branshew Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 I am looking into purchasing a 1st gen LS 400 (probably 93 or 94) to replace my ES 300. I have read the buying guide links above and in the process I have heard several things about an EGR hose being a PITA to fix. What would I look for/listen for when examining/driving the car to know if there is a potential problem? What are the effects of a bad EGR hose? What should/could I expect to pay for a timimg belt change from a reputable independent mechanic. (My mechanic charged me $450 for a TB & WP on my ES.) - or what have you paid at someone other than the dealer? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blake918 Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 I'd say $800-$1k is a good deal on the tb, water pump, tensioner, and idlers. The dealer will request $1,200-$1,500. This V8 is a completely different animal from the 1UZFE in your '300. The front half of the V8 has to be torn off in order to get to the belt(a lot of labor!!!!), and the parts are pretty high: ~$100 for the pump, $70 for the tensioner, $50 for the belt, and I believe about $80 for the 2 idlers(l&r cost different $$)...and a few jugs of Toyota coolant @ $20 a jug. While you have her apart, it's a good time for a new ignition, but be prepared for big $$ on iridium plugs(unless you can get lucky on ebay). You can probably do better on the parts prices, but I sure as hell wouldn't roll the dice with no name parts for such an involved job. ;) My ES300 had excessive egr flow a while back. The car was basically a slug...it accelerated poorly, the tranny shifted erratically, took forever to warm up, and idled rough. Fortunately, my ES is OBDII, so the ECU pointed the finger to about 4-5 problem areas to check. I'm not familiar with the egr problems on the first gen LS's, but I'm sure the symptoms are similar to what happened in my ES. You will not regret getting a LS. The LS rides worlds of better than the ES's we drive, and the V8 is a real hoot! The best part about the LS is the way it ages; my '95 has 250, 1xx miles(26k of which were put on last year), and she asks for nothing more than regular fluid changes...my ES has been drastically less reliable(a lot of electronic issues). My LS had not a single manditory repair last year while my ES was a different story. Good Luck and keep us posted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chips229 Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 Hi....i replaced the EGR pipe on my series 1 LS400 a few months ago... I did the job myself,it took me nearly two days :chairshot: The easy bit is getting the old pipe off,theres two bolts that hold the pipe tight to the induction manifold by the bulkhead,at the back of the engine when your looking at it from the front of the car...Theres two bolts holding the other end which bolts onto the down pipe of the exhaust,and theres one more bolt which going through a bracket and holds the pipe steady in the middle (length wise)... When driving your car,with all the windows up,you wont really hear that the pipes blowing(leaking) exhaust gas....with the engine running,open the bonnet and listen near the bulkhead area,on my uk car the pipes on the left hand side of the engine,as looking from the front of the car....anyway listening,gentley tickle the throttle,i found i could hear the noise better when the engine was started from cold....tickle the throttle and you should hear a noise,like when the exhaust manifold is leaking... The tricky part of replacing the pipe is `A` the price of the pipe £98 roughly here in the uk from Lexus :chairshot: and `B` trying to get the new pipe in place.... I tied rope to each end of the pipe to help pull it into place.....Cos of the shape of the bracket which sticks out from near the middle its a real fiddley :chairshot: job to get into place....thats where the time went...i had to get a friend to help by pulling on the rope,well i tryed every which way to push it into place :chairshot: I think id rather take the engine out if i had to do the job again.... Its one of the worst jobs ive ever done on a car. Improvements were......the engine warms up quicker from cold,as no gases are escaping.......the engine now runs smoother and quieter and the cars abit better on fuel.... After all that hard work now im trying to sale the car :chairshot: Hope thats been of some help to you all. Cheers chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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