Just curious, but is using the original timing belt until 120k miles unreasonable? Just curious, the car is at 112k right now and is a 2001

 

Probably yes.

But think about it this way, do you see yourself keeping the car for more or less then another 8years?
Then might as well get it over with now, unless you're planning ahead for a 2timing belt changes for the life of the car.

 

I just got done doing my timing belt, water pump, spark plugs etc and my 02 IS300 has around 120k as well. Had been putting it off partly because of time constraints and partly because it's my first timing belt change. Belt didn't look too bad at all and I've driven the car quite aggressively since day 1. Of course every car differs, driving style, environment, etc...

My crank bolt was a pain in the butt, SST, breaker bar, starter trick, cutting a slit down the middle to ease some of the load- none of it worked. I ended up grinding the bolt head down to the washer and using a harmonic balancer puller. Was able to unscrew the rest of the bolt out by hand after that, though. Broke 4 or 5 sockets in the process.

 

my car has 183K on it. when i bought her she had 147k, and i havent done the timing belt yet. do you guys think that shes still using her original timing belt?

 

most likely not, it was probably changed between 120-140K, but the only way to be sure is to find the service records for the car. I would highly consider changing it on yours though.

 

We are bringing the car in ar 114k, we now have 113k so only 1k more miles to go, and since i don't want to start another forum, ill ask this. The rubber boot surounding the actual shock, not the boot, ripped. If left like that, will anymore damage occur, and could it also be the cause of a thud noise everytime we run over a bump in the road? I9 plan on replacing the shocks soon, but having a high school budget, not even a college one haha, prevents me from changing them at the same time as a timing belt. Thanks for the help

 

One more question, if the es had a transmission flush at 30k would it be safe to do it again at 113k or should i just do a drain and fill? Reason i ask is because i hear of these stories of after having the transmission flushed by the dealer, the transmission locked up, but others have done the drain and fill method without fail. Thanks for the help

 

I've pulled bad belts off a car that looked perfect, except for the dozen or more missing teeth... Timing belts don't always look bad prior to failure...

Auto transmissions don't fail when flushed, if anything, they slip too much... If you can pull the dipstick and the fluid still looks ok and isn't burnt, then I say go for it... Chances are they ones that did have failures were way past due and trying to fix something that was already wrong... A trans flush is a maintenance procedure, not a repair procedure...

I'm not sure which boot you are talking about on the shock... There is an accordian looking boot that is just a dust cover around the shaft of the shock itself... its not the end of the world and no damage will come if this is torn or missing except a little excess wear on the shock itself... it sounds like your shocks are already worn out if you are getting a thud noise, though it could also be something loose...

 

Ya its the accordian type thing, and we'll be replacing them this summer. We just had it inspected and they say it needs new brakes, and the reason i asked about the transmission is because of threads in the es forum sayin how they failed after the service. Thanks for the help and advice, really appreciate it

 

As a Toyota Tech, I could assure you, don't get it flushed anywhere outside of a Toyota/Lexus dealer. That being said, most places will not perform flushes, long story short... you don't want to remove all the dirt and particles in the tranny as it has clutch material and other stuff. Once the tranny gets higher in mileage you will notice that it might cause a little more slippage. Since I have worked at a Toy and a Lex dealer, I have not seen one single "flush" using a machine. I have seen drain and fills, and some even pull the drain, while the engine is running and pouring T-IV from the gun, which is as close to a flush as I recommend. If it were my car, I would drain and fill with T-IV, if you go anywhere other than Toyota, they will use a generic ATF, and add friction modifiers to make it work, trust me, we have seen many failed transmission right after a power flush. Hope this helps. I assume this is for your ES?

 

Yep, this is for my es300 with well now 114k miles. It will be done at the Lexus dealership, so i'm guessing they will do what you recommended, and the transmission
isn't slipping at all right now, but they said to change it anyways.

 

I wouldn't go touting the dealer as being all high and mighty... there are definitely other places capable of doing the same work the dealer does, with the same fluids the dealer uses...

For instance, we used Toyota T-IV where required and other specialty fluids as well. Also, not all flush machines are created equally... the style we used was not a power flush machine and is realistically no different than what you claim about pulling the drain while the engine is running and refilling at the same time... the machine we used simply went inline between the trans cooler and the transmission and used the already flowing fluid pressure from the trans pump to pump out the old, while new was being added by the same pressure - what came out was replaced with new fluid and went straight back in under the same pressure...

So, are you really saying that Toyota and Lexus are charging for flushes, but flushes not being done???

 

Hmm, i just , for some reason, feel more at ease when the car goes to the dealer, even though i shouldn't because there are many other reliable mechanics, in my area, there are three who my friends go to and say are great but i don't know. The reason i ask so many questions is because i really know nothing about the mechanics of a car and what i should and shouldn't be doing. I really appreciate everyone's help here

 

Do you have to know everything????????? Can someone else have a moment and what he was saying about the friction modifiers is true and what you said is true. Also you are so argumentative and have to be right that you dont even consider the thought that you might not be right. Sorry for dissing you its just everytime i read a thread you have commented on i get so frustrated. Sorry for messing up your thread CHI2BFLO

 

I don't have to know everything, but when someone is spewing misinformation, I tend to correct them so that everyone else doesn't get the wrong idea.

I didn't say what he said about generic ATF and friction modifiers was false, I just added that the dealer is not the only ones capable of using the correct fluids.

What was false, 100% was this: "if you go anywhere other than Toyota, they will use a generic ATF, and add friction modifiers to make it work"

In this case, there is no possible way I am not right. I worked for two different independent repair facilities, and at both, we had access to your generic fluids, such as Dexron, Mercon, etc. We also had access to the special ones required by makes such as Toyota and Honda. There are also universal ATF's which are guaranteed by their manufacturers to work in each specific transmission. I always recommended using the OEM fluids in the vehicles that called for a specific fluid. However, some people are cheap and chose to use the universal fluids. So long as they were informed, the decision was on the customer. I can tell you this, for sure, we never had a transmission fail because of the universal fluid, period. I still recommend OEM though. The universal fluids still didn't need any friction modifier - they came from the manufacturer the way they were designed to be put into a car. Here's one that we used with no detrimental effects: http://www.castrol.com/castrol/secti...tentId=7028224 Keep in mind, many use Amsoil as well, which is another multi vehicle auto trans fluid...