Hi everyone,

I just bought a 2004 LS430 with just under 140,000 miles on it and it needed the timing belt replaced. There weren't any records of it being done, but the previous owner thought it was done around 90,000 miles, but it was over 10 years ago. I replaced the spark plugs while I was at it since I didn't see records of that.

The repair wasn't as bad as I thought. It took a while, but it was actually one of the smoother and less frustrating repairs I've done. My previous car was a 2002 Corolla, and I would repair it when it broke (no preventative maintenance ). I've done brakes, oil pan, fuel injectors, brake lines, radiator, and a few other odd things. If you've done some repairs before this should be manageable.

This was the first repair where I actually paid attention to torque specs, and it was surprising how little torque most things needed. Part of it may be that the torque wrench is longer than my ratchet, but I think I've been over tightening things for years. Has anyone else noticed this when they use a torque wrench?

I typed up my notes that I took during the repair and turned it into step by step instructions with pictures and torque specs included. I'll try to attach a pdf in case people find it helpful.

If anyone has tips on making sure the radiator doesn't have air let me know; that's the one thing I'm not too sure about. Do I just drive it around for a while and top it off? I ran the heat for 15 minutes or so right after the repair and filled it up.

 

The torque seems low but remember everything is a steel bolt threading into aluminum. The factory procedure for bleeding the cooling system is running the car at 2500 rpms with the heat on high for a minute or two. These cars aren't really prone to getting air pockets.

 

Consider adding your post to this thread, it will be more likely to help the next guy!

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...ent-ls430.html

 

Now THAT is a first post.

Thank you for the time and effort, and welcome to ClubLexus.

 

That makes sense. I put some medium thread locker on most of the fasteners, so I guess they'll be fine.

I'll do that; I think I read through that thread before I did mine.

 

There ended up being a little hiccup in the repair after all; it seems like I can never escape without something going a bit wrong when I fix my cars. When I had put the thermostat housing back on, I used some sealant that I found in the basement that was who knows how old. Bad idea. I thought it was a bit risky but figured that since it was right on top it's not too hard to fix if it leaks. Well, sure enough, it leaked. I bought some better RTV gasket maker and some more coolant and sealed it up again, hopefully it holds up better this time. Lesson learned: don't use old or questionable gasket maker! The stuff isn't that expensive anyways!