Build Zuninja's 2005 GX470 "Build"

[OG Zuninja]

For anyone reading, the initial cost to have the timing belt and water pump serviced by Lexus was ~$1500, not including the cost of the kit (Aisin TKT021) on RockAuto at the time of this post, of $178.79. To have Lexus diagnose and replace the failed pump was another ~$950 including a new OEM pump. In all honesty, pretty solid pricing all around by Priority Lexus.
I reached out to RockAuto earlier this morning via email to see what they could do. I received a call about 15 minutes ago and spoke with a gentleman named "Chris" from RockAuto's customer service. The best he could offer for my trouble is $30. Helluva punch in the gut. Do with that information what you will.

 

[Rednexus]

For anyone reading, the initial cost to have the timing belt and water pump serviced by Lexus was ~$1500, not including the cost of the kit (Aisin TKT021) on RockAuto at the time of this post, of $178.79. To have Lexus diagnose and replace the failed pump was another ~$950 including a new OEM pump. In all honesty, pretty solid pricing all around by Priority Lexus.
I reached out to RockAuto earlier this morning via email to see what they could do. I received a call about 15 minutes ago and spoke with a gentleman named "Chris" from RockAuto's customer service. The best he could offer for my trouble is $30. Helluva punch in the gut. Do with that information what you will.

Cost of low prices. Rock Auto has probably saved me several thousands of dollars in the nearly 15 years I've been using them. I've only had a problem once (Power Stop brake hoses that failed) and the didn't even offer me $30. I'm surprised you even received a phone call, to be honest. I'm also surprised your Lexus dealer was even willing to install a customer-provided 3rd party kit that didn't come from them - no shop around here (dealer or indy) would ever agree to do that for warranty reasons.

I'll get my next timing belt kit from elsewhere. Probably Summit Racing as they are only nominally more expensive than Rock Auto ($189 today), but Summit has legitimately great customer service. I've been thinking about moving on from Rock Auto anyway for awhile now.

 

[aztoytec]

Wow… that’s too bad.
Unfortunately Rockauto stopped shipping to Arizona due to a tax dispute (?). I thought it would be temporary but it’s not looking that way. I never has an issue with them before this. I think $30.00 is a slap in the face. Rockauto is a multi million dollar company and should step it up under certain circumstances like this.
Even a $100 credit could go a long ways!!

 

[OG Zuninja]

Cost of low prices. Rock Auto has probably saved me several thousands of dollars in the nearly 15 years I've been using them. I've only had a problem once (Power Stop brake hoses that failed) and the didn't even offer me $30. I'm surprised you even received a phone call, to be honest. I'm also surprised your Lexus dealer was even willing to install a customer-provided 3rd party kit that didn't come from them - no shop around here (dealer or indy) would ever agree to do that for warranty reasons.

I'll get my next timing belt kit from elsewhere. Probably Summit Racing as they are only nominally more expensive than Rock Auto ($189 today), but Summit has legitimately great customer service. I've been thinking about moving on from Rock Auto anyway for awhile now.

Same. I've saved a boat load of money going through RockAuto knowing there would be a bit of an inconvenience with warranty replacement of parts should I need to as compared to a brick and mortar parts store down the road. I've also considered moving on from RockAuto but this latest incident has made the decision for me.

Wow… that’s too bad.
Unfortunately Rockauto stopped shipping to Arizona due to a tax dispute (?). I thought it would be temporary but it’s not looking that way. I never has an issue with them before this. I think $30.00 is a slap in the face. Rockauto is a multi million dollar company and should step it up under certain circumstances like this.
Even a $100 credit could go a long ways!!

100% agreed. That $100 credit would've been the cost of a new Aisin WP. Not even a drop in the bucket to their bottom line.

 

[OG Zuninja]

I haven't really done any work to Gloria lately since the house needed some attention. We've just been taking her on trips and enjoying the ride. Shortly after the WP debacle, I drove her down to Tampa to welcome the new nephew into this world.

A few weeks later in April, took her up Union Springs up to Flagpole Knob.

This past weekend, went down to Corolla beach on the NC Outer Banks and just hung out.

Here's an upskirt from the water:

Hopefully I find some time here soon to get some much needed maintenance done and a few mods that have been sitting in the garage waiting for far too long.

 

[OG Zuninja]

After a bit over a year of sitting on my work bench, I finally got around to installing my Hayden 698 transmission cooler with the Goliath mount and swapping out the nasty old fluid with some Valvoline Max Life. Better late than never.

 

[OG Zuninja]

Found this little guy on marketplace yesterday. It was only 15 minutes away from my house.

These don't exactly pop up on marketplace by me so I had to jump on it when it did. That said, I really need to stop acquiring stuff for projects/mods and just complete some in a timely manner.

 

[andyGX470]

Cost of low prices. Rock Auto has probably saved me several thousands of dollars in the nearly 15 years I've been using them. I've only had a problem once (Power Stop brake hoses that failed) and the didn't even offer me $30. I'm surprised you even received a phone call, to be honest. I'm also surprised your Lexus dealer was even willing to install a customer-provided 3rd party kit that didn't come from them - no shop around here (dealer or indy) would ever agree to do that for warranty reasons.

