85Krtagena

I notice my car was overhearing since I was leaking from the thermostat. I bought a new one with the gasket and fixed it. But now, the pulley attached to fan (where the water pump is) is missalinged, it is not spinning strait, the whole fan and pulley wobbles while
It spins, and before it did not do that. My question is:

-can I change the water pump without having to remove the timing belt? Basically, just remove the water pump without having to follow all the steps on Lexls.com-"water pump-timing belt change"?

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

you need to post the year of your LS in your first post.

I would say no, as you need to remove tension on the belt to remove the water pump, and if you get any coolant on the belt it needs to be replaced anyways.

Sounds like your fan bracket has died, search this forum and you'll find a few good replacement options.

85Krtagena

I apologize, it's a 96. Well yes, I will have to remove the belt, but do I have to remove all the pulleys (and follow all the steps on lexls.com) or can I just remove the h2o pump after the belt. Basically the minimum amount of work possible. Thanks

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

the lexls site doesnt really apply directly to your car, it's geared for '89-94 LS400s.

95+ LS400s are interference engines, so if the timing belt isnt installed exactly right, or snaps from being on too long (Due every 90k miles) then the entire top end of the engine will pound the valves into the pistons, a massive repair bill.

AFAIK, no, you can't remove the water pump on a 1uz without pulling the pulley off anyways, as i believe a couple bolts are behind it.

Lexinky

I am new here on club lexus but I have many years of experience.

I have 25 plus years of various skilled trades experience in manufacturing facilities, ( not that this in anyway makes me all that knowledgable about working on Lexus or Toyota cars. I am certain, and have seen already that there are many members here that know more than I. )

I have just bought a 1996 Ls400 and replace the timing belt myself last week.

To get to the water pump..... You have to take everything off as if you are changing the timing belt. You cannot even see the water pump after raising the hood and looking in there.

I sense some confusion when belts are mentioned here........ the belt you see when the hood is raised is the serpentine belt that drives the P.S pump, A/C, Fan, ect.. The timing belt Which is for crankshaft to cam shaft timing is not visible until you take some covers off.

I apologize if this is too elementary, just trying to help.

So.... It seems to me that one of the external pulleys is going bad. which is an easier fix than the water pump. But at the same time I suspect there is something else also wrong that is causing the overheat condition.

denverdog

also consider mileage, and how long since the last tb/wp service. if there are any cracks visible on the tb, then doing it now, while you're in there, IS the least amount of work, in the long run.

85Krtagena

What I ment to say by the removing the belt was the serpentine belt. I know this one is not the timing belt. Thanks to this forum I know that I have to remove everything to get to the water pump. Now, allow me to correct my self, the car overheated since I had a leak coming from the thermostat which leaked all the fluid from the reservoir. this issue has been fixed, but now when the car engine is running the fan pulley does not spin strait, making noises.
So, somebody mentioned that it sounds like The fan bracket is bad. How can i check for this? Is there a post on how to change this bracket? Thanks

Lexinky

Loosen the tension on the serpentine belt via the belt tensioner with a 14 mm socket and turn the fan and pull on it side to side with the belt loose. If it is no good you should be able to tell.

I would expect that if it is no good that it will not spin smoothly and it will have some side to side movement.

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/engine/timingbelt.html

Step 5 is the tensioner

if you do need to remove and replace the fan bracket it is not so bad to do. if you have some experience in working on these kind of things.

see step 20 " remove 4 bolts and 2 nuts"

Although I am not sure if you will be able to get the fan out without removing the fan shroud also, maybe you will be able to move it aside and get the fan bracket out, not sure.

When I removed the fan I skipped step 3 and just did step 4. But I had the radiator out also.

( note: I did not follow this tutorial to do my T belt as it is for a 1994 and earlier but some of it does transfer to the 1996 model year. )

Tip: there are two bolts that pass through the a/c compressor and thread into the fan bracket, they thread in from the side of the a/c compressor.

One of these bolts is accessed from the top and the other is removed from under the car. ( I discovered these when doing my T belt) . The a/c compressor stays in place and should not move when you take these out.

85Krtagena

^^^^ thank you very much guys, it was the fan bracket that went bad. I went to the local junkyard and they had a 96, so I took the bracket out and it only cost me $20. The car is back on the road thanks god.

I also have another question: the ls400 at The junk yard has a rear bumper that is in better shape than mine but the problem is that the trunk is closed and the car has no battery, so is there a way to open the trunk without a battery? Or can I remove the bumper without going into the trunk?

And thank you very much for the step by step explanation, it helped me a lot.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

you need either electricity or a key to open the trunk.