IS400

Just got back from the dealership. I told them about the alternative methods you have all mentioned and they laughed. Especially the one about cranking the engine with a breaker bar against the floor. They did not believe me at first, until I took them to the knowledge base article and showed them the picture and the mangled bolt shown therein. The head tech (asian guy) said you owners with tell tale engine vibration at high rpms could trace it to the impact wrench being used without isolating the pulley with the toyota tool first. BTW how could the moderator confuse this discussion with the engine to transmission flywheel? I did show the picture of the bolt in the first post of the topic. Just because other posters call a pulley a flywheel is no reason to blame the issue on me not knowing what I am talking about. Can you imagine using the breaker bar/crank the engine method on a 2008 LS460L? Why should LS400 owners do it?

You cannot put a large screwdriver in the slots of the pulley because there is a guard back there. You can see it in the photograph on the first post of this topic. I could force a large screwdriver in there but it would bend the guard. Is that what you did? Will bending the guard back be an issue later? If not why did toyota put it there? Maybe to keep people from jamming in screwdrivers. Or maybe just to get them to buy their tool? Again I do not want to mangle the car, but find a smart way to do this before noon so I can return the remover. BTW is is a brand new 33 piece remover kit with no missing pieces.

O.K. Impact gun is not recommended due to risking damage to the crank bearings. I understand the wrench with the pipe over it, I have a long breaker bar and 22 mm socket ready to go. I am asking HOW did you keep the pulley from turning as you used the wrench? If you do not isolate the pulley it will just turn over the engine. It is impossible to remove the bolt without keeping the pulley from turning somehow. If you are saying the only options are using my ENGINE to remove the bolt, using an IMPACT device inline with my crankshaft or buying the toyota isolation tool? I'm sure toyota designed the tool so that they could prevent damage to the crank. Why build a special tool when every shop has an impact gun and 7.3 seconds to spare. I'm not being cheeky, but just do not want to be having bearing failure 1,000 miles from now from a, jeeez that's how we did it and our engine works fine still, technique. A hammer removes the bezel from a watch pretty good, but that is not what the rolex designer had in mind. If I told the toyota engineers that I cranked the engine to remove the bolt they would probably whisper to themselves in japanese, "twripical amrrriiikin fool." There are threaded holes in the pulley, does anyone know even what this toyota pulley isolation tool looks like? P.S. to any others that are thinking about doing their timing belt and water pump and have a leaking power steering pump, you probably have ps fluid getting on the belt and inside your engine. I noticed as I started taking the engine down that on the passenger side there is a ton of fluid built up on the timing belt top cover and it seeps under an inadequate rubber gasket as it is thrown from the pump and gets inside where the belt is. I found fluid all over the place where the distributors are and on sensors and such. A bad pump is going to damage more than your alternator is seems. I'm glad I took the time to do this job even though the tutorial lists only 3/4 of what you will encounter and is missing parts that you will need to replace. There is no way to remove the radiator without removing the fan first, if you have AC. BTW when I did get my radiator out the surface that was next to the AC condensor was thick with decayed leaf matter. Over one half of the radiator was blocked at least a half inch thick. If you have a car over 100,000 miles and live in an area that the trees lose their leaves in the fall I'd take out your radiator and you will see at least a POUND of impacted leaves and debris. New leaves and twigs and bugs on top and each layer a little more decayed until you reach the radiator fins finally. I thought I had a mouse nest the size of texas until I took it apart and identified all the layers of stuff. Pretty amazing that the car cooled itself at all in the summer. Back to the drawing board on this pulley I guess...

My question is: How do you remove the crankshaft pulley bolt when it is torqued to 180 foot pounds and spins freely. Your tutorial shows how to remove the pulley but does not show how to remove the pulley bolt. There is no way to remove the pulley without removing the bolt right?

How did your friend hold against 180 foot pounds by himself? How did he grab the crank pulley?

I have the same tool you do in your tutorial. Step 18 and 19 do not show how to remove the bolt. All the pictures show either the bolt already out or the puller in place to remove the pulley. How did you remove the bolt?

