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You can save some money in the short term by buying the parts from Autozone, however, they'll likely not fit right, perform poorly, or simply fail in a short time. Conclusion, buy all original Lexus parts. The most popular site is http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ind...m?siteid=213808 Good luck!

Nice pic there blake918. Ok, let me try this again. On the 98 and newer models, they moved the PS pump reservoir location and stacked on one stud---the PS pump, then behind it the alternator, followed by the drive belt tensioner bracket. I didn't have to remove completely the PS pump and alternator off the car but I did have to slide them off and out of the way from that stud. On pre 98 models you only have to do that to the alternator as blake918 and threadcutter mentioned.

Yes I too had to remove the power steering pump and alternator on mine (98) to be able to take out the serpentine belt tensioner. I would have checked around on prices first but anyway that's kind of late for that now. I hope he's at least including the cam/crank seals, tensioner, idler pulley, with that.

There is some confusion here that needs to be cleared up. The 95+ models do not have a seperate caliper mount bracket, the caliper itself is bolted to the hub. It's a great design improvement as there are no pins to lubricate or threads to strip.

Thanks for all the good information everyone. I'll see what it does in the next couple of weeks and if still leaks then I'll bite the bullet and get it fixed. I just hate getting that smell of engine oil burining off on the exhaust manifold.

Ouch, that's exactly what it's looking like. I'll wait to see if the seals will swell back up because I'm really not interested at all in replacing the cam seal. Would there be any problem if I just left it for now, could it possibly get on the TB and damage it? Thanks guys.

Threadcutter and mehullica thanks for the additional info. After using the dye and a UV light it appears that the leak was mainly from the valve cover gasket and retorquing the bolts appears to have stopped it. mehullica when a cam seal leaks on the vvti V8 does it leak down by the TB and show up in the drain hole on the TB lower crank cover or does it show up around the cam cover itself?

I would not replace it personally unless it was actually popping or clicking in the ball socket. O'Reilly and some other auto stores do sell some generic ball joint rubber boots that you can use to replace the torn one. I would try that first.

Good, I'm glad to know that it was different, that makes sense. This is why I always tell people to be carefull with what they buy, especially crtical components such as steering. These cheap after market ball joints are weaker, wear out quicker, and don't have the safety features of the OEM. 555 by the way is a high quality Japanese aftermarket brand and in fact it might even be the OEM supplier but I'm not sure.

Wow very interesting and very scary! I wish you had a picture of this to show us because I have not heard or seen of this ever happening with a ball joint that was still tight and not clicking inside it's cavity. The only thing I can think of is that this must have been an aftermarket ball joint (they look like the the OEM from outside but internally they are not and they could possible fail in this manner).

I have found that a common reason for this to occur is if you've had your windshield replaced, they must remove the wipers and in doing so they will either install it in a different position or as in my case incorrectly seat the splines (yes it can be done, they forced it on). So for me from now on if I ever have to have a windshield replaced I will take my wipers off myself (mark the nut first) to avoid this potential problem. Threadcutter I'm just curious, did you not ever have a windshield replaced on yours?

I doubt that it's the O2 sensors but instead of guessing I would simply get the codes checked at Autozone ( if you don't have a code reader) and let us know what they are. My guess would be a bad ignition coil and/or a misfire in one of the cylinders.

A picture would help but from what you’re describing I wouldn't worry about it at all. In fact as long as you don't have any measurable "click" or pop from the outer tie rod then there is no need to replace it. I would bet that you can go another 50K miles without a concern.

Agree, go with OEM pads or aftermarket Akebono ProACT. Believe me your wasting your money with drilled and slotted rotors for most (99%) of all drivers. Get a good basic rotor (not the cheap Chinese ones) and go with good pads.

Stick with the OEM belt. I doubt that AC Delco makes their own belts, but the important thing is that the belt is highly saturated nitrile rubber (should have the markings H-NBR somehwere on the belt).

thanks guys, I'll look at the valve cover again and hopefully the dye will make it more obvious. I sure hope that's all it is. I'll let you guys know what I find this weekend.

Ok guys it's my turn to ask, I need your help. I had a perfectly running 98 LS400 with 110K miles and not a drop of oil leaking anywhere. I decided to switch to Mobile 1 and sure enough 4K miles later the car is leaking BADLY! It's on the right side and it's coming from high above and going all over the powersteering pump and alternator and worse of all it's running back and getting on the exhaust manifold. It's not a power steering leak, it is engine oil, and I did retorque the valve cover and it's still leaking from somewhere else in that area. I just put some flourescent dye in to see if I can locate the source but until then has anyone had a similar experience? Has anyone had a engine fire from an oil leak on an LS400? Any ideas??

Actually I would recommend replacing the TB because of it's age in this case and not the mileage. Remeber rubber parts will deterioate with time and given that we ALL know that is an intereference engine I would replace it. If you don't believe me remove one side of the cam cover and look at the condition of the belt. In fact I also remember reading somewhere that the interval is 90K miles or 10 years, your at 10 years.

Yes I know the feeling it gets frustrating going through all this and finding a leak. I only had one leak and it wa related to the radiator drain, I did not replace the o-ring as recommend by the manual and it started leaking just suddenly one week later.

Now that's much better. This looks like the connector for the thermo switch which is installed at the bottom left side of the radiator. In fact you can kind of see the switch in the second picture.

A picture would help a bunch!

Rear differential!! This is not related to the engine rear main oil seal leak. Rear differential leaks are more of an annoyance then anything, however since you do have an extended warranty have them fix it.

Somethnig else that could cause this is the drain lines for the sunroof. I have to go back and look but I'm fairly certain that there are two drain lines that dump water into the left and right trunk vents. You wil need to remove the trim to see what I'm talking about.

914lps, glad to hear that it was the CPS after all. What's surprising is that when a balancer breaks apart it's usually very noticeable and there would be much sound coming from the engine especailly when it starts hitting stuff.

Yes you must eventually pull the pin to release the tensioner so that it can do it's job.