1997 Ls400 Water Pump And Associated Repairs

[Loyd]

I have a 1997 LS400 with 240,000 miles which needs a water pump. Did one about 3 years go and did timing belt and pullies at that time. Shop says they wont do job without doing them again plus doing cam seals. Total over $2,000. Is this acurate and necessary?

[landar]

Welcome Loyd.

If the water pump is leaking or otherwise defective, it obviously needs replacement. If you replace the water pump, it would be unwise to reuse the old timing belt. Especially if the pump leaks and has contaminated the belt. You might not need new pulleys if they were recently changed. The cam seals you may or may not need. I am guessing the shop saw them leaking? In any case, the cam seals are pretty easy to change on a 97 while in there for a timing belt/water pump replacement.

You can probably find an independent mechanic to do this job for half the price. You can buy an Aisin kit with belt, pump, pulleys, etc for about $250 (Rock Auto). Cam seals are another $20 or so. You might also replace the crank seal while in there. Its not much.

[sha4000]

What is this a dealer pretending to be an indie shop lol. Total parts for the job are around $300 and they want about $1700 in labor. That's about $170 an hour even if you use the book estimate. My advice is order the parts online from Amazon because you can get them quicker and find another shop that is not trying to rob you. Even if the cams are leaking they are a lot easier to do on your pre VVT-i 97 than on my 98 which i'm in the process of doing right now. Good luck.