How can you access the bolt if the remover is locked in place? I understand you are describing a way to keep the pulley from turning, but my rented remover looks like a clover leaf with a threaded hole in the middle and slots on the 'leaves' for various pulley diameters. Is this the type you are talking about or did you use something different?

I bought all the parts and tools for changing my water pump and timing belt for my 90. I got the list of parts and tools from your knowledge base article. Cracked open everything and now I read the part where the author wants me to put a 22 mm socket on a breaker bar and crank the engine while whacking the floor with the bar. Do you moderators actually condone this technique? I'm pretty good with a wrench, I took off my 200,000 mile plus steering rack solenoid with five good hits with a hammer and chisel, but this sounds like madness to me. I'm asking if there are any ways to keep that crank pulley from moving while appying the gorilla force to loosen that pulley bolt, without buying the lexus/toyota specialty too.. I'm stuck at this point and with a rented pulley remover that has to be returned tomorrow before noon. I'm ready to wedge something between pulleys before cranking my engine against a breaker bar. Notice that the crank pulley bolt in the knowledge base tutorial is mangled? Wonder how it got that way.

I have smelled coolant before and noticed small puddles under the car after a hard run. I found an ebay seller that has a kit with the pump and belt and gaskets for $215 plus shipping. Based on the design of the pump, it will wear out no matter the manufacturer IMO. Plug wires. Test with a clamp on ohm meter is what you mean? What should they read for resistance? Ordering the kit tomorrow morning unless you boys tell me it is rubbish. I'm not going to spend $1,500 on a 200,000 mile car at the lexus dealership when I can turn wrenches myself. Just got done doing the lower ball joints. If I didn't have strong legs, those lower bolts would have NEVER come off! Thanks for all your replies!

Hey guys. I just put my lexus in storage for the winter and wanted to do some maintenance items, like plug wires, timing belt, water pump and starter contacts. I was told to adjust the valves also. Sounds a bit tough without experience to me. What should I be paying for a water pump on e-bay? The car had regular service by the previous owner at lexus right up until 144,000 miles when it was sold. The timing belt was listed as replaced at 60,000 miles, but the tech could not find another time it was replaced but admitted his computer was having trouble pulling up all the screens. Do you think it likely it was changed again after the 60,000 mile mark if the schedule was followed by the dealer? Thanks for any ideas or suggestions for my engine teardown over the next month of weekends.

Don't take my word for it, but you cannot run a ecm (computer) car without a battery at proper voltage, within reason. That is why you got the low volt warning those couple of days maybe. The computer recognized the bat was not charging. Ding. Ding. Ding! We have a winner! That is why it will not jump. It cannot run on just an alternator IMO. It needs constant, regulated voltage for the computer and sensors etc. Take your battery to the local autozone, kragers etc. and get it tested. If it tests dead, get another one.

How old is your battery? Take it out and see if it is swollen. My boat has dual batteries and I buy them alternately every year. That way I always have one that is relatively new. Getting stranded on the water is a lot worse than what you had happen. When I have had a battery go bad, that would not charge, I get a low volt reading at the helm and then when it goes below 12 volts with the engine running I know it is time to switch it out. Invariably it is swollen out or will not take a charge when tested. I'd bet you have a combination of things going on like the other guys said, but I'd test your battery first.

The lower ball joints and tie rod ends are the parts that may be clunking on the bottom of your front suspension. Pretty cheap to fix, especially if you know a buddy with a home garage and an impact wrench.

I like tanning on boats. Drinking on boats. s*x on boats. All the things you cannot do properly in cars! I'm sure tanning weather in b.c is pretty short. I'd have to give up my bikinis for long johns! I hope you got a good deal on your 42 footer. My 25 footer was a steal after the owner found out his wife wanted a divorce. Boating is fun as long as someone else is paying for the gas. Especially diesel now. What did you name her? Mine is named 'Barbie Doll' for obvious reasons.

