2005 Es300 Recall Of Crankshaft Pulley?

[Lexusfreak]

Saw this on one of my websites I frequent...

http://www.autos.ca/general-news/toyota-recalls-vehicles-for-crankshaft-pulley

I'm just wondering if this is a major repair or something simple...what I mean is, while they are performing this fix, do they have to tear down any major components & should I be considering replacing the timing belt or any other items during this time if easy accesss is there? My 05 ES330 now has close to 76k miles on the clock.

Any thoughts, suggestions are appreciated.

[DEATH]

Saw this on one of my websites I frequent...

http://www.autos.ca/general-news/toyota-recalls-vehicles-for-crankshaft-pulley

I'm just wondering if this is a major repair or something simple...what I mean is, while they are performing this fix, do they have to tear down any major components & should I be considering replacing the timing belt or any other items during this time if easy accesss is there? My 05 ES330 now has close to 76k miles on the clock.

Any thoughts, suggestions are appreciated.

Lexus Safety Recall BLG is a minor repair which will include the inspection and replacement of the crankshaft pulley and drive belts(not timing belt). Apparently, a few models had experienced separation of the rubber holding the pulley to the balancer. Just another example of Lexus stepping up and constantly improving their product without leaving you holding the bag for a repair. I could show you the official letter, but I don't think I'm allowed.

[Lexusfreak]

Lexus Safety Recall BLG is a minor repair which will include the inspection and replacement of the crankshaft pulley and drive belts(not timing belt). Apparently, a few models had experienced separation of the rubber holding the pulley to the balancer. Just another example of Lexus stepping up and constantly improving their product without leaving you holding the bag for a repair. I could show you the official letter, but I don't think I'm allowed.

I appreciate the info. Would you be able to e-mail me a copy of the letter so that it is not public? Any idea roughly (labor wise) how long the repair should take?

[DEATH]

Lexus Safety Recall BLG is a minor repair which will include the inspection and replacement of the crankshaft pulley and drive belts(not timing belt). Apparently, a few models had experienced separation of the rubber holding the pulley to the balancer. Just another example of Lexus stepping up and constantly improving their product without leaving you holding the bag for a repair. I could show you the official letter, but I don't think I'm allowed.

I appreciate the info. Would you be able to e-mail me a copy of the letter so that it is not public? Any idea roughly (labor wise) how long the repair should take?

I don't think I'm supposed to do that. You'll be getting one soon enough as the parts become available. I don't imagine the repair is expected to take longer than an hour.

[LoveLearn]

This EXACT SAME Toyota-Lexus V-6 crankshaft pulley separation failure is WAY TOO COMMON. Lexus-Toyota knows about it from many earlier owner complaints. When the adhesive bond between the inside and outside of these two-part pulleys fails, crankshaft torque driving the inside section is only partially transferred into the outside section. When the outside section slips compared to the driving inside section, the alternator driving belt from the outside section can not spin the alternator up to full speed, progressively causing worse and worse charging system performance. Interestingly, the belt's side-to-side tension keeps those two sections concentric, so they don't slide apart along the crankshaft's axis length. TWO OF THESE POORLY-MANUFACTURED VIBRATION-DAMPER CRANKSHAFT PULLEYS HAVE FAILED ON OUR 1992 LEXUS ES-300!

Issues which have been repeatedly discussed in vehicle owner discussion forums:

1) Does the bolt securing this "crankshaft pulley" or "vibration damper" (two names for the same part) have standard "right hand thread" or one of the highly unusual "left hand thread?"

Answer - It has a standard "right hand rotation" thread. Loosen by turning counter-clockwise. This has been discussed over and over.

2) Can this failure cause engine timing problems?

Answer - No. The timing belt is driven from the inside section which does not slip compared to the crankshaft.

3) How much torque is required to break these bolts loose?

Answer - That seems to vary widely from vehicle to to vehicle. The first time I broke ours loose for replacement, I bent two "lifetime guaranteed" 1/2-inch socket extension shafts by applying my body weight near the end of a 6-foot cheater bar around my 1/2" socket drive breaker bar. Only when I bought 3/4" drive socket, extension shaft and breaker bar was I able to get that tough-dog to break free! My 1/2" drive impact socket wrenches could not budge it and I did not have a 3/4" impact wrench at that time. Some others have had a really tough time breaking these free. Some have found them easily removed.

4) Are some V-6 powered Toyota & Lexus air conditioning problems related to these slowly decoupling crankshaft pulleys?

Answer - Yes. That same outer-pulley driven belt drives the air conditioning compressor, located just below the alternator. The predicted resulting failures are obvious.

5) Should Toyota-Lexus be recalling all of this same series of their defectively-manufactured V-6 two-piece crankshaft pulleys?

Answer - Obviously yes. This Toyota-Lexus V-6 crankshaft pulley separation problem series observed in later model years is just a continuation of this same well-established problem in their earlier V-6 production years.

When any auto maker fails to correct obvious manufacturing defects for existing owners, that failure negatively impacts the auto maker's reputation.

Honest is as honest does Lexus, take care of this manufacturing-defect problem for existing owners.

John