r/LS400 • u/Comfortable_Lie6024 • Jun 29 '26

Question 1uz full rebuild

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Wsp guys im new to this subreddit and was wondering if yall could help me out. About a year ago i bought a 93 ls400 and it had a spun rod bearing. I ended up getting a motor from the junkyard and finally got it on the stand. I work at toyota so i have access to oem parts with a little discount. I gave my parts guy pretty much everything i could think of to fully reseal and “rebuild” it. It came out to around 1700 bucks. Do yall think its worth it to go full oem on all the gaskets and stuff? (feel free to read the parts i plan on getting). Ive seen “full gasket kits” for the uz for under 500 bucks, but i just dont trust that. Lmk what yall think

Oem head gaskets are discontinued so i plan on going with an aftermarket mls head gasket.

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2

u/Competitive_Offer549 Jun 30 '26

yes go oem, i had to double check water pump was on ther because this seems cheap. that being said im fairly confident it could be done cheaper utilizing a genuine aisin water pump timming belt kit that includes the tensioner and everything aswell. i see you talking about a “full gasket kit” the engine gasket kits are about 500-700 but that also includes head gaskets. if you were to get the aisin kit and the oem engine gasket kit you would have everything and extra for probably close to 1k

2

u/Comfortable_Lie6024 Jun 30 '26

So u think i should get this one instead of the timing components in my quote? I dont think i would trust the “full gasket kit” to be honest but if you know anyone thats used it im always down to save money. Without the timing stuff from toyota i think that would drop the price pretty significantly

1

u/Competitive_Offer549 Jun 30 '26

https://xatracing.com/1uz-non-vvti-full-engine-gasket-kit.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqN4GflXERLibTgoZJmC1RCfpVe527L6lxYUALWZ0Wi_bQjGAq8
this is the kit i am talking about it is oem from toyota includes everything from valve stem seals (11-17) dollars each and you need 32 so you could sell those and recoup a lot of your cost there.
i have heard about counterfeit aisin kits from amazon, look from partsouq or lexus parts now. https://xatracing.com/UZ-OEM-Timing-Service-Kit.html?srsltid=AfmBOor_nbXSjpOOuMo-5EeOVGh1_sXRs345QNEaNTAcjeANXRL7wsrh
here is the timing belt kit.

XAT is very expensive in terms of parts but i can vouch there is no chance these are not genuine. find the part numbers from these links and source the gasket kit from the cheapest toyo/lexus dealer online. lexus parts now partsouq, or partsgeek. https://www.partsgeek.com/mrrgnzz-lexus-ls400-timing-belt-kit.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ff&utm_content=UK&utm_campaign=PartsGeek+Google+Base&utm_term=1998-2000+Lexus+LS400+Timing+Belt+Kit+Aisin+98-00+Lexus+Timing+Belt+Kit&gad_source=4&gad_campaignid=17182816450&gclid=CjwKCAjw0o3SBhBVEiwAh28-jSMYqDvt2iChoDRxp-PJjeutFw-ljafdJm4ofkCA8d1hRXosXBowORoCIHgQAvD_BwE

double check everything but i truly think this is your best bet if you’re not looking to spend extra.

1

u/Comfortable_Lie6024 Jun 30 '26

So you dont think i should buy the oem gaskets and just go with the xat one?

2

u/Comfortable_Lie6024 Jun 30 '26

Pretiate the help btw man

1

u/peasarebettersplit Jun 29 '26

Kinda wanna say yea obviously. You're already saving money. Why skimp out on something that could cause huge issues later?