Rocker

Dealer is telling me my timing belt needs replacing due to an oil seal leak..
We have 140,000 miles on the car..

First of all as far as i know we have a chain not a belt or the belt would have broke by now.. or replaced around 90000 miles and we have not done that.. just want to make sure that i am correct that we have a chain that should not need replacing and not a belt.. before i call and chew him out..
Thank you

FrankT

No chain in a 2jz.

raytseng

in other words your dealer is right and not lying.

By the way you should take a look at your owner's manual service supplement to see if you've missed anything else.

Just because something didn't break doesn't mean you don't have it or you are at risk of it breaking...

Even so, the timing belt itself is only about $30 (maybe $60 if it's full price msrp from a dealer). The large part of a timing belt service is the labor charge which is several hours of shop time (couple hundred at an independent to maybe a thousand at the dealer rates)

If the oil seal is one of the front seals, all the stuff in front of it needs to come off including the timing belt.

So if you reuse the belt, you save $30, but all the labor expense is lost.

So the dealer in some sense is doing you a kindness in telling you to use a new belt, to reset the clock on the belt life. Instead of saving you $30 now, and having you come in a little time down the road with a broken engine from a broken belt, or by doing the bare minimum and just replacing the seal and have you come in later to do the timing belt as a complete separate job.

TLcoats

iTrader: (11)

Why don't you listen to your dealer? You know more about Lexus's then them?

Or..

Search.

sakataj

iTrader: (182)

yes Tim he does, they been driving on their timing chain for 140k..... and on the same ball-joints im sure also.


OP do u do any maintenance to your car? like in the scheduled periods? many many DIY's on here if u wanna peak at them to save you some $ BTW i never advise going to the dealer find a local mechanic you can trust since u dont even seem to trust your dealer

Rocker

Lots of wise *** remarks.. was just looking for a simple answer..
I was told when i bought the car it had a chain not a belt so it would last much longer and not have to be replaced at 90k like the v6 front wheel drive models.. so the dealer lied to me.
I have had the maintance done every 30k miles like im supposed to thats why its lasted this long.. just not at the dealer.
no i dont trust what a salesman says thats why i am on this forum.
thanks for the info.

sakataj

iTrader: (182)

and u got the simple answer.....plus some comments from the peanut gallery. since i dont own a gs300 im not 100% sure but i would think you could just remove the cam cover and verify that it has a belt and not a chain.

BTW EVEN if u had it dealer serviced every 30k they should have been telling you that it needed the timing belt changed at 140k,110,and around 80k letting you know it would need to be changed soon. these timing belts arent supposed to last 50k longer because you do maintenance they should be changed from 80-100k regardless of how meticulous you are. how long have YOU had the car BTW?

DreadGS430

Its a timing belt... most likely you will have to change the water pump , 2 cam seals, 1 crank seal and the hydraulic tensioner

raytseng

Forget all the smart remarks, u also got some good advice, I believe

Check your owner's manual service supplement, it contains everything that should be checked, including the "inspect and replace items". If you've been doing service every 30k from an independent; and the independent failed to notify you of suggested service, this means your independent is either incompetent or ignorant and not referring to up-to-date service instructions.

If you want to wash your hands of keeping tabs on maintenance procedures of your car to your mechanic, you may want to switch to a different independent that is a bit more modernized and keeps more up to date with service instructions so they can give you proper care advice. E. g. Do you see them using computers and on-line service manuals (e.g.AllData/Mitchell/etc) or are they looking up things in books and scribbling work orders by hand.

If you don't have an owner's manual, I believe you can view an online version on the Lexus Owner's website. I believe from that website you can also request them to send you a copy of the manual+service supplement by mail. This is free, last I checked.

RLGS300

We here are friends not enemies, you asked a question that could have been answered by the search button, however you chose to start a new thread to get yourself a quick answer and save some time cant say i blame you, but people will not take it likely, thus you got your answer + some extra. welcome to club lexus! all the advice given so far is great. All the dealer will do is charge extreme amounts of money. The only reason for going to the dealer should be for parts if that. Then take advantage of the DIY and save yourself a ton of money. The timing belt on the GS300 is much easier then on most cars (plenty of room to work with)!

TLcoats

iTrader: (11)

You came here with an attitude asking for free advice. If you would have used a different mentality i wouldn't have busted your *****, Saying your going to "Chew out the dealer". Come on man..

And, so you don't start another thread. There is no GS EVER in history to have a V6 or Front wheel drive.

KingNasGS4

iTrader: (22)

I mean as a new member I hate when "seasoned" members decide to roast someone that only had 1 post to begin with.

OBVIOUSLY they are new to this.

If it was someone else with about 50 posts, that means they have been around for long enough to know to search first. And on top of that, not everyone is a car enthusiast like most of us on here. I know MANY people. Men at that, who wouldnt know if their car is using a timing chain or belt.

Don't feel bad my man, I met a dude @ the mechanic earlier today that didn't know his GS300 is a
6 Cyl he thought it was a V8. I mean @ the very least someone should know how much cyl their vehicle has.

sakataj

iTrader: (182)

noone roasted him, we provided the info and teased him a little. NOW if pornadkt came in here im sure HE would roast him but all of it was in good fun BUT yes the OP did come in a with out bothering to look in either the owners manual or around here first.

i def didnt mean anything by my first post....just some light humor. i mean you know i AM one of the guys people love to hate

OT0814

iTrader: (4)

You are going to get a lot of people telling you to search.. Welcome to the club. If you dont trust your dealer lift up your hood and pull the cover off where your timing BELT is. It looks like this on the inside.

vwynn

iTrader: (4)

honestly lots of good remarks. to the OP... if you dislike them run a search next time. Itll save and bandwidth... and will be less stressful instead of reading what we all have to say.

pretty much none of the lexus in our generation and before had chains if memory serves me correct... or at least the JZ and UZ engines that came in our cars did not. reason why your belt has not snapped is because these belts are pretty durrable. Some have noticed that after removing it at 100k it still looks nice n fresh.

I would refrain from "chewing" the dealer out since well... he will "chew' you out instead... if in fact its a person who knows his cars.

but yea.. search before you post... most likely.. after 13 years since this car has been released most of well.. everything has been posted here.

Cheers.