250kGoal

1997 Lexus ES 300 with 186k miles

The timing belt was last changed 8/2006 at 124k miles (not sure if it was 1st or 2nd change) right before I bought it.
I'm only at 186k miles, now.
Owner's Manual recommends every 90,000 or 72months (whichever comes 1st).
Is it really necessary to replace it now (since it's been 6 years) when I could drive another 28,000k based on the 90k rule??

I've heard differing opinions based on whether it has an "interference" or "non-interference" engine.

JSM

Replace it. If the car is beater take a chance.

Rubber deteriorates. Same with tires.

From what i've read the 1mzfe are non-interference, but founder others saying they are.

EDIT: Man I thought I was crazy there for a moment! Posting in two different threads on the same topic.

ES330MD05

I heard many different answers to my question - 'is engine on 2005 ES330 interference or non-interference'. Lexus customer support rep could not say what it was. My mechnic today said it is non-iterference. Had I known it for sure that it was non-iterference, I would have never changed the timing belt/water pump and whole nine yards (for about $800). I think these cars are such a excellent piece of engineering, you dont need to do anything other than regulatr stuff like oil change and break pad change. (not saying they are without problems but under the hood they are awesome).

ES330MD05

BTW, I noticed with engine on and hood open, I can hear a tic-tic sound, frequency increases with acceleration. I dont hear anything if I am driving. Not sure if it started after today's timing belt service (not necessarily related to timing belt) or was it always there but never noticed. Any thoughts? Mechanic said its 'injector' making that sound and should go away. It did not.

mdbrown

It could very well be the injectors. Typically injectors will have a slightly hollower sound than if it were lifters. If it's not very loud then I wouldn't worry about it. BTW, injector ticking never goes away... unless the injectors stop working.

aujarhead

Mine did the same thing. It wound up being a lifter bucket on the exhaust cam. Used a mechanics stethiscope to find where the tic-tic sound was coming from , then pulled the valve cover and checked the valve clearance on the valve where the sound was coming from. Found one valve with way to much clearance so I replaced that bucket. Fixed the problem and have put over 100k miles since. Oh yeah, fixing it myself it only cost about $50. The problem has not returned. I have also heard someone say you can run Mobile One 0w-30 synthetic in it and it will help it go away.

MikeLex

Well I guess I can call you a top class mechanic! Congrats on the wise move!

aujarhead

Yeah, that may be a little much for someone who is not a mechanic, but I hope I at least help someone who has had this problem. If anyone has this problem tell your mechanic to check the valve clearances.

ES330MD05

Thanks for the follow up post. I could not understand much of what you had posted in previous post. Dont know the lingo yet. I will ask my mechanich just that.
BTW, is that tic-tic noise just an annoyance or could it cause a damage?

aujarhead

More than likely it is a broken lifter. If it is a broken lifter it could dislodge and cause more damage or a least premature wear. I would get it fixed as soon as posible. BTW this happened to me at about 130k miles and I have 240k miles on it now and it still runs like new.

TOLex168

I have 05 ES330 and it is interference. Snap the timing belt, it means the engine most likely done.

However, I could get a way with my 05 at 110K miles in March 2012. If you change coolant and oil regular, then water pump and the hold 9 yards don't need to change at this time. Please note, original coolant last 100K, and after that the red coolant last 40K/48months. I would change water pump and others at 180K-200K.