ES3

I think I'm due for a replacement timing belt. When is this supposed to happen? And whether the engine can literally freeze up if it's not done within recommendations?
By the way, my ES is a '97, with 93-thousand miles on it. Lastly, can a Toyota dealership take care of this?

Thanks for the tips.

steviej

iTrader: (1)

93k, its probably gettin close. The engine won't freeze (as in seize up due to no oil), it just won't run. My firend has a 97 Camry and she just had hers done at 100k. The car was not running optimally and you could hear noises from the timing belt area when it was starting to go. You don't want it to break when you are in the middle of nowhere at 2 in the morning. Be prepared, it may be about 5 bills.

The 02 ES manual says replace at 90k mi.

Call Lexus or Toyota. See if they will give you up front pricing. Then call a reputable independent mechanic that knows Lexus and Toyotas.

njes300

get it done from toyota .. you will save a couple hundred

Nabeel

The ES300 does not have an interferance-type engine, so don't worry too much about the timing belt breaking and ******* up the engine with bent valves and whatnot. Like steviej said, better to get it changed sooner than later.

lexusation

ha this is funny
i called lexus dealer they said $700 parts and labour

called the toyota dealer theys said $350

none included a water pump replacement, just the belt, parts and labour! $350 difference was just for the name, i even brought the two servce reps side by side and asked them (it was at the same drealership), they were like "umm umm.. well, umm" haha they couldnt even feed me some BS to justify the $350 premium!!!

(all prices in cdn$, $700 = $440 usd)

another weird thing:

my 99 es engine = 99 camry V6, but the svc manual for the camry says change it every 96000 km (60k miles), and my lex manual says the same thing, but the dealer insisted its ok until 160k (100k miles) , i dont get it!

steviej

iTrader: (1)

Behold: the world of big business screwing it to the little guy who just wants to get around.

Pay for the toyota replacement and use the difference on a date.

Nabeel

That's gonna be one lucky girl!

Luc

Your 99 ES engine is NOT the same as the 99 Camry V6, since starting in '99, all ES's had VVTi and dual throttle bodies, while the Camry is still the same as the '97-'98 ES. However, timing belt, and other repairable/replaceable parts are mostly the same.

Luc

Gekko

I have a 95 es300 and I had mine done at Lexus for $325. Toyota deealer said they could not do it - even though they do all of my otheer maintenance. they said the parts/tools needed were slightly different. I did mine at 105k with the rationale being that if i keep it until 105k, i will probably keep it for a while so i might as well.

flipside909

I dunno where you are from but alot of dual Toyota/Lexus dealerships here in SoCal share the same service area and frequently do work on both. It's most likely that the Toyota service dept. didn't know or didn't want to touch your car because of their limited knowledge.

ES3

Good research, funny though, if you follow Toyota's recommendations you have to replace the timing belt almost 2wice as often as the Lexus Timing belt. So in the end, the price is about the same. I wonder if Lexus Dealers will ever compete with one another. I'd go to Toyota to get it done, but would MUCH rather have a new Lexus loaner, while they do the work, ya know?

rolo1985

93 es300 how can I tell if I have a bent valve in the head. Pull the heads and replace head gaskets. When putting back together did not set the cams to the correct spots. Sadly tried starting a few times, no start. Pull the belt and set the timing correctly. The car will start but pops when raising the RPM. How can I tell if I bent a valve in the head when I was trying to start it?

StuckInVA

Wow, way to bring a thread back to life...
Regardless, your '93 ES300 has the 3VZ-FE 3.0 liter motor and it's valve train is non interference. Even if you timed it backward you should have enough clearance inside your motor so the valves won't touch the pistons. I suppose you could get to the point where they would if you'd had a significant amount of head shaved away, but that would be a stretch...
If you still think it might be a valve, you can do a compression and a leak down test, if the valve is bent or the ring is shot it won't hold pressure. I think you might be able to rent these tools from an advance auto. However, any independent mechanic could perform this test for you. I have to say, I've never had it happen, but generally speaking I thought when you bend a valve the engine will barely run if at all.

LeX2K

You didn't bend a valve. You probably still don't have the camshaft timing correct and the engine is backfiring.

rolo1985

can anyone send me a PDF or a link where I can see the timing marks location on the both cams and the crank and how they line up. PLEASE
THANKS again for your replies back