Losiracer2

If you're like the OP and don't do timing belts until the very last hour, then i can see changing a radiator when its 27 yrs old to be beneficial. The plastic neck will likely be well heat cycled by then or extremely brittle due to age. The other consequences of changing things when they break are other catastrophic damage or being stranded and needing a VERY expensive tow bill.

My radiator in my 99' was changed out not due to anything physically breaking but restriction of airflow over the 20+ years causing an overheat situation when at idle in AZ, when temps were over 105 degrees. Initially, I had purchased the car in Ohio and lived in Michigan where the thermal load on the car wasn't nearly as much and parts wouldn't heat soak as bad there so I never saw an overheating condition. But after pulling it out, based on the amount of road debris this car saw, it clogged the fins EXTERNALLY restricting airflow by about 60% on the lower half that was exposed through the condensor and grill. I made the determination at that point to do the radiator vs. cleaning it out with compressed air due to the age and brittleness and coloration of the plastic neck the upper radiator hose attached to.

so a $75 radiator at the time of timing belt replacement when you know its very old may not be a bad thing. Preventative Maintenance.

as99east

Hey guys, to be clear…

This is a car I bought two months ago. Was not wise to timing belt situation on these cars when I bought it. Rushed into a purchase and boy has this been a learning experience. Still love the car. Was just asking group how I could get a peek at it. I have inherited prior owner’s deferred maintenance. Some of which I intend to do myself (tranny mount, brakes) and have already done (replaced seatbelt assemblies which were sagging like hell with salvage finds) but some of which I will leave to pros. I have a $1900 quote from dealer and $1300 quote from independent shop to do timing belt and water pump plus certain gaskets

I actually just wound up figuring it out by myself, how to peek at it, I’m not sure anyone ever answered the original basic question I was asking. I know the risk I’m unfortunately taking each day I don’t do this catch up item. Everything on this car is honestly getting addressed pretty quickly as that is more in my nature. It’s just a bit overwhelming as this is first time I have taken a dive into picking up a used “classic” like an LS. Oh and prior to this my tool box consisted of a few screw drivers and a hammer. I’ve had to learn about socket wrenches, torque specs, etc from square 1

Losiracer2

I'm still puzzled why you're asking to check condition of an original timing belt with 127k miles. Timing belts are rubber. Rubber when aged and heat cycled will degrade over time. Either way you look at it, that's way too long to go on any car that you plan on using as a daily commuter or for any trips for that matter as its well overdue on both age and mileage.

Are you trying to flip the car or keep it? If flipping it, then I wouldn't bother doing anything but cosmetics as a timing belt job will take a big chunk of that profit away.

400fanboy

This is actually something I will keep my mind on for my next timing belt service. My cooling fan is engaged pretty healthily in the summer because, like yours, my car has a ton of bugs and debris caught in and bending a bunch of the lower radiator fins as well. And while my plastic & rubber is in a lot better shape due to I think this car being garage kept it's whole life, those are valid points as well about aging out.

For context; I paid my local shop $1314 in a medium-high cost of living city 4 years ago to do the whole timing belt service.

4 years later, today, after inflation? $1300, if you're in NYC proper, seems a bit shallow honestly. I wonder if they are quoting you the whole kit or only doing the belt to lower their quote. If you're not in the city, $1300 sounds about right for an independent.

Congrats on the car & learning experience! That was my journey as well and it's still going... I can totally understand paying pros to do timing belt service. It's very far from "change your brake pads" on the difficult scale.

as99east

Thank you. I’m on the Far East end of Long Island so about two hours (no traffic…) or 90 miles or so outside of NYC. This mechanic is well reviewed and I spoke to him and he confirmed he planned to use AISIN kit including water pump and he would be doing some gaskets while he was in there. He said there was one other brand he had used before, the name escapes me now, but he had less success with it and planned to use AISIN.

