Serpentine Belt Replacement For 2009 Lx570 Advice Needed.

[ttran334]

Recently I start doing car maintenance in my spare time. I am thinking of changing the serpentine belt on my wife's 2009 LX570. I open the hood and it seems to me that removing the coolant reservoir and the plastic part that cover the fan (hold by 4 bolts/nuts) would hep with the belt removal and installation (since it gives more space to work with in the front). I wonder that is the way to go or you can just remove the belt and install without removing any part at all, even if the space seems to be very tight.

BTW, it has 136K on it and the serpentine belt looks good when I inspect it this morning, no crack anywhere at all. I called the dealership to inquire about changing timing belt, but they told me there is no need since they use the chain (not the belt) on lx570, but I forget to ask about the water pump since people always change water pump when doing timing belt for preventive measure. Should I change the water pump or just wait until it leaks? .Any help/ info would be greatly appreciated.

[TeamBigShot]

First off let me address your surpentine belt question. Honestly judging the belt while its still on the car, can be done, but its best to remove the belt, flip it insideout, and bend it... if theres cracks, non the less, and ESP because its pushing 136k miles, YES its def. in need of changing man, at least for precautionary reasons.... although its not a catostrophic even if it does break, you do lose alternator power, power steering,and A/C, so why not... its cheap, and its easy. I would recommend going with either of the following:

OEM

Gates

Goodyear's Gatorback

Dayco

those are not in any particular order btw, they are all great belts that meet the standards and exceed them if you choose to spend the $$$

now as far as replacment goes, honestly, you remove ANYTHING YOU feel is necessary for YOU to accomplish replacing the belt, and reinstalling the parts you removed. There should not be much at all to remove other than the possibility of platics...

now as far as water pump goes..... well..... thats up to you honesty. I just did my timing belt on my GS, was my water pump bad? no..... was it showing any symptoms of going bad? no..... But bet your bottom i changed it! You know the job required to change the timing belt, is the same shi^ as the water pump? its truely as fair amount, NOT HARD! NOTHING IS HARD! NOTHING! When people ask if something is difficult it tells me that you just are not mentally preped enough to take on the task, a little more reinforcment, (studying, info) will diminish the question and dount. trust me. But it does take time and patience, thats ALL. so, my recommendation to you, if your doing it, are confident that you will finish the job you started without giving up, because theres truly no reason why anyone should give up, then yes 110% change it before it blows on you, which will result in overheating, which if you do not notice, will prob end up blowing your motor....

now if your not going to do it, but have the money to,.... do it... either way, its better what? SAFE THAN SORRY. good luck let lme know if you have any Q k,

[ttran334]

Thank you for your reply. I will change the serpentine belt and change the coolant this weekend and try the 'quick way' first to see if I can remove and install it. It is just not much DIY info out there for the lexus owner for repair/ maintenance. I guess most lexus owners take their car to the dealership to for maintenance/ repair. At least that is how my wife is. For me, I got the old camry and 4 runner to play with and ton of info on the web for repair and if even I mess up, I would not get burned by the wife. Last week I tried to do the timing belt on the 2003 camry V6, but I could not loosen up the crankshaft bolt, So I could not finish it up. I have to ask the local shop to loosen up the bolt for me. I definitely try to finish the timing belt/ water pump this week for the camry. Since I start to work on the car, I learn a lot from the internet. It is very interesting but one thing I hate about working on car is to change one thing, you have remove a lot of other thing, just to get to it..

Again thank you for your help.