The amp draw of the heated seats is MUCH more inefficient than the low amp draw of the heating fan, even on high. Unless you are using the ac to reduce humidity in the cabin during winter (defogging), I'd wager dollars to donuts that it is less than a mile per gallon loss to run cabin heat in the winter. You are only raising the ambient temp by 30-40 degrees most of the time. The heat needed is already available in the cooling system and transferring it to the cabin does not reduce engine efficiency by any statistical significance because it is not capable of cooling the engine below its optimum temp. Unless you try to get the cabin to 150+ degrees. I do agree that running the ac in the summer is terrible for gas mileage. The calculations, as other engineers or physics students will tell you, are staggering in their results. You might as well run with a stuck parking brake as to turn on the ac to cool off a blistering hot car, in regards to gas mileage. My 7,000 pound boat gets 1 nautical mile per gallon at best, so don't feel too bad about your cars though guys! I know the hat looks goofy, but I buy anything pink I see. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

What I meant was that most porsche owners paid for their cars and that is about all they know about cars. When they are told they need track tires, they get them, but do not know why. Just that everyone else uses them. The neat part is that you had the traction of competition tires but to them it looked like you would have less performance; due to their lack of knowledge of what makes a snow tire work great in summer for cornering and launches. I've found porsche owners are pretty arrogant, until I get their pants down. Then it is me just giggling at what drove them to buy a porshe in the first place! Tiny little thing! Nice work building your own cobra. I like them for the vibrations , but long drives tend to just leave me windburned and my hair full of knots. Fun for short blasts though!

Very sneaky with those snow tires! I bet you did not tell them they have a softer compound because with winter temps normal compounds get too hard and don't allow the tire to grip properly and release snow/mud from the tread. Not a bad idea compared to what racing soft compound tires cost. Thanks for the tip!

I'm more concerned about the suspension. If you are not mechanically inclined you are going to spend a couple of thousand at least at a shop getting all the bushings, bearings, control arms, etc. replaced. These cars are only lexus quality when these have been kept up. Also make sure you completely removed the parking brake when it comes off the trailer. The rear can lock up and when you get to speed the car will vibrate like a paint mixer. This happened to me once after getting it detailed and now I tell the valets and such to not engage the parking brake. It is an automatic so no worries unless you are parking on the side of a cliff! LOL. I'd definitely have a mechanic check the suspension before buying so you can get the price a lot lower if it is bad. <_< Trust is earned and you do not know the seller so watch out and be suspicious.

205 is recommended, but a little thin for such a sizable car IMO. Try getting some 215s at least. I've run 225's with no problem for years. No rubbing at all. They look great from the back and have nice grip when I get a little hot in the turns. Try looking at kumos (sp). They are always a great deal and have an awesome reputation. Extasia I think is the model of kumo tires that I put on my 17's for summer. You are right about the H rating. She is trying to upsell you or at least get you in what tires she has in stock to make a sale. If you are paying over $100 for 15 inch tires, you my dear, are getting ripped off.

I had my trunk do the same thing except it did not click. The wiring had pinched from too much luggage and we had to take out the subwoofer to get it working. I'd have someone put some upward pressure on the trunk lid as you flick the driver's latch. Maybe the popper is just sticking and needs help releasing. Tapping with a soft mallet in the area of the latch could not hurt either if lifting does not do anything. Good luck if you have to go the drilling route. Either that or the dealer. Yikes!

Getting one is the problem. Here in the north a lot of us use our factory wheels to keep our snow tires on. I use my 17" IS300 wheels 9 months of the year and switch back to blizzaks mounted on my factory 90' wheels for dec-feb. I'd say unless a dealer has one in stock from way back when it is going to be a hard sell to get someone to part with one and be left with three. Good luck in your search and I'll keep my eye out for one. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

You thought... ...now there's your problem. Live in peace? You are from texas right? Iraq is very peaceful. Thanks. Talking about brakes swaps? Writing about brake swaps. School is out.

Your first post mentioned ls400 to supra brakes as a common swap. Don't mention things in YOUR post if you do NOT want them discussed. :chairshot: That way you won't have to waste your time whining later on. :cries:

:cries: Zero available. Damn. Thanks guys I'll keep looking. Have a great thanksgiving!

Everyone on the older posts say they are $55 a pair on e-bay. I can only find them for $80 plus. Anyone know where I can get the mentioned price for lower ball joints?