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On my girlfriend 04 rx330 timng belt with water pump was replaced by lexus dealership. 10k miles later car stole on highway. Turns out water pump was defective and start leaking water, coming right to the crankshaft seal. Seal got destroyed and water with oil ruined timing belt (ripped it very badly). Luckly none of the vales got bended. Put new seals everywhere (besides rear cam seal, figured not worth taking it apart), replaced water pump, tensioners and timing belt. Car is running good now. To take water pump out I had to remove few bolts from the inner camshaft cover and was able to slide thing off. Hardest part was putting timing belt it. Took me an hour and tons of reinstallation, before it went correctly. But honestly whole procedure is not bad at all!
I've done some t-belts before on other cars and that plus research here on the forum and the helpful videos before I figured I'd have it in a couple days (I'm slow).
Wellll. After 2 days of effort I could NOT get that dang crank bolt off. Made the tool (it takes 20 min or so with the drill press to drill the hole) used #8 1.25 thread 20mm bolts for the keepers, and could not get that mother to budge. Started with 3/8 impact, no go. 3/8 breaker, no go, 3/8 using 1/2 inch bar, 2' long, succeeded in breaking 2 1/2 to 3/8 adapters. Next day, 1/2 in craftsman electric ratchet, no go. 1/2 drive #22 with breaker, 4' of extension, PB plaster, and heat won't break it loose. I'm afraid to go much further and will now take it to a shop. My Ford mechanic buddy thought they may have toqued it to 180-200. I'm guessing it is pretty far north of that. I'm fairly strong and had a helper beating my 5' total lever length with a 5lb sledge to no avail.
I figure at this point if someone is going to break it I want it to be someone with deeper pockets than me and a repair warranty in case they beat it and f-up my crank.
Also, I looked pretty hard to find the thermostat replacement diagram. Surprisingly scarce. Shocker is that it is on the right side of the engine under several hoses. The lower radiator hose connects to a plastic tube that is the outside of the housing. It's a pain to get to like everything else. I ordered a "genuine" parts kit from fleabay and the t-stat was too big. I even measured it with the original using digi calipers, and had to file the mounting flange smaller down to make-fit.
These are why I figured it would take 2 days. But now it's gonna be longer than that and $1K because of that dang bolt. Grrr..
I've done some t-belts before on other cars and that plus research here on the forum and the helpful videos before I figured I'd have it in a couple days (I'm slow).
Wellll. After 2 days of effort I could NOT get that dang crank bolt off. Made the tool (it takes 20 min or so with the drill press to drill the hole) used #8 1.25 thread 20mm bolts for the keepers, and could not get that mother to budge. Started with 3/8 impact, no go. 3/8 breaker, no go, 3/8 using 1/2 inch bar, 2' long, succeeded in breaking 2 1/2 to 3/8 adapters. Next day, 1/2 in craftsman electric ratchet, no go. 1/2 drive #22 with breaker, 4' of extension, PB plaster, and heat won't break it loose. I'm afraid to go much further and will now take it to a shop. My Ford mechanic buddy thought they may have toqued it to 180-200. I'm guessing it is pretty far north of that. I'm fairly strong and had a helper beating my 5' total lever length with a 5lb sledge to no avail.
I figure at this point if someone is going to break it I want it to be someone with deeper pockets than me and a repair warranty in case they beat it and f-up my crank.
Also, I looked pretty hard to find the thermostat replacement diagram. Surprisingly scarce. Shocker is that it is on the right side of the engine under several hoses. The lower radiator hose connects to a plastic tube that is the outside of the housing. It's a pain to get to like everything else. I ordered a "genuine" parts kit from fleabay and the t-stat was too big. I even measured it with the original using digi calipers, and had to file the mounting flange smaller down to make-fit.
These are why I figured it would take 2 days. But now it's gonna be longer than that and $1K because of that dang bolt. Grrr..
This is what I used. It is on there with what felt like 300 ft/lbs.
Took less than 10 seconds to get off. I have used several electric impacts in the past and they are considerably less powerfully than the air powered ones. My old Dewalt 1/2" electric impact was not able to remove that crank bolt and my RX is a rust free FL car.
we tried a snap-on 1/2 in impact and it didn't budge. My dad used to be a snap-on dealer and impact wrench was basically new: good seals, etc. My compressor probably didn't generate enough power.
As a last ditch we braced the breaker against the ground and turned the engine over. Still no go.
The shop I'm taking it to is across from a diesel mechanic who has some 1" gear. Maybe that'll do it.
I also called Lexus and the mechanic said its a counter-clockwise thread, or a typical lefty loosey. So I'm going the right way.
Got it buttoned back up and drove some last night. No funky noises so if we damaged anything it wasn't immediately apparent.
I was a mechanic and even taught heavy vehicle maintenance before finding a better way to make a living. I pick and choose what I am going to tackle, and the timing belt is not one of them. We had an ES330 and still have a SC430. Both had the timing belt/water pump done at a Lexus dealer! I was not going to tackle that especially on the ES330. Even being retired, more time than money, I think the dealer mechanic earns it...
Ozzie
Going from memory (it was about 18 months ago), in the Denver metro area, here was the approximate pricing I encountered with timing belt, water pump, tensioner, new belts, etc:
-$500-$600 (Independent specializing in Toyota/Lexus)
-$700-$800 (Toyota)
-$1400-$1500 (Lexus)
The independent I used charged $430 labor and used my parts kit, the 11 piece with cam and crank seals, tensioner assembly, tbelt, wpump/seal, & 2 other belts. I did the thermostat myself when my helper was buttoning up the tbelt area.
The mechanic said he spent 3 hours getting the crank bolt loose. Used heat and a 1" drive setup he borrowed from the semi-repair shop next door!
He said that it was over-tight because it hadn't been done before and that I should have been able to do it with what I had and my skillset. But he's earned my business for future stuff even if less convenient than some closer guys I used to use.
Last edited by brianmch; 06-15-16 at 09:10 AM.
Reason: addt'l info
ry, paid a little more for it than I remembered. Shipping was super fast. I bought that one because it had the cam and crank seals and figured it was good to replace them since I would be in there.
Word of caution: the thermostat didn't fit. Measured with digi calps and the flange was too big. Had to file smaller while keeping it round. I may have a small leak and will need to go to the local parts store for a new one. The thermostat is kind of a pain to get to cuz its on the right side of the engine under the intake.
1. I understand the crank bolt can be a bear but my 580lb impact (air) took mine right off.
2. Putting the new belt on is really easy, at least it was this way for me:
Be sure everything TDC/lined up before you take off the old belt.
New belt needs to have cam and crank lines on it. Most all top-of-the line ones do.
Put the belt on the rear cam (belt line w/gear mark (plastic tie it/clamp it); go under the bearing and up to the front cam gear, line up belt line w/gear mark (plastic tie it); if the front mark is on the gear mark (1) and the line on the belt (2) lines up with the rear cover mark (3), (1-2-3) the rear cam has to be TDC; belt should be tight between the cam gears; go around the water pump to the crank; be sure the crank is TDC (inter-sprocket) and the belt crank lines, line up w/dot on outer sprocket. Everything should be tight from the rear cam to crank. The belt slack should be between the crank and rear cam gear. Install tensioner bearing and tensioner. Check all the belt lines, gear marks, rear cover marks and block crank mark for TDC; if all are good, you are good to pull the pin. Works for me. **The plastic ties/clamps are the trick** If I have missed something let me know.
Also worked great on our 2001 RX 300...................
05-20-15 | 05:13 PM
