xspeed23

Need some input. 2004 LS430 181K miles.
According to Lexus dealer, I need the following:
Replace valve cover gaskets, spark plug tube seals, camshaft oil seals, valve cover grommets, timing belt, water pump, coolant, drive belt, and spark plugs. Found camshaft oil seals and valve cover gaskets leaking engine oil onto exhaust. Camshafts have to be removed to replace cam seals.
Per Lexus Dealer: $2,900
Per Toyota Dealer (within walking distance): $1,900
Does this sound reasonable? Is there anything else I need to have changed while they are in there? Will be wise to have the Toyota dealer do this job? I cannot do this myself. Not that daring with these...

Comments welcome and appreciated. Thanks.

jimbosr1

first thing i would do is buy the parts yourself,then find a independent shop to do all that is required.you will save a lot of cash when you bring you own parts.
they can only charge you labor only.where are you in GA?

xspeed23

Thanks for your response. Gwinnett county, North East suburb of Atl.

Johnhav430

I haven't done anything yet at an indie, but food for thought...my understanding is that when one supplies one's own parts, there's no warranty for the job.....so I'd want to know what the price differential is....let's say 20%. If parts are cheap and labor is expensive, what if the parts are say $600 (for example). Would it be worth it to save $120, and have no warranty, or pay $120, and have a 1 yr. warranty. So even if they made a mistake using your parts, no redos.....my .02.

And with dealers, sometimes they discount just because you asked. I know my first Lexus service last month did on the brake flush and coolant drain.

BradTank

Also, remember that just because a dealership says "you need it!" doesn't really make it so.

I bet if any member here took there 180k miles LS into a dealership, they would also say it needs $3,000 in repairs, even if it actually didn't. And some of these repairs aren't typical, if the car is dripping some oil onto the exhaust, my guess is the problem is with the valve cover gaskets and has less to do with cam seals.

So you may want to prioritize repairs, a car with that mileage, you can constantly make the case that something needs to be replaced.

Bocatrip

Whereever you get it done ask for all the old parts. The spark plug tube seals are a pain to remove and I maybe finding out soon that my tube seals might not have been changed even though I supplied the Indy with all the parts (low life). I had mine done a few years ago.

Tom57

It really depends on how long you plan to keep your LS. I believe the maintenance schedule calls for R&R cam seals on the 2nd timing belt replacement - i.e. 180K miles. If the cam seals aren't leaking now, they may/will be in the next 20K - 30K miles. Much of the labor to replace the cam seals is done when the TB/WP is replaced. Moreover, to R&R the cam seals, the valve covers have to come off too since the camshafts must be removed - so that likely means coolant, valve cover gaskets and spark plug tube seals - again if you don't do the job simultaneously. If you're doing BOTH the TB/WP together with valve cover gaskets, seals, etc. with new coolant, I'd spend the extra to R&R the cam seals. You'd be really disappointed if you spent say $1,500 on everything except replacement of the cam seals only to discover after the job is "done" that the only leak you still have is from the cam seals.

The Toyota dealer can handle the job, but if you could find an Indy who would do the job with OE parts that you supply, that would be most cost-efficient.

Notes:
* Oil leaking onto the exhaust is an inconvenience, but oil could also leak onto and destroy the alternator (located on passenger side directly below the front passenger-side cam seal).
** I have an '01 LS with 270K miles, and wish I had replaced cam seals at 180K miles.

xspeed23

Thanks everyone for your very helpful comments. I have a way forward now. There is a slight hint of the smell of burning oil lately, that is why I had the car checked by the dealer. I was told like a year ago about a small seepage around the valve cover and I rode that out for a while. Time to get this fixed. Thanks again. Appreciated.

zapola6

I have an 01 that had leaking valve cover gaskets... I now have 230,000 miles on it now.. About a year ago I started smelling oil. I took a 10MM socket to the valve covers, bolts were only finger tight. Tightened the valve cover bolts 30,000 miles ago and not a single issue yet. The is not to say that this has cured my problem for ever, they may start leaking tomorrow and need to be replaced. Who knows, tightening the bolts may last me another 100,000 miles. I didn't use a torque wrench, I just snugged them down.

LSDoc

Tom57,

Your comment: " I believe the maintenance schedule calls for R&R cam seals on the 2nd timing belt replacement - i.e. 180K miles" has me wondering and having second thoughts. I had my water pump/timing belt changed at 160,7xx miles (second time) and the indie shop that I use (services only Lexus/Toyota) did not recommend replacing the cam seal, if I recall correctly. A few thousand miles after that procedure, I noticed that I had a slow oil leak, took it back to them, and they diagnosed a cam seal leak! He said it was quite rare for them to see this happen on the LS430. However, due to the fact that this is a slow leak and replacing it would be $1500, I decided to ride it out for awhile, or until something else requires opening up the top of the engine, or I get tired of replacing a quart of oil every now and then, and/or looking at the oil on my garage floor. That's something that I've not experienced in a modern vehicle. Imagine that in a Lexus LS430!!!

Tom57

LSDoc,

I replaced the TB/WP for the first time on my longest owned LS, the '01, at 183K miles (twice the suggested mileage). Then, after the '01 sat idle for a few weeks at about 210K miles, the valve cover and spark plug tube gaskets started to dry up, leaked and so I replaced. That solved the largest volume of the oil leak, but I still had a slight weep from the front cam seals, which has gradually gotten worse. (The very issue that the OP is / may be having.) Having done the TB/WP and the valve cover gaskets separately, I regret that I didn't do the entire job one time at 183K on the clock, since now at 270K if I do the cam seals, I'll replace all of the other parts again while it's completely torn down. I think the 180K mile mark is a milestone on the LS in that owners need to consider and decide how long they intend to keep the car before they put significant repairs into it.

The 3UZ-FE (4.3 L) is a unique, interference, timing belt (not chain) driven, 32-valve, quad cam engine. As these vehicles age, and as subsequent multiple owners log higher and higher mileage (as you, the OP and I have), replacement of the cam seal is one that previously hasn't gotten much attention here in the LS 3rd Gen forum (or even at dealerships as you mentioned) - and is why I encouraged the OP to consider his long-term ownership intention and change the cam seals while the engine is already torn down for both the WP/TB and valve cover gaskets, etc., since all of those assemblies must be removed to get to the cam seal repair, making it much more cost-efficient in the long run to do it all once at around 180K miles.

lextout

replace those cams seals!! i didnt and my alternator got destroyed from oil dripping on it from the vc, id say have the totoya dealer do it and call it a day, youll be good for another 100k miles.

jimbosr1

i am in warner robins just south of macon.i do travel every two months to Hmart which is across the street from gwinnett nissan.
i would bet that someone on this forum knows a good independent shop for our cars in your area.

volson

i live in cumming and do the work myself. I would not do VC gaskets and tube seals again. The work sucks so it will be expensive.

wnyjazz

This thread gives new meaning to the expression 'He did a complete 180.'

#showmethemoney