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Replaced my engine today - well it took me a couple of days as I don't have a hoist in my shed. Old engine had 420k kms on the clock and had an intermittent engine knocking issue sometime ago - which eventually cleared itself recently but did not sound good nonetheless. I have had the car for only 2-3 years and bought off a person who had it since new. Once I had the old engine out I removed one of the valve covers and found a lot of sludge build up - pics attached. A lot worse than I thought it would be like. I haven't taken off the sump pan but I susepct I'll find and lot of sludge on the oil pickup and in the pan.
Anyway, a very low mileage was imported for Japan by myself a few months ago and it finally arrived just after Christmas. This thing looked brand new inside. I swapped over my existing engine loom (my car is an 01 and this new engine is dated 2005) as there are slight differences in the wiring (mostly the transmission upgrade, knock sensor type, throttle body) so the wiring harnesses are not compatible.
Runs really well now. I did notice that my power steering pump is a little noisy so will try and find a low mileage unit soon. If the engine runs well for the next few weeks/months, and I decide to keep the car, I'll do the timing belt and water pump next service.
After all this work - here's the irony - my engine replacement task went very well however I went to properly close the right rear door during final clean up and found that it won't close now - it won't catch/latch at all. Never had an issue until then. A quick search on Club Lexus reveals this is a known fault. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...-ls430-ul.html
Ripped off the door card and pulled the door latch mechanism out and is 100% the same fault as listed in the that thread. I might quickly 3D print something to fix this properly using though two holes on the metal plate as a mounting point.
Forgot about the air filters once wildfire season was over. Only remembered them when I went to remove the dead rat.
Brand new denso filter thrown in sometime between June and July iirc.
Purifier filter looked ok. Replaced it once when I bought the car with one the last owner had given me. The part is the entire unit, plastic tray, retainers, and all. No wonder its 50 bucks.
Took my 03 with 150K mile to Lexus for oil change the first time (just got car back in last March)
$99 they also did a inspection for me (well...to up sell some service). For less than $100, I am cool with that consider last month Ford charged me $85 for oil change and tire rotation on my 05 Taurus
Dealer did told me the following:
Timing belt + water pump $1500
Engine covers (start to leak a little) $1200
Both front and rear brake +flush $960
Power steering flush $150
I probably get OEM park and do the brake myself
not sure power steering flush, maybe I can just suck out the fluid from the engine bay and refill and repeat the steps
the other 2 big one, I don't think I can do it myself but will see but will hold off for now
Took my 03 with 150K mile to Lexus for oil change the first time (just got car back in last March)
$99 they also did a inspection for me (well...to up sell some service). For less than $100, I am cool with that consider last month Ford charged me $85 for oil change and tire rotation on my 05 Taurus
Dealer did told me the following:
Timing belt + water pump $1500
Engine covers (start to leak a little) $1200
Both front and rear brake +flush $960
Power steering flush $150
I probably get OEM park and do the brake myself
not sure power steering flush, maybe I can just suck out the fluid from the engine bay and refill and repeat the steps
the other 2 big one, I don't think I can do it myself but will see but will hold off for now
see how loose those valve cover bolts are. I was able to spin mine off with my fingers when I went to check them. Mine leaked a bit in the front, but after snugging them up, they're fine.
69 in-lb, NOT ft-lb, so somewhere between finger tight and hand tight with a screwdriver handle.
Took my 03 with 150K mile to Lexus for oil change the first time (just got car back in last March)
$99 they also did a inspection for me (well...to up sell some service). For less than $100, I am cool with that consider last month Ford charged me $85 for oil change and tire rotation on my 05 Taurus
Dealer did told me the following:
Timing belt + water pump $1500
Engine covers (start to leak a little) $1200
Both front and rear brake +flush $960
Power steering flush $150
I probably get OEM park and do the brake myself
not sure power steering flush, maybe I can just suck out the fluid from the engine bay and refill and repeat the steps
the other 2 big one, I don't think I can do it myself but will see but will hold off for now
They did the work or they quoted the work? If they quoted the work, don't have them do it as the prices are pretty high. You can find an independent Lexus specialist to do the work for less, just make sure you get OEM parts.
Timing belt should be around $1k.
