I have a 94 LS400 & I want to do a major tune-up that would include replacing the timing belt & components, water pump, drive belt, spark plugs, wires, cap & rotors. I've searched the threads and found maybe one thread on ebay kits but not much more on recommendations of kits sold on ebay and wanted some feedback on this particular one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lexus-LS400-...item23118b86ea

It has about everthing i'm looking for and costs $350 less than all those parts from the Lexus dealer here in Seattle which did'nt include the spark plugs, wires & seals. The money isn't a huge deal, but don't want to pay extra for the same result.

Also about the seals, when looking at the lexls tutorial on timing belt kit there is no mention of changing camshaft/crankshaft seals. So are the seals that critical?

1. What do you think of the ebay kit above?
2. Do you know of any other kits that are good?
3. Any thoughts on camshaft & crankshaft seals?

 

Honestly, so long as they are truly using the name brand aftermarket parts they claim to be, there is nothing there I would worry about at all...

Seals are one of those things "damned if you do, damned if you don't" you might get away with never ever replacing them and they be just fine for a million miles... at the same time, I've seen people change them and have nothing but issue afterwards...

If you were to go to a parts house like Napa or O'reillys, chances are you would get the same parts as listed in the auction for around the same price...

 

IMO, keep looking for a suitable kit that has oem (or oem-supplier) brand parts included. There are several kits that can be found on ebay that do contain mostly Toyota-branded parts are cost ~$300 shipped. When it comes to ignition related items, you can try sewell lexus for very reasonably priced items or also try autozone/oreilly auto for brand name wiresets/plugs that include a lifetime warranty. Like i said, IMO. lol...

Cheers

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lexus-LS400-...sories&vxp=mtr

I bought that not too long ago since they list exactly what you get. I got an sc400 drive belt which didnt fit however. I just got ngk copper plugs and ngk wires separate.

 

I would personally go with Lexus/Toyota oem for the major parts (water pump/timing belt) and supplement the rest with Napa/Shucks/ebay parts.

 

If money is not a big issue, I would go with the kit that Rey listed (It's not a bad price anyway)and then get the tune up parts. (plugs, wires, rotors, caps, and thermostat) The one you listed isn't OEM parts, and it doesn't even say what brand anything is. That's taking a chance, and it doesn't have the T-stat or serpentine belt. The crank and cam seals SHOULD be done, it's only another 10-15 minutes labor. I didn't do mine and 14K miles later (in 20* weather) I was doing the whole job again b/c they leaked.

 

I've bought [and about to buy] one of these kits for my dad's RX330

I wouldn't go on eBay. Check rockauto.com, the same kit as above, except all AISIN parts [which is one of the OE suppliers for lexus] is ~220$ shipped.

 

I reused my rollers and water pump, and spent $34 on a Duralast timing belt from AutoZone... i've been very happy with it...

 

maybe look through?? i always use original parts, because i can see the difference in quality. I never want to go back to refix everything. I know my cousin used some after market parts and they end up failing and he ended up having to redo his whole 90k :x
http://www.lextreme.com/parts/mechanical.html

 

i would go with this kit. i just recently did my timing belt at its first interval and did NOT do the cam/crank seals. most people do it on the second interval (180K) so i would def do it then. i too went with an ebay kit. i made sure the kit came with an aisin brand wp and mitsuboshi timing belt, which are both OEM toyota parts. the rest could be sub par but the kit i went with came with made-in-japan parts such as the idlers, tensioners, and the like. i bought my spark plugs at autozone (iridiums) and the caps, rotors, coolant, serp belt, thermostat, seals and hydro tensioner from the dealer. gl man!

the seller i got my parts from was mizumoauto.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/360375090401...84.m1497.l2649

the problem i had with them was that they mailed me a generic timing belt where the auction clearly says mitsuboshi brand (they have two separate auctions, one for generic one for the latter). i called them and they quickly offered to send the correct one overnight. this was to my inconvenience though since i was going to start the replacement job the next morning and needed the parts that day. so i had to drive down to their location to get the part which they apologized for. it was an inconvenience and packing error but the parts are just as described.

here is a pic of the goodies.

 

That's taking a big chance seeing how it's usually one of the other parts that fails first, not the belt itself. Although, when I changed my first belt, (when I first bought the car) I used an Autozone belt, not sure if it was Duralast or some other brand they used. I know they used to have Goodyear but it wasn't that. Anyway, after only 14K miles I had to redo the job b/c the belt jumped. I measure the belt when I changed it and it was about a half tooth too big. So in 14K miles the cheap aftermarket belt stretched. Good thing I have a 93 so my engine wasn't toast. To me, it's not worth it to save $20 on a belt and have to do ALL that labor again. Even one of my cheap Autozone idler pullies was shot, leaked all the grease out of it.

 

Go to autopartwarehouse.com. they have a great price on the kit and the pump is Aisin which is the OE brand. One thing to consider if it does not come with the kit is the tensioner. If weak, replace it.