I'll get my next timing belt kit from elsewhere. Probably Summit Racing as they are only nominally more expensive than Rock Auto ($189 today), but Summit has legitimately great customer service. I've been thinking about moving on from Rock Auto anyway for awhile now.

Got my kit from PartsGeek. Hopefully it holds out. It was Aisin though.

 

[OG Zuninja]

Very minor update with no pictures. Over the last few months I've been experiencing an occasional stumble while stopped at a light and a random check engine. Each time the check engine would come up it would pop a P0172 with an occasional P0175. Clear the codes with my ceiling mounted ScanGauge and go on with my day. Recently, it was happening more frequently with the summer temps and while in traffic. Cleaned the MAF and replaced the air filter with little effect. Granted, both were coming up as due so it wasn't totally in vain. To make matters worse, my fuel level gauge started acting up about the same time I was getting the more frequent check engine lights. I purchased a new Denso pump and OEM level sender to tackle that. Truck still running "well" for the most part.

Two weeks ago, I decided to have a look at my MAF connector. I did so because I had broken the retaining clip last sometime year and have been using a zip tie to hold it in place. Plus, the replacement off Scamazon was cheap. I've been monitoring everything ever since but I'm happy to report that my check engine has not returned, my stumble is gone and miraculously, my fuel level is acting properly. I cannot explain that last bit at all. Either way, I have the parts to attack the fuel pump on hand as I know it should be coming due soon as the rig is now at 227k.

 

[Rednexus]

Just FYI, I had one of those Amazon MAF connectors do OK for awhile, but then it eventually cracked and started acting up again. Now I have one from Ballenger Motorsports that's spliced into the OEM MAF harness via a Deutsch connector. My MAF was acting up again recently (fuel trims were negative and I was down on power), that was fixed for a bit by addressing a minor vacuum leak at the MAF itself, but then it came back within a couple of days. on Sunday I opened up my Deutsch connector and put some dielectric grease in it, the difference in fuel trims was immediate and the rig has way more power.

The GX is very, very sensitive to problems in the MAF connector and wiring harness. Sometimes they will throw a code but often the won't and the rig will just run crappy. I've been fighting it since I bought my rig. I'd like to say the problem is fixed now but it will likely come back in the future.

 

[OG Zuninja]

This update comes in the form of replacing the fuel pump, in tank filter and fuel level sender with new parts from Denso and Toyota, respectively. That miraculous fuel gauge fix was short lived as it acted up after reporting it "fixed". Last time I'll put something like that into the universe. That's not true. I've said that too many times before and don't learn.

I opted to cut open the floor to access the top of the tank. Why Toyota opted for such a small access panel to simply unplug a couple of fuel lines and electrical connectors is beyond my comprehension. Not truly knowing how much fuel was in the tank and looking out for future me on the trails is why I went this route. Please excuse the dirt and pine needles.

And all covered up with a shoddily bent up aluminum panel, some foam gasket around the perimeter and rivnuts for ease of removal later on.

And some new vs old (227k miles). I'm keeping the old pump as a trail spare.

 

[OG Zuninja]

In addition to that, I upgraded the homelink following this thread on Reddit: I Found a Way to Make the GX470 Homelink Buttons Work with Modern Garage Doors
Thanks to that, I was able to ditch the garage door opener remote I had clipped onto my visor.

I then turned my attention to my battery terminals and installed these from Moroso. If they're good enough for race cars, they're good enough for Gloria.

Only real downside to these is the hardware is SAE and not metric. Not really a big deal in my eyes.

 

[Rednexus]

How many doors will that Homelink work with? We have two and it would be awesome to ditch the door opener clipped to my visor!

 

[OG Zuninja]

How many doors will that Homelink work with? We have two and it would be awesome to ditch the door opener clipped to my visor!

I assume it'll accommodate three but I only have the one door since I'm not that fancy.

 

[stupidchicken03]

Yea will also be ordering the V4 transmitter to give it a shot! We've got 2 garages at home, plus one at the cabin (which I norm just switch the MyQ App's profile from "home" to "cabin" to control the garage... but built in is always nicer).

 

[Rednexus]

I assume it'll accommodate three but I only have the one door since I'm not that fancy.

Awesome - we may add an opener to one more door in the future too.

FWIW a shop at all, much less one with remote openers has been a major step up. I've done cylinder heads on gravel under a carport; a rear axle swap on uncovered concrete with several inches of snow; a water pump in the dorm parking lot; and brakes, knock sensors, struts, brakes, and wheel bearings on the side of the street in front of various apartments. I may be forgetting a few more in there after 25 years of wrenching at this point .

 

[OG Zuninja]

Awesome - we may add an opener to one more door in the future too.

FWIW a shop at all, much less one with remote openers has been a major step up. I've done cylinder heads on gravel under a carport; a rear axle swap on uncovered concrete with several inches of snow; a water pump in the dorm parking lot; and brakes, knock sensors, struts, brakes, and wheel bearings on the side of the street in front of various apartments. I may be forgetting a few more in there after 25 years of wrenching at this point .

That's something I want in the next property we buy. Where we're at now was due to the boys not wanting to pick up and move again (prior military) and there isn't room to expand. Now that they're grown and mostly out of the house, I'm looking for the right place that isn't constrained by "good schools" or anything like that, has plenty of space to expand to my heart's content and the closest neighbor is at least 1000 yards away.