I'm taking it to Lexus. They said it's all OEM parts.

 

The thing about timing belts is one minute they are good and the next everything is totally not good LOL.There is no magic mileage or year range, when they break they break.

 

I did my own timing belt with the aisin (spell?) kit from amazon that does the pump and some pulleys too. I was under $150 I think and took me half a day. There is a good youtube video and the way this engine is so brilliantly designed it only goes back together one way. The Japanese have a word for that but i can't recall it.

 

Any improvement?

 

Hey what vehicle is that 1UZ out of I need a power steering pump with a nut on it like the one pictured.

 

OP...

Did Lexus sort out your cold-start noise issue?

Which component was noisy?

Am interested in your post because you are taking your vehicle to Lexus for Timing Belt Service, using OEM parts.and have low mileage, but 16/17 year old timing belt components.

Thanks

 

I did take it to Lexus and they said the noise was coming from the power steering pump. The problem is that it's working fine. The noise goes away after a few minutes. They wanted $1,000.00 to fix it. So I told them to hold off on them both and I will do the timing belt when the power steering pump goes out. I did change the powering steering fluid to a synthetic. There is another guy on here that has had the same noise for 7 years. Who knows how long it will last. I'll probably do them both next year. Not sure if this helps.

 

Did anyone first remove the serpentine belt to see if the noise abated??

 

Your PS pump noise may eventually go away on its own if you -fully- replaced old fluid with a new one of a -right type-.

 

Sorry for the late reply. I've changes the power steering fluid to a full synthetic and everyday the noise is getting quieter. It's not 100% gone but much improved. Still goes away after a few minutes.

 

I changed it to synthetic and seems to be going away. Still a very small noise that goes away after a few minutes. Thanks for the tip!

 

It's normal, the fluid takes a couple minutes to warm up and start flowing optimally. The PS pump is small so it's not abnormal to hear a little noise when it's under a slight load.