Newbie With Lots Of Questions

[Mike Floutier]

Hi from England,

I'm going to look at a 2002 LS 430 this weekend that's done 140,000 miles and I'd be grateful if you all could help me with a few questions:

1. Are there any specific problems I should be looking out for.

2. I'd like to maintain the car myself. Are there any worshop manuals or other guides available to help me with this?

3. Where is the best place to get Lexus parts online in the US (I understand they're very expensive over here)

4. I hear that it has a timing/cam belt, how often does this need to be changed and can I do it myself?

That will do for now.

Thanks

Mike

[chilkoot]

there shouldn't be much in the way of maintenance on a 2002. change the oil and trans fluid, keep the power steering and brake fluid fresh and you've got quite some time before you have to worry about becoming a shadetree.

If you're feeling adventurous and are very confident in your abilities you can do the timing belt yourself. It's the 90k service and usually the water pump, timing belt idler pulleys, timing belt tensioner, cam seals and crank seal are changed with it, as they are all buried in the same place and failure of any one of could (and probably will) toast your engine. You have to be VERY careful doing this yourself on a 95+, as there's a very specific procedure on setting the engine to TDC and arresting the pulleys during the belt switch. As it's an interference engine if your crank and/or cam pulleys move once the timing belt is removed you risk certain valve damage; it is an interference engine and the cam/crank have to be synced up so that the pistons do not collide with the valves. Plan on it taking a full weekend, 15-20 hours of work for your first attempt. That crank pulley bolt is on tight, you'll need either a chain wrench or an impact gun to get it off. I went the chain wrench route and it worked like a charm.

No specific problems I know of in the later models. Maybe a goofy eccentricity here and there, but expect many trouble free miles.