Replacing The Water Pump, Timing Belt And A Tuneup

[billydpowell]

Well we are about half way thru, got it all disassembled, will finish today.

thanks for the photo and instruction.....

using first and second generation "helps"

http://www.lextreme.com/timing2.html

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/engine/timingbelt.html

also please look at http://www.lextreme.com/timing.htm

look at the last photo, the wording is:

you can see on this pic that crankshaft is on 0 and camshaft marker is aligned with the mark on the engine.

this is not right, the c/shaft is on "0", but you are looking at the right cam pulley, with the left cam maark on it and it is in the wrong position.

am I missing something here?? please help...

[oldskewel]

Hi Billy, I hope the job is going well. Regarding your question, earlier in the step 39 instructions, he says the belt is not lined up right, so ignore the "L-CAM" mark on the belt itself. He's just lining up the crank pulley with respect to the cam pulleys. Those marks on the belt are supposed to help, but don't matter as long as the other parts are aligned.

I can't see too well in his photo, but it seems there is a mark on the front face of the cam pulley (at about 2:30 in the photo, where straight up towards the top of the photo [not the car] would be 12:00) that is lned up with a mark on a black plate behind the pulley.

[billydpowell]

Hi Billy, I hope the job is going well. Regarding your question, earlier in the step 39 instructions, he says the belt is not lined up right, so ignore the "L-CAM" mark on the belt itself. He's just lining up the crank pulley with respect to the cam pulleys. Those marks on the belt are supposed to help, but don't matter as long as the other parts are aligned.

I can't see too well in his photo, but it seems there is a mark on the front face of the cam pulley (at about 2:30 in the photo, where straight up towards the top of the photo [not the car] would be 12:00) that is lned up with a mark on a black plate behind the pulley.

yep were ok. just wondering. thanks, bp

we got the pump and belt back on, so far...

[billydpowell]

we finished about 2 this afternoon, runs great, just need to see how much coolant it will need in the am.

[jpourcy]

Hi Bill,

What kind of time frame did it take to get your timing belt changed? Over 4 hours?

Did you change the crank and cam seals also?

Just wandering how much down time it's going to take to get mine done.

Jerry

[billydpowell]

Hi Bill,

What kind of time frame did it take to get your timing belt changed? Over 4 hours?

Did you change the crank and cam seals also?

Just wandering how much down time it's going to take to get mine done.

Jerry

my seals were fine..

It took us about 6 + hours, it was our first time, and we double checked EVERYTHING, lined all the marks up and was in no hurry. my nephew done the work and I read the instructions from the pc. figured out which bolts were necessary to secure the water pump with the red stuff... just took our time.

[billydpowell]

Hi Bill,

What kind of time frame did it take to get your timing belt changed? Over 4 hours?

Did you change the crank and cam seals also?

Just wandering how much down time it's going to take to get mine done.

Jerry

I have 3 items I didnt need, a OEM Idler pulley/bearing, OEM sparkplug tube seals, and an aftermarket sparkplug wire set, (pre cut custom fit) mine didnt need them. My car was probably done about 20k miles ago, but I didnt know it and could not find out, so we redone it to be safe. oh, I also have the distributor caps and rotors (I put the new ones on because I had them) if you want/need them.

give me a call 972 395 0678. bp

finished product

click twice for full view.

[eatingupblacktop]

I have 3 items I didnt need, a OEM Idler pulley/bearing, OEM sparkplug tube seals, and an aftermarket sparkplug wire set, (pre cut custom fit) mine didnt need them. My car was probably done about 20k miles ago, but I didnt know it and could not find out, so we redone it to be safe.

Good work Bill, but I think, to be safe as you say, you should have replaced the pulley, especially not knowing when it was last replaced. These things typically last 150% of the scheduled TB service - meaning they are liable to go half way to your next service. Nice car btw, but I'm not feeling the tires. :P

BTW, where did you place the stand in this pic? It doesn't look like it's under the cross member.

[billydpowell]

I have 3 items I didnt need, a OEM Idler pulley/bearing, OEM sparkplug tube seals, and an aftermarket sparkplug wire set, (pre cut custom fit) mine didnt need them. My car was probably done about 20k miles ago, but I didnt know it and could not find out, so we redone it to be safe.

Good work Bill, but I think, to be safe as you say, you should have replaced the pulley, especially not knowing when it was last replaced. These things typically last 150% of the scheduled TB service - meaning they are liable to go half way to your next service. Nice car btw, but I'm not feeling the tires. :P

BTW, where did you place the stand in this pic? It doesn't look like it's under the cross member.

