jaaa

I bought a gates timing belt kit and am in the process of doing it. I found this guide:
http://www.lextreme.com/timing.htm

Found lots of other for the 90-94 and 98-00, but only this one for the 95-97. If there other ones out there, and what did you use? Any tricks for holding the cams in place while doing the belt?

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

i used the 90-94 process to do my timing belt change on my 97, it's very similar. as for holding the cam gear, i didn't have the need to strap it down or anything. when you are in there and putting the new belt on it's pretty straightforward.

just triple check that the markings are lined up prior to rotating the crank. perform 2 full rotations then the markings (not the belt markings) should align once again.

here is how i did mine (not really a DIY, scroll down):
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/bui...n-ls400-2.html

jaaa

Thanks, I was about to go in that direction, but thought I would hold off to see if someone had a better guide for the 95-97. Appreciate the feedback.

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

Jon didn't use a "guide" on my 97, just lined the marks up before removing the belt and the cam barely moved and he just moved it back when he put the belt on and everything lined up, also did not rotate it.. worked great.

Banshee365

The Lexus shop manual has a slightly odd procedure, but I followed it and it really worked out well. It had you line up the crank with one of the idle studs which was about 90 degrees past TDC. This lowered all of the piston in the bores where the valves couldn't contract the top of the pistons. You had to eyeball the timing marks for the cams but it wasn't too difficult. I made no marks on either of the belts. I put the crank where the book said, removed the belt and installed the new belt on the timing marks on the engine. However, I used and Aisin kit so the belt had marks on it.

jaaa

This gates kit has marks too, which is nice. I was too cheap to buy a manual, so I'll have to suffer the consequences. It's going to have to get delayed anyway, as the fan housing bearing is shot and there were metal shavings all over. This is my third bad bearing in the last year, so 220k miles must be the distance for Lexus bearings.

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

you sure make me feel good, https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...he-future.html

jaaa

I did buy into a very neglected car, but that being said, not sure a bad alternator(bearings), tensioner bearing going out, and the fan housing bearing going out could be attributed totally to bad maintenance. I think plain old age and mileage is to blame here.

Banshee365

The fan bracket is a common wear item on these cars. Being that you also have a '96 I would be happy to provide you with some service info if you would like to see how Lexus would like you to do it. I can also help provide torque specs for other things along the way if you'd like.

jaaa

Thanks, I really appreciate that. I've got it almost totally tore down and should be working on the water pump today. If I run into trouble, I'll contact you for sure. I'm following the 90-94 procedure and it has been fine so far.

jaaa

Just got done with the timing belt/ water pump/ kit/ and fan bracket. Only real problem I had was having the bank one cam rotate on me as I was putting on the belt. Not a real big deal, and since I had done one on my santa fe last year, that helped too.