isiginamo

First off, thanks for all the great info on here! I find myself loving my car more and more every time I read these forums!

My car has been making a rattling and whining noise from the engine bay. The whining gets alot louder in very cold tempatures. Does not sound good at all!!! So I took it to my local mechanic and after looking at it he says the sound is coming from under the timing belt cover. He said it could be a number of things, water pump, tensioner, or worst case maybe a cam bearing. Now this mechanic isn't a lexus mechanic, but he says he has done quite a few of the same car, and my family has known him for years and I know he does excellent work. He recommended that I replace everything while its tore down, waterpump, timing belt, and tensioners. Does this sound about right? And when any of the above goes out or starts to does it make any sounds like the whning and rattling I described? He is only charging me $400-500 for labor and parts of the timing belt and water pump , and he said to replace the AC compresser with a used one, and all the labor that would only be $300. Good deal? Too good? Any input would be great!

History on the car, 95ES300, black on silver with perfect paint. I bought from a 70 yr old funeral home owner with 122K on it for $1500.00 . I got such a great deal because I worked for a car dealership that she traded the car in for. I was her saleman so I found out that she had perfect maintenence on the car, the timing belt was replaced at 95K. The only thing wrong was the AC didn't work, the leather on passenger seat had small tear near seam because leather hardened, some dashboard lights not working, needles half burned out, and needed new front brakes.

lexusk8

$400-$500 for parts and labor in the timing belt and water pump job is an awesome price. Make sure that the parts to be installed are genuine Toyota parts, and not some AC Delco or generic-named brand.

Trexus

Also be sure he warranties his work. Lexus warranties their work and parts for one year...good luck...congratulations on getting a 1995 ES 300...happy driving...

msa13623

And while doing all that, might as well do the thermostat and valve cover gaskets and cam seals. If your VCGs are not leaking yet it's probably a matter of time, and since a lot of that area will be disassembled for the timing belt, might as well do them too.

llcoolpass

i concur with everything said up to this point, its 100% right

i prefer to do the job myself. I found all the parts for under 250 bucks:
timing belt
tensioner pulley
idler pulley
hydraulic tensioner
water pump
valve cover gaskets [front and rear]
intake manifold set [3 items]

20 dollars at the dlr for the toyota red coolant [optional , can use 10 dollar stuff from parts store]

labor: roughly 5 hours in my driveway - free

smiling in sadness as the dollar goes down the tubes making these prices very useless in a few months- sorry had to add that in there

isiginamo

how much more work is replacing the valve cover gaskets, thermostat, and cam seals? I can't imagine the parts costing that much.
I was planning a month after the timing belt, getting my sparkplugs and wires replaced, and AC repaired. Would the vcv gaskets, thermostat, and cam seals be better done in the timing belt service or tune up service?
Are CV joints hard to do in this car or expensive to have repaired? When turning I can hear them starting to click a little. And last my tranny holds the 1st gear pretty long, until about 3000 rpm when cold, and when shifting into overdrive it very occasionally clunk??!? I know this isn't normal? and ideas? Clean fluid, just replaced about 5000 miles ago. Should I flush, or have the filter replaced? is this alot of work? I know alot of questions, but I love my ES, I don't want to part with it!

Thanks!

llcoolpass

ok, yes your cv joints are worn. get new ones from raxles.com, or lexus (/toyota??). all other are questionable quality.

secondly, the trans might be worn, and/or the axles are part of what you're experiencing [to put it very simply, the slack they're adding is not part of the programming]
i would do a cheapo fluid change [not flush!!!!!], and filter. and see above. hope for the best. if better, good, if not, then just drive that trans till it really screws up because repairing it will cost similiar to a used trans anyway.

the a/c can be repaired anytime.

do all the other stuff at the same time, i repeat, at the same time, to save on labor, and dont forget to A) have the water pump replaced, and add only toyota coolant

isiginamo

Hi Everyone... Took the car into the shop this morning. Turns out I was very close to losing my timing belt and tensioners. My mechanic opened her up and one of the tensioners had broke, sheering the timing belt in two and just barely able to keep turning. The bearing was shot too. He is replacing the belt, tensioners, idlers, bearings, seals, toyota coolant and waterpump. With all parts, and labor he is charging me $579.

I'm getting married next month so I will wait to do the spark plugs and AC... getting too spendy for me today.

isiginamo

Mechanic called and said the power steering pump was about out as well, and was making noise. He replaced for the price of the pump $110, and didn't charge me labor. So all in all the timing belt, water pump, everything under the timing belt cover, and my power steering pump for $695. Now thats not that bad! Now I need to fully detail my car, including buff/wax, and plastiX my headlights to get them clear again.

Any ideas on how and what to use to get my black paint showroom quality again? It still shines, but it has swirls in it.

Tinting my windows - is it hard to do myself or should I just take it somewhere?

Thanks!

llcoolpass

new thread for a lot of that stuff

not a bad price for the job you had done, that's a good price

i think it weird you didn't second guess the p/s pump being that you never heard it before, until he worked on the timing belt. the thing that worries me is that he probably removed the reservoir doing the timing belt job, and lost some p/s fluid, making it noisey to air bubles/lack of dexron-mercon [p/s fluid is the same as automatic transmission fluid] being supplied to the pump. funny also that he charged you no labor.... funny as in not funny but suspicious.

good luck on your wedding. i wouldn't spend more than you need to on the car, but a/c is important, do that before doing the outside stuff since your quality of life is going to be important with all the swirling events coming your way, and youll need a comfy reliable car to go with it.

peace