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Replaced the serpentine belt.
Old one looks visually good, didn't have too many miles, was 6 years old, and was making some noise as well as slipping during the start and making screeching noise.
Some googling indicated stretched belt and so it was. It is supposed to be within the B range shown below and was just outside it.
It is easy to check. Check your belts if they are more than 4 years old.
Not my LS. Photo from internet showing tensioner marks.
Replaced the serpentine belt.
Old one looks visually good, didn't have too many miles, was 6 years old, and was making some noise as well as slipping during the start and making screeching noise.
Some googling indicated stretched belt and so it was. It is supposed to be within the B range shown below and was just outside it.
It is easy to check. Check your belts if they are more than 4 years old.
Not my LS. Photo from internet showing tensioner marks.
Interesting I didn't check my marks. It would seem that there's nothing one can do about them since it's not possible to replace the tensioner without getting into the timing belt area, right? I was told belts and hoses are not like the old days where one replaces them all the time. Mine was 3 years old (did it since I was replacing those pulleys) and it may as well been brand new.
We went to a soccer tournament in PA so the mpgs went up significantly. I tell you those NYC FC kids come down here and basically kick our butts with outrageous scores, sweeps, and generally at another level. Then they leave in their Maseratis, Range Rovers, Porsches, X8's, and our parents tail tuck in our CR-Vs and Sante Fes. It's rather sad hahahaha and kids are old enough to realize the class difference. They'll also see the difference at SAT time with the private tutors and prep schools, all of which were not necessary in my time (I took the SATs once no tutors the public school system was all we needed).
Last few days have been one helluva learning experience. Timing belt from start to finish. About 10 hours between 3 days.
'01 UL with 86k miles, 11k of those from me in the 10 months of ownership. The majority of the job was pretty much getting everything off the engine. Hoses were more or less stuck on since it's been 19 years since anyone's touched the parts. Had to go at most of the fittings with a pipe wrench to break coolant hoses loose. Lots of somewhat brittle plastic clips. Connectors were still fine surprisingly. Cleaned everything thoroughly last night and assembly was a breeze. About 2 hours from getting the water pump mounted to cranking the engine.
Radiator hose. Looks like the last owner filled the system with tap water. The inside of the water pump was much cleaner than this though. Will still need to flush and clean the system at some point in the near future.
Last few days have been one helluva learning experience. Timing belt from start to finish. About 10 hours between 3 days.
'01 UL with 86k miles, 11k of those from me in the 10 months of ownership. The majority of the job was pretty much getting everything off the engine. Hoses were more or less stuck on since it's been 19 years since anyone's touched the parts. Had to go at most of the fittings with a pipe wrench to break coolant hoses loose. Lots of somewhat brittle plastic clips. Connectors were still fine surprisingly. Cleaned everything thoroughly last night and assembly was a breeze. About 2 hours from getting the water pump mounted to cranking the engine.
Radiator hose. Looks like the last owner filled the system with tap water. The inside of the water pump was much cleaner than this though. Will still need to flush and clean the system at some point in the near future.
Good for you. That kind of experience is invaluable. I bet next time you’ll be able to bang it out in less than a day!
Interesting I didn't check my marks. It would seem that there's nothing one can do about them since it's not possible to replace the tensioner without getting into the timing belt area, right? I was told belts and hoses are not like the old days where one replaces them all the time. Mine was 3 years old (did it since I was replacing those pulleys) and it may as well been brand new.
We went to a soccer tournament in PA so the mpgs went up significantly. I tell you those NYC FC kids come down here and basically kick our butts with outrageous scores, sweeps, and generally at another level. Then they leave in their Maseratis, Range Rovers, Porsches, X8's, and our parents tail tuck in our CR-Vs and Sante Fes. It's rather sad hahahaha and kids are old enough to realize the class difference. They'll also see the difference at SAT time with the private tutors and prep schools, all of which were not necessary in my time (I took the SATs once no tutors the public school system was all we needed).
It was not a tensioner problem for me. It was just the belt stretching over time. Replacing belt worked as expected and tensioner mark is in the range now.
Here is a short thread about removing tensioner assembly. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...-assembly.html
Reproducing... you have to unbolt the alternator and the right side timing belt cover(passenger side) then remove the plastic cover that covers the belt tensioner
Sucked out power steering fluid from the reservoir and refilled it. (Actually did it for the second time in last few days).
Fluid wasn't too bad because I do it once in a while but plan is to get it as red as possible.
Finally found the time to get my headlights polished - what a difference! Also located a compatriot in the parking lot; interesting to see two generations side by side.
02-16-20, 05:02 PM
