cam seals unless they're leaking. You would need to pull the camshfts out to change those, it's not like the 97 and down where ya just pull the pulley off. Personally, I would go for the Gates kit. Here's the tutorials for removal and install of the 98 timing belt. Good luck.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/landar/...7622883357340/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/landar/...7622886015670/

Sewell

iTrader: (9)

Here's the specifics on what we have...


Darrel

3UZFTE

+1 for Sewell, they have great service and not to mention everything is OE.

Kansas

I like Sewell ... just surprised that their timing belt kit doesn't include a tensioner.

PJLex, I'm in the Kansas City metro area and have used Exact Performance in Mission Kansas for about 15 years to maintain our Toyota and Lexus vehicles ... including two timing belt services: http://www.exactauto.com/

The owner, Ben, even hooked me up in 2003 with an indie dealer friend of his who sold me the 2000 LS400 I'm still driving. I can't speak highly enough of Ben and his staff - absolutely the best I've encountered in 45 years of car ownership.

Sewell

iTrader: (9)

...sure it does, 2 of them in fact. We don't refer to them as tensioners but rather idler pulleys. Can you see the two in the picture? We include both idlers in our timing belt kit.

Darrel

fencera

13540-50030 is the "tensioner." It is not pictured.

Pictured is a belt tensioner pulley (13505-50021) and a belt idler pulley (13503-0F010)

It's a good idea to replace the actual hydraulic tensioner (13540-50030) when doing the job. It's under $40 from a dealer.

Good luck!

randal

FYI. Here is shot of the tensioner to the right of the tensioner pulley.

PjLex

Thanks for All the replies so far!

PjLex

I decided to go with Sewell Lexus and order all the parts there online. I also got the hydraulic tensioner from them too, although I had to call them up and get the part number.
Parts should be in the mail. Wish me luck.

deanshark

Is this the first timing belt job you are doing? If so, well, even if it's not, follow the directions in the 2 tutorials I posted and you should be OK. I don't have anything against Sewell, except 1 delivery which didn't get delivered, but that's ancient history. But I think you could have saved alot. Alot of places sell OEM parts anyway for much cheaper if you looked around. But now that they're on thier way, search the forum for any info on the T-belt. You'll find 100s of members who have changed thier T-belt and most willing to give advice. Good luck, any questions just ask.