ariescrown

Well here I am again asking my friends the experts for help. My 2004 LS 430 has 57,000 miles on it. Went to my doctor car worked fine steering on a dime air cold and fast. When I left the office it started with the air coming out slow and hardly cool at all. When I got to the next corner to make a turn I could hardly turn the wheel it was so hard. When I looked at my dash I saw the little red icon of the battery lit up. Luckily I made it another 5 miles to my home ! I was told I had to have the car towed to the dealer because the red battery icon means that the battery is not being charged and the car could come to a stop at any time ? Does any of this make sense to anyone. As always thank you for your help. Tom

bradland

Have you raised the hood?
Sounds like your serpentine belt failed. A new one costs about $20, unless you let the dealer handle it...

Bsavage

Sounds like a problem I had the serpentine belt fell off because the belt tensioner gave out I bought a duralast assembly at autozone for $60 either yours ripped or fell off it should be in there because the plastic under guard should catch it

disconnect battery remove air box attachment drop the alternator than begin to remove the tensioner assembly it’s going to be very tricky to pull the assembly out if it’s just the pulley that is bad they carry just that part at auto zone to for like $25

the bearing in my pully that failed when I removed just that part all the ***** fell out

Jabberwock

Agree - most likely the serpentine belt which drives most of the accessory systems. Expect approx $200 repair from the dealer.

bradland

Did you hang on to the old tensioner? The bearing in the pulley can be replaced for about $6. I only bring this up as the Duralast part wont last very long. I hope yours is an exception but Duralast is the worst of the worst.

Bsavage

The pulley burned the plastic cover on the oem assembly So I threw it away and I was broken down at auto zone only had so many options lol duralast is pretty doo doo but hasn’t failed me yet I always get their brake pads to

rkw77080

Refer to the procedure below, a number of parts can cause the drive belt to fall out, including a bad tensioner, idler #1, or idler #2. The drive belt itself maybe torn.

ariescrown

Thank you all again for your great help. I believe it is only the serpentine belt that has to be replaced. I don't believe the alternator failed. Is there a high quality belt I should be using or are they all the same ? I unfortunately have to have a pro do this job. I'll get a price from my local guy as well as the Lexus people. The local guy is 5 miles away and the Lexus dealer is 17 miles away. I guess I have to have the car towed to whichever place I choose because I'm told that with the battery icon showing on my dash the battery is Not being charged and the car could just stop on the road at any time. Is that correct ? Thanks...

Bsavage

Go to your local guy is a fairly easy job to do and he will probably charge you a little less than lexus,
How to do ratchet set and a 1 foot metal pipe to give you leverage turn the bolt on the pulley left slip the old one off and put the new one on
also where is your old belt did it fall off on the street or did it rip?

StanVanDam

Serpentine belt part number is 90916-02586. shared with other Toyota V8s so any Toyota dealership should have it, and cheaper than Lexus pricing.

It is a very easy DIY if it is only the belt that needs replacing, you can do it in 10-20 minutes anywhere and I think you don't even need to remove any covers, the serpentine system is all exposed. The socket is somewhere between 12mm and 17mm (don't recall exactly, did this years ago), just attach the socket to the tensioner pulley, then push the tensioner in the direction to loosen tension. Remove the old belt, then fit the new belt on all the way around, ensuring the ribs are on correctly on each pulley, then push the tensioner again to make space to wrap the final loop of the belt. I did not need a pipe or cheater bar, any normal 1/2" drive rachet should be long enough, but having a pipe to go on the end of it would make it slightly easier to push.

If a pulley or tensioner is broke, then it is slightly more difficult than a 10-20 minute job, you'll want to take it to an independent shop. If it's just the belt, don't pay someone to do that and don't pay to tow your car somewhere, it's way too easy to do yourself.

Peacebay

Tensioner is 14 mm. I would implore you not to bring it anywhere to do. This is a painfully simple job that someone would love to charge you money for.

Go to Autozone, (no need to go oem on the serpentine belt here, idc what anyone says) look up one video how to do it, and send it.

I honestly think I could change out a belt on a UZ engine in less than a minute

ariescrown

Thanks again guys. Just looked under the hood as you suggested. Didn't do it before because I thought the entire engine was covered up. Here is the interesting thing I want to tell you. The belt actually shredded , The strands are near the pulleys but they look like only just two black strands of spaghetti. They are sticking out with no tension on them I could pulled them out very easily. Does that mean anything, Does it indicate anything specific about my problem ?

bradland

A pic would help tremendously...
It sounds like one of the pulleys froze up. Belts rarely just shred for no reason so you'll need to find the cause before installing a new belt.
Take a close look at the small idler pulley and the tensioner pulley, highlighted in red. These two are the most prone to bearing failure. They should both spin freely, once the belt is removed, and feel very smooth.

ariescrown

Thanks Brad. Tomorrow morning I will go to where I had to park the car , start it up and look at the two areas you highlighted to see if they rotate. If bearings have to be replaced is that an expensive job ?

bradland

Check the pulley rotation BEFORE starting the car. If one has failed you'll actually be replacing the entire pulley. Replacing just the bearing is kind of an advanced, money-saving move, for us grease monkeys. Both pulleys are very simple to replace assuming the problem is just the pulley...