Edit: He said he had used Gates before and didn’t have as much success.

deanshark

Sure, most preventive maintenance is worthy of doing. But a radiator???? Now that you're in Az out west in that heat maybe a radiator is good for your list. But this kid is in NY and it's not as bad in this area. Sure it should be looked at and checked to make sure it's working right but to just throw in a new one is wasting money. You say $75 but I haven't seen a good one under $120. As he mentioned, he just bought the car and didn't even know about the T-belt and everything. So right off the bat he's spending a boatload of $$$ he wasn't expecting. So I'm sure he's just gonna change what has to be changed to keep the thing going for now.
For me or you it wouldn't even faze us to do the radiator either financially or skill level. But everyone is different.

This happens alot where someone jumps on a car they like and then find out after ya get it home that it needs this or that, and adds up quick. Yes, it can get overwhelming but don't let it get to ya. Most things can, and will, get done over time.
You'll notice that hammer of yours will get used more then you can imagine.
For $1300 you should definitely find out (in writing) what they are changing and have some kind of proof that he's using Aisin. Which Gaskets? Camshaft seals (2) and Crankshaft seal (1) should definitely be changed out.
Your car had some maintenance done cuz those are not original plug wires.
You can check out this site; https://www.lexus.com/drivers with your VIN # to see a service history on your car. (If the work was done at the dealer)

as99east

Ok thanks. I just spoke to guy yesterday but my appointment isn’t until 11/21. I will follow your advice and before then ask him to list out precisely he plans to do for $1300, acknowledging once he gets in there he may spot other stuff (a few of the hoses feel kind of hard, stuff like that I guess). I am new to this. I’m gonna do transmission mount myself though as soon as part arrives should be by Saturday.

deanshark

Oh yea, nobody mentioned the hoses that break. Most of them are just regular rubber vacuum lines which cost about $1 a foot. Good luck, hope everything works out for ya.
Tranny mount is one of the easiest things to do on this car but.....safety first.

400fanboy

Yeah use the Aisin kit. Full kit, with the tensioner and pulleys and belts and pump. It's the something-something-something-030 kit or something, it comes with everything.

Aren't the camshaft seals a HUGE undertaking (meaning $$$$) and not preventative maintenance? You only do them if they are actually leaking. Yes there are some shared parts removal, but you gotta pull the valve covers and remove the actual cams on the 98-00 cars.

EDIT: AAAAHHH. OP has a 1995. Cams don't have to come out on pre-vvti cars. Lot easier to do. 98+ cams have to come out and it becomes a lot harder, so the best action turns into reactive maintenance rather than preventative maintenance on older cars. Got it.

deanshark

It doesn't come with everything everything but it does have ALL the major parts. It'd be nice if Aisin had a kit which included the cam and crank seals, less people would overlook them.
Right, it's the TKT-030, as mentioned above. This one comes with the hydraulic tensioner as the TKT-010 doesn't. (even though all the pictures show it) It's just cheaper then getting the 010 and buying the tensioner separate. Which is what I had to do cuz rockauto, and everyone else I would deal with, was out of stock at the time.

Good catch on your edit. When I was new (er) here, I kept forgetting about the 98-00 cams needing to come out to change the seal. So I was making that mistake when telling people. Another reason why I like the 93-94, there's so many reasons. With the T-belt job there's only a couple more bolts to pull out to get the timing plates off and then you're there. 10 more minutes and $40 for all 3 seals (OEM) and you're golden.
My first 93 I didn't change them, cuz I didn't do my research beforehand and 2 weeks later I was doing the job again when a camseal started leaking.

mikaelse

It is not a killer since it "only" might induce a unnecessary tow and not a broken engine but I would strongly recommend listening to the bearings related to the external poly-V belt bearing situation while doing the Cambelt and waterpump. My tensioner and idler bearings for the poly-V was really in need of a change when I did them after 20 years and 90K miles ( just bought the car). They gave a "dry" Hisssss when spun, Openend up the bearings and the grease was in shape of dry black cheesy chunks!. I would do those in any case if they are OEM. The alternator bearings , bearing on The AC compressor, Fan bearing sounded fine and I kept those original. Have been running flawless now for 7 more years. The above fix is fast and inexpensive if done at same time as timing belt as I did. Have done two LS400. You can buy the stuff new a descent cost or exchange them for 20$ if labour is free