OH, when I ordered my parts, I ordered 2 idlers, plus the adjuster, by mistake. it has a new one.... and I know about the tires..... I didnt like the wheels alone, and since I am 75+, I grew up with WSW tires, and had this set on it, so I just turned them around. Now when I see it I see the tires and that takes away from the wheels...... I am a redneck.... probably the only Lexus in Dallas with WSW's.

I'll give y'all a break and not post anymore photos..

cheers..

but here is a FEW of my older ones, I think you will get it.... bp

[jpourcy]

Standard procedure at a Lexus dealership to change the timing belt is to change the water pump, crank seal, cam seals, idler pulleys and possibly the tensioner.

Preventative maintenance.

Tear down the front of the engine once, take care of business, then you are good to go for another 90-100 thousand miles.

If the front crank seal goes out anytime soon you have to tear the front of the engine down all over again. Of course, this is OK for people that love tearing engines down and putting them back together all the time. Some people enjoy that, but I am not one of those people.

I made the mistake of replacing one of my distributor rotors and not changing the other one. Then the other one went bad so I changed it. Then one of the caps went bad. Instead of doing a tune up and changing all the rotors, caps wires and plugs like I should have done, I tried to get by as cheap as possible not knowing if I was going to keep the car or not.

Since I made the decision to keep it, I changed it all. Runs like a charm, and I shouldn't have to fool with the ignition system for a while.

If anyone decides to keep a vehicle, preventative maintenance is the way to go. I would rather change a half-worn lower radiator hose at my home or at my shop than change a busted one on the side of the interstate.

Jerry

[amcdonal86]

Damn, that's a nice garage. But really, are you holding your car up with a bottle jack and a scissor jack?!?

[blake918]

If the front crank seal goes out anytime soon you have to tear the front of the engine down all over again. Of course, this is OK for people that love tearing engines down and putting them back together all the time. Some people enjoy that, but I am not one of those people.

I agree. I forgot to change the crank seal when I changed the timing belt, tensioner, pulleys, water pump, etc. on my former '95 LS. It wasn't really leaking at the time, and I forgot to order the part, so we pressed on. What a mistake that was. Not long after that, I was back in there to change it and the cam seals. A leaky crank seal makes one hell of a mess on your car and driveway too. I hope Billy has better luck, but it looks like there is a fair amount of oil on the front of his engine in the pics, that upper oil pan is actually silver and not black when it's not covered in oil. Here's my before and after...

Before:

After:

[landar]

I am getting ready to do my TB, pump and other stuff. Just curious Billy, but did you happen to use a cam lock when you did the belt?

That keeps the cams from accidentally turning while removing the belt.

[billydpowell]

I am getting ready to do my TB, pump and other stuff. Just curious Billy, but did you happen to use a cam lock when you did the belt?

That keeps the cams from accidentally turning while removing the belt.

nope, we lined everything up and just took the belt off by releiving the pressure from the idlers, with no movement at all, and replaced it the same way, lining up all the marks on the belt with the marks on the engine

and I hope I am lucky by not replaceing the seals... there were NO leaks.

[billydpowell]

Damn, that's a nice garage. But really, are you holding your car up with a bottle jack and a scissor jack?!?

no it is two jack stands and I used the jacks out of both my Lexus' to jack it up, and held it with the stands, I had a garage for 30 years, so I done it safe.

[eatingupblacktop]

but here is a FEW of my older ones, I think you will get it.... bp

Niced Collection, especially the T bird and Wildcat. Do you still have any of them?

[billydpowell]

but here is a FEW of my older ones, I think you will get it.... bp

Niced Collection, especially the T bird and Wildcat. Do you still have any of them?

nope, just memories & photos.... there are many more, I have had so many cars, I see something, like it and buy it, then see something I liked better, buy it.

Same with houses, we have owned(buying) 26 different houses/farms, up to now... never have rented in 54 years of marriage. BUT have been in the last house 6 years (record) (retirement house).

wow, I cant believe how old folks rattle on.

sorry, back to cars, I bought one once just to drive around and look for something to buy. dumb, but that was/is me... but now I have found it Lexus LS, 6 so far... I like the 97's best.

replacing my power steering hose today, on the OWP. (only leak)

JUST FINISHED, HOORAY, NO LEAKS, NO NOISE .............................

DWP (TC/WP)has no leaks.