Kelfin

My 01 Lexus GS 300 has 300K miles and I have a leak either at the water pump or close to it. I wanted to know everything I would need to change those items out and if anything else should be change along with them.

GS300LUV

Ill try to give you an answer but, Im no expert. I dont think anyone has given you an answer because you might have posted in the wrong section too. If you are going to change your water pump, you might as well replace your timing belt too. If you are going to change your timing belt you might as well change your front main seal and your cam seals, epically in a car with 300k. At least I would. Some people would say, dont change it if its not leaking. But if your in the area and you have all the components removed, why not. It would suck to change your water pump and timing belt, put it all back together and have one of the seals start to leak a week later. If your a 300k and the timing belt has never been changed, its probably time. Good luck bud. Most of the answers you seek are in the forum. Just try to search out a few things. If you have any other questions, I'd be glad to help.

raytseng

Reason why not to change the seals is you may not get as good of a seal with the new seal vs the old one+ will cost you extra labor time.
So there are equal stories of people who's engines were fine until they replaced the seal then they leaked.


If it held fine for 300k miles, then there's no good reason it should immediately start leaking now. If anything all the doom and gloom people say about sludge and carbon buildup and all that means your existing seal is perfectly matched and embedded to it's spot and not leaking.

Anyway, if you trust that your mechanic, ask them to use their judgement, bring it up for them to thoroughly inspect the seal and use their expertise that you're paying them for and replace if if they feel it's a good idea or leave it if it looks fine.

So along those lines, find trusted mechanic is your best next step

GS300LUV

Are you doing the work your self? If you are and you are mechanically inclined, you should change the seals. I know its the easier route to go with the "if its not broken don't fix it " BUT, just think for a second if you would. If you have all of those components off the engine, it would be a shame to re-install everything which of course can be very time consuming and a pain the the a$$ sometimes, only to have a seal start to leak a week or few months down the road. If you buy OEM seals and install them properly, then you should have no leaks. If you have a mechanic install them and they do start to leak, then guess who gets their seals replaced for free. In my honest opinion, with a high mileage engine especially if the annual maintenance has not been performed, it should be done. Especially for peace of mind! Good luck

Kelfin

Yes I plan to do everything myself. I've already replaced the thermostat and flushed the coolant. I have a leak at the front seal. so I will be doing that and i'm not sure about the cams. I had fun buying the tools and taking everything but the crankshaft pulley out. I ran out of money for the tool to do it. I have ALLDATA for it now so i kind of know what tools I need. It's been fun working on the car. Thanks for the responses everyone.