2001 LX470 - Cam Shaft Seals?? (2 Viewers)

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I'm loosing count of how many timing belt jobs I've done, just in last 2 years. In 17 years of working on 100 series, I've never replaced cam or cranks seals.

I've seen 1 VVT that is a possible weeper on RH cam seal. But were watch and waiting until next timing belt job. I've one other I suspect, may have seal leaks. It has used HM (high mileage) oil, and now all seals leak. Other than that I never see cam or crank seals leak. More likely to leak if replaced.

What I do see leak and all to often is the tensor idler pulley bolt thread.

Here's one I'm working om now. One would think crank and possible cam seals. But they are dry. The FSM clearly states seal the threads on this bolt. Unfortunately Dealerships and INDY don't read the FSM in most cases, they're concern is with beating book time!

At first glance you'll see grim from oil in circled area. With pulley and crank sprocket on, one would assume crank and cam seals.

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Close examination of crank seal shows it is dry.

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Here's is actually (oil leak) weeper
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VVT cam seals are hard to see if leaking or not. But if head dry (see arrow), it's not weeping oil. If wet it still may be a dry cam seal. Oil from PS steering gets here and capillary action can spread pulley bolt threads oil weep even to head. So makes a hard call even if oil on head.

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I'm re-doing a Lexus Dealership Timing belt job now. What a mess, only thing done correct was timing of belt. Bolts hand tight, oil leak, crank wire routed wrong, wire clips busted off t-belt cover, t-belt cover busted, missing bolts, radiator fin damage, Even the crank bolt was loose. The list goes on.

Ir's popular for buyer's to want to see, long service history from Dealership. I just like seeing OF&L ever 5k. Most all else service means, I've got more corrective work to be done. Not all shops make a mess of our rigs, but most do I'm sorry to say!
 
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to be honest, i think they were just trying to steal some money and they knew full well what the engine was. I say this because after they acknowledged that the engine is not vVTI and the cam shafts don't need to be pulled, they then quoted me 2.5 hours to do the cam seals instead of 5 hours for vvti. seems like they keep trying to gauge me. I'm worried to get full agro and take the car with the engine open since i don't want them messing with it.

Shops (any) don't charge you based on what they realistically think it will take in time. They have somewhat 'standard' charges for certain jobs. In fairness....those prices are based on the WORST case scenario not the best. The job where every damn you touch breaks, won't come off, etc...

They aren't always trying to rip you a new one. But DO enter into any agreement from as educated a position as possible. That way you don't get 'up-sold' on things you might not need. THAT is where shops take advantage of folks.
 
makes sense, i guess it all depends on how honest they are when the job goes smoothly. do they just charge for labor actually done? or do they pocket the worst case scenario over -estimation. might be better if they just gave a range best to worst. so the customer can be prepared for both.
 
makes sense, i guess it all depends on how honest they are when the job goes smoothly. do they just charge for labor actually done? or do they pocket the worst case scenario over -estimation. might be better if they just gave a range best to worst. so the customer can be prepared for both.
Usually the quoted time is what’s charged. This prevents people from being overcharged from a poor mechanic. (Laws and such) There’s a system behind the hours. For companies that follow book, they pay mechanics better if they are faster, allowing more jobs to be done in an allotted time. Those mechanics often go to start their own places. Knowing a good Indy that is happy with low overhead and a rational income means they often quote based on experience and charge based on actual labor hours. It takes a long time with a friendly mechanic to build that report and even then, there will be give and take. My friendly doesn’t like to attend to my every squeak and only likes true maintenance, not preventive (I mean I’m very preventive) because he helps lots and lots of people. So when I have something he won’t do, I have another great off-road (and for my amg) place I’ve finally found after a few years and they had moved in right around the corner. 90-100hr is the sweet spot where I am. Dealer prices are always higher. Then, if you can find, buy and bring parts to your mechanic, the savings are even greater, just don’t bring them the wrong stuff cause then it takes more time.

the echoing statement here is to be armed with knowledge. I diagnosed my cam seals before the trip to the mechanic in my case so knew when they underquoted me I had to tell them, and it took them all of 13 hours but they billed twelve after I said it was ok they were hours off (8-9 was initial quote).

like gi joe said. Knowing is half the battle.
 

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