Valve cover gaskets should be around $500 with plugs too.
Brakes all around with new rotors and pads plus new fluid should be about $600
Power steering flush should be $100.
You can do the fluid by pulling off the return hose and getting the fluid out that way. Sucking the fluid out of the reservoir will get it... eventually as you dilute the old fluid with new fluid.
Those are quoted by Lexus. I should able to buy OEM parts to do the brake myself. The other item, I will hold off for now. If anyone know a good Lexus mechanic around Seattle area, PM me
Cam seals, valve cover gaskets, VVTi cam gears, radiator, air intake, timing belt, spark plugs, oil dipstick o-ring, reseal transmission gasket, new front grille.
Took a full week to get it all knocked out.
oh, and new tires 3 weeks ago. Pirelli Cinturato AS Plus II. Got a big credit from the gen 1’s failing early at 22k miles.
Cam seals, valve cover gaskets, VVTi cam gears, radiator, air intake, timing belt, spark plugs, oil dipstick o-ring, reseal transmission gasket, new front grille.
Took a full week to get it all knocked out.
oh, and new tires 3 weeks ago. Pirelli Cinturato AS Plus II. Got a big credit from the gen 1’s failing early at 22k miles.
Wow!
I wish I would do all these myself. Is it difficult to do valve cover gaskets? My 03 will need that done as well as timing belt (not something I can do myself)
Wow!
I wish I would do all these myself. Is it difficult to do valve cover gaskets? My 03 will need that done as well as timing belt (not something I can do myself)
the labor takes hours. The cleanup on mine was pretty intense. I would knock out the cam seals too if you’re at 180k or beyond. They advised me to do the VVTi cam gears as well - they had someone not do them and they failed at like 210k or something and he had to repay for all that labor. The air intake was an unplanned expense, some part on it disintegrated in their hands so we had to do it too or else it would throw a code forever. Hopefully I’m set for at least the next 2-3 years!
Today I went ahead to check my last week work on converting all rusty surface from my rear frame / differential area to a paintable surface.
The idea was to avoid hiding rust (insignificant amount, but still) but rather to penetrate it and convert to a paintable surface. To my surprise the product I used far exceeded expectations and turned everything black. I applied it thick with many layers which successfully changed the surface properties.
The name of first product was Corroseal.
So today I went ahead and sprayed the rear bottom with military grade protectant which is heavy duty and long term. Years long tests showed it protects metal against salt, humidity and other rust factors.
Here it is:
If anyone has car rust problems, feel comfortable to use both these products to get amazing results.
Replaced my engine today - well it took me a couple of days as I don't have a hoist in my shed. Old engine had 420k kms on the clock and had an intermittent engine knocking issue sometime ago - which eventually cleared itself recently but did not sound good nonetheless. I have had the car for only 2-3 years and bought off a person who had it since new. Once I had the old engine out I removed one of the valve covers and found a lot of sludge build up - pics attached. A lot worse than I thought it would be like. I haven't taken off the sump pan but I susepct I'll find and lot of sludge on the oil pickup and in the pan.
Anyway, a very low mileage was imported for Japan by myself a few months ago and it finally arrived just after Christmas. This thing looked brand new inside. I swapped over my existing engine loom (my car is an 01 and this new engine is dated 2005) as there are slight differences in the wiring (mostly the transmission upgrade, knock sensor type, throttle body) so the wiring harnesses are not compatible.
Runs really well now. I did notice that my power steering pump is a little noisy so will try and find a low mileage unit soon. If the engine runs well for the next few weeks/months, and I decide to keep the car, I'll do the timing belt and water pump next service.
After all this work - here's the irony - my engine replacement task went very well however I went to properly close the right rear door during final clean up and found that it won't close now - it won't catch/latch at all. Never had an issue until then. A quick search on Club Lexus reveals this is a known fault. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...-ls430-ul.html
Ripped off the door card and pulled the door latch mechanism out and is 100% the same fault as listed in the that thread. I might quickly 3D print something to fix this properly using though two holes on the metal plate as a mounting point.
Interesting, my original engine was far worse inside when I did some service on it. No wonder I ran into an issue as well.
01-12-21, 11:27 PM
