Nevermind, found it for ya!

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...f-old-one.html

 

The used ones I've seen are around $3-4k

 

3UZ-FE are generally available used with low miles, why would anyone buy a new one when the total cost including install would far exceed the value of the vehicle?

 

I'm just asking a theoretical question.

I'm not in the market for one and never will be, but I'm curious how much the actual motors cost when the cars were new. Someone on another forum said it was an $18k engine. That sounds like a lot, but with the 6 bolt main design, FAA approval, and indestructibility (not to mention performance and refinement), I'd say the cost of a brand new one would be quite a pretty penny.

If it is an $18k engine and the LS started around 60k, that's 1/3 of the price of the car.

 

I hear that in Japan, they can't register vehicles with more than a certain number of miles/years, so their fairly low-mileage engines end up in the U.S. as used engines for us.

 

Had mine changed around 109k. Mechanic told me he typically sees them go at 115k. I didn't ask what the number of cases seen was. I just had it done so I would feel better.

 

Devlyyn, that belt just looks so deteriorated that I may have to modify my thinking on the TB. I wonder if your LS spent most of its days in PA or was it in a hot climate?

I would also carefully examine your water pump, turn the shaft and see if perhaps it was binding. That alone would rapidly heat the belt and cause the deterioration that you saw.

 

The belts themselves rarely fail. The tensioners will. At higher mileage 150k+. Especially in Northern climates with all your snow and rusting and salt. This is why I always tell people to buy the Aisin kit that includes the tensioners. Loose a tensioner or bearing you will loose the belt.

I am talking about doing your first one at 90k as required and approaching your 2nd at 180k. If you skip the first then good luck. It makes sense to do the tensions every time you do the service.

 

It's not an $18K engine ~ $6.5K new. Google is your friend ... http://www.powertrainproducts.net/mo...FYQ5aQodX3IA_w

$18K would be an extremely high [st]ealer price, even with installation. Comparing $18K to the total 2004-06 list price of the car overstates the actual build cost of the vehicle vs. a rebuild. $6.5K is a retail list price today. Toyota actual cost for the 3UZ-FE is far less, and to install the engine at initial assembly just an allocated fraction of the per vehicle assembly cost. This discussion does highlight that a blown engine often spells junk yard for this, or most any vehicle, since it costs more to repair than the market value of the car.

 

what if you bought it part by part and had lexus assemble it, like the government would figure the cost.

 

I almost wonder if someone may have pulled a fast one with an odometer swap and the car really has 200k miles?

Something was definitely going on in that case that wasn't typical. I think 99 out of 100 cars' timing belts would have looked perfect after 105k miles.

 

Lexus records from NJ when it was first bought go up to around 60k miles. Carfax shows it was sold at several auctions between now and then. The rest of the car and engine is pristine. That, and the prevailing sentiment on this forum, is part of the reason I was so surprised to find the TB in this state. I guess someone has to be in that 1%

 

I was wondering the same thing, for a brief moment, if the odometer had been rolled back. Thats how bad that belt looks. I would definitely be scrutinizing the idler and tensioner pulleys, along with the pump to see if one of those failed and caused excessive frictional heating and wear.

 

The fact that it's been in several auctions is a big red flag in my opinion.

Again, this is just internet speculation from someone that has never even seen the car, but for what most would consider low miles for the age of the car, that's usually not where well-kept cars bounce around.

 

The number is far less than 1% overall, and with only 115K miles, the number who have experienced what you have is even smaller ... which does open the serious question whether the odometer has been rolled back. You should examine all internal parts to determine and isolate what caused the belt to fray (so prematurely). The 3UZ-FE is like a fine Swiss watch, but your belt looks like something out of a GM-built car of the 60's with nylon timing chain and cam shaft gear.