SteezyLS98

Hello all,

Steezyls again asking more questions been about 8months owning my ls400 1998 and i noticed that my timing belt has not been changed so i was planning to change it in the up and coming months hopefully december of this year or january of 2016. My main questions are what psychical place sells a timing belt kit with water pump tensors o rings and idlers and if there is none can someone point me to a online shop or vendor on this forum that sells such type of kits for a decent amount of money nothing thats gonna rape my wallet but parts that are reliable and close to oem if not oem. as of right now all i've done was change spark plugs air filter oil and planing on changing my raidiator fluid same time as my timing belt someone please advise for i plan on doing this very soon. Also i checked ebay and found aisin with the belt water pump and other things like o rings just wondering if that brand its self is also a good buy or not.

Thanks,

SteezyLS98

aptoslexus

The Aisin kit is the one you want. You can get it at Rockauto.com or Amazon.com as well. I would pick up a new thermostat, gasket, and radiator hoses too.

brybo86

This.
Aisin IS OEM. The belt will say Lexus on it and will already have cam and crank marks on it.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

The belts will NOT say "Lexus" on them, they will say Mitsuboshi, which is the OEM supplier.

Stereorob

1998 original Tbelt? you need to get that changed yesterday!!!!

SteezyLS98

It's not the original engine as I bought it with a 2000 engine inside I have no knowledge of the old owner changing it he worked at lexus and before I signed for the title we had one of there techs check everything out and said everything's fine but just keep an eye out on stuff so since I got the car already I've driven about 9k to 10k miles on it but alright I will be purchasing the aisin kit I seen that was roughly around 140 with tensor and all thanks

Losiracer2

I just did an Aisin TKT030 TB/WP kit from RockAuto for my 1997 LS400. Cost was I think $185 shipped. It comes with a Mitsuboshi Belt, Aisin WP, NTN and NOK idler bearing and hydraulic tensioner, basically everything you need. I then purchased a Toyota thermostat for V8s, same P/N as Lexus since Toyota 4Runners use a variation of the 1UZ engine so it was pretty inexpensive, about 25 bucks with gasket.

Make SURE you replace the Cam and Crank seals. Rock auto has a special on Fel-Pro seals, I got mine for $2.54 a piece on closeout. Crank seal was $10.69 at the dealer. My engine had 255k and the crankseal went and covered the timing belt in oil, I had no choice but to basically do a TB since it was leaking oil bad. I recently bought the car, guy said the TB was done at 200k, but they probably neglected to do the Cam/Crank seals.

I called around and found a guy locally able to do it for me for 400 including the crank seals and cam seals. Most import shops wanted 525-550 for the job. Toyota wanted 800 for just labor if i supplied parts. I can't imagine what the Lexus dealer would demand, maybe close to 1000.

AandSC

I'm in the process of changing my TB/WP this weekend. Pulled the 16 year old timing belt off yesterday and it was in surprisingly good shape with no visible wear. You can tell the age though as its a bit less rigid than the new one. Would be interesting to see how many years you could get out of these belts on a low mileage car.

brybo86

Odd, I remember the belt in my kit being labeled

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

I urge you to check, I don't believe even the OEM belts say "lexus" on them.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Changing the cam seal on a 98-00 is a totally different job than a TB change. If you can confirm it's not leaking I would steer clear of changing it. Now if you actually were going in to just change the cam seals I would say do the TB while your in there. Sounds crazy right?

YODAONE

Here is belt shown to me at Lexus parts counter. Appears to be Mitsubishi logo but states "Made In USA".

YODAONE

I acquired a 1999 LS400 that purportedly had timing belt, #1 and #2 idler pulley and tensioner pulleys, serpentine belt tensioner assembly and miscellaneous other work performed by Panama City Mazda just before I acquired the vehicle. Slipshod work...While the attached images suggest certain parts were not replaced, if they were, the Autozone brand parts shown on the timing belt service failed in 10K miles. In rapid succession the serpentine belt tensioner bearing failed,(and exhibited poor/incorrect tension) then the water pump started leaking at weephole. While replacing serpentine belt tensioner assembly was able to observe significant belt dust in cam timing assembly covers and significant corrosion on timing belt pulleys on parts just over a year old.
Perhaps someone can chime in whether this is normal...or suspect.
An Aisin representative confirmed they do not sell waterpumps to Autozone. Accordingly, I cannot recommend anyone purchase timing belt service components or, for that matter, would have the same reservations acquiring, rebuilt or other components from them for a Lexus. Moreover, original OEM parts would have cost same from Lexus and, or, less from Rock Auto. Best to inquire where the parts are manufactured and agree the mechanic return old parts before allowing work be performed.