bassil2022

My wife going to travel by our LS. Its has 99,800 miles and haven't change the timing belt yet. She is going about 800 mile round trip. So, when comes back its going to be 100.600 mile.

Is it safe to let her go and change it later? There isn't any sounds or noise coming from the engine or the belt.

Who ever have changed the time belt, when did you change it, and how much did you pay?

If I am going to change it, i am planning to take it to regular auto shop not to a dealer. He has changed my friend's GS300, and its good.

CelsiorAUS

my car is already 30k miles overdue so i dont think its imperative lol

JamesHuang

iTrader: (1)

I was in the same situation a few years back but just for peace of mind I had my mechanic check for any stress and other signs of issues on the belt. I had 110K on my LS430 at that time and it turned out okay but maybe I just got lucky.

FYI... Here's a thread I just bumped since it helped me understand what actually gets changed in the service,

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...ent-ls430.html

Cheers,
James

Bocatrip

It should be ok to have an independent shop change the belt as long as they use an OEM belt. Although it is recommended to do the timing belt at 90K, many have gone over 100 K without any issues. More than likely you will be fine but it would be a good idea to get to it in the near future.

ayonnebay

I changed mine in my 04LS a month ago at 99K, mainly because we were going to be driving to Florida from NJ, and I wanted peace of mind for that trip.

After changing it, my mechanic told me the old one was fine, and could have gone further.


That being said, I have suffered a timing belt failure several years back with my Subaru (with 100+K), and am determined not to ever have that happen again - I was almost killed. I was doing 70+ mph surrounded by semis on the NJTP. When that baby fails, you don't have any time to figure out where you're going to pull over - the car determines where it's going to stop, and that's usually the spot where it is when the belt fails.

I will gladly err on the side of safety (forget engine piston/valve interference) when it comes to my timing belts from now on .......

Walt

edarte

I had the belt on my 2001 LS replaced at 110K miles without any problem. I believe the recommended replacement mileage would be set so that there is next to zero risk of a belt failing anywhere near that limit.

However, given that the belt is rubber (or a synthetic equivalent) I think it can fail without any warning (unlike a chain getting nosier) so I would not rely too much on the "sound" of the engine to determine when to replace.

AlexusAnja

100K to change belt, I would not sweat it for a 1600 mile trip, your wife will be fine. I have not heard of one single person snapping a belt even close to the 100K "limit" and Lexus is not going to recommend 100K and have belts snap left-n-right around that mark. I roughly figure the belts are probably good to 120K for 80%+ of the belts in production, if not better.

Have a safe trip... unless what you're really getting at is that you DON'T want your wife making it back... ha ha.

MrXerox

I have 148k on my wifes rx300 with the origional belt. I ordered the parts to do it in the near future but I dont think it is as critical as most people here make it out to be. I have been reading these forums for years now and have seen very few posts about belts snapping. Matter of fact, most that I have seen are never first hand events but rather stories people have heard or 3rd person information. I am not advocating that people wait as long as I have but I would like to put the general consensus that your belt is going to snap at any minute past the 90k mark at ease. I also owned a 92 sc400 before the rx and did the belt on that at 142k with no signs of failure.

yangins

Toyota Timing belts seems to hold out better than Honda and VW.

Bocatrip

+1. Most toyota parts are very well made.

Muti007

I could be wrong but I'd be very surprised if Toyota actually made their own belts. They usually have a few companies that make them for them and they repackage and sell as OEM.

bassil2022

thanks guys for sharing with me your experience. That helps me a lot. I think o am going to wait after she come back, and then I will change with the water bump. The mechanic that I told about in first post is charging between $350-$400