spo0k

About a month ago I walked out to my '97 LS and found a large pool of oil underneath. After doing a little cleaning and looking underneath the vehicle in an attempt to find the leak, it appears the oil is leaving through the crank seal and very quickly. With a little research I found that it is best to do the water pump, timing belt, cam seals, hydraulic tensioner and timing pulleys at the same time.
Being the busy person that I am, I decided to take it to a shop to have this done rather than do it myself. I got a call today from them telling me that they believe the oil pump is the actual source of the leak, which quadruples the original cost of repair. This is because it is recommended that they pull the engine to replace the oil pump.
Doing a little more research, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot to find other than the fact that the upper oil pan at least has to be removed to get to the oil pump and this requires the pulling of the engine or at very least cross member removal.

Has anyone had any experience replacing their oil pump and if so done this without pulling the engine? I am strongly considering doing the job myself now as I do have another vehicle and can take my time in saving myself a few thousand dollars. Any tips are greatly appreciated!

bradland

I haven't done the procedure but I just checked the service manual (2000) and the first step reads- "1. Remove engine from body."
I would have guessed the sub frame could be dropped to remove the oil pans...? Hopefully someone will chime in and say it ca be done.

Losiracer2

I doubt that's the source of your leak. My 97 was puking oil out the crank seal. Replace that seal along with the cam seals along with the TB/WP service.

I paid 400 for labor to replace all that for mine and its been fine after that.

I have a feeling they're taking you for a ride, trying to get you to spend more than what's necessary.

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

Yes, exactly this. Of course I have not seen the car, but if you are capable of doing this yourself, I think you'd be better off doing that. And when you're doing it, diagnose things considering that the shop diagnosis may be wrong.

And actually, if you can't do it yourself, you may be in a situation where it is economically best to sell the car as-is to someone who IS able to do it themselves. Spending many thousands of $$ for labor on these old cars usually does not make sense when you could just buy another one for less.

Also, I have not replaced the oil pump on my '91, but I do know that in general the Lexus manual will specify MANY extra unnecessary steps. I don't know if it's to prevent unexpected delays, pad the hours, or what. But I'd google to find someone who did replace an oil pump and see what they did - before I just believed the shop manual.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Different year but same concept.
​​​​​​https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...placement.html

dicer

There have been people that think they will save $ DIY but if its not your thing, then it can end up costing more time and $.

spuds

How much is the repair Lexus wants? If its 4-5 grand,I'd look for a new car.With a history.

Banshee365

Amskeptic

That manual is crafty and complicated. They overlap different operations so they don't have to endlessly re-write procedures. You need to jot down the specified steps for your exclusive procedure.
For example, if you are adjusting the valves, they will refer to you to the engine removal procedure where you just skim along the steps that help you "remove valve covers" steps while avoiding steps like "remove throttle body and intake plenum" or "attach chain to hoist hooks". I am being stupid here with my examples, but you get it.
Colin

spo0k

These match up with my own thoughts. The shop the car is at is part of a dealership that my wife works at. She gets a very low discounted service rate, which is why I tried sending it there. She had an appointment with a guy she trusts, but when I dropped it off I mistakingly put it in my name. Another mechanic ended up grabbing the keys out of the drop box with my name on it and began doing the work not knowing about the appointment already set. This particular guy has something against my wife from the past and coincidentally now this situation occurs.
I am going to bring the vehicle home and take a couple of pictures. From what I remember, I'm about 99% sure the leak was coming straight out of the crank seal right behind the crank pulley.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

You should be able to see the oil coming out of the weep hole in the timing cover if the leak is that bad.