dmhosler

My 2005 LS 430 has only 49,000 miles and is 71/2 years old. Manual says replace timing belt at 90,000 miles or 9 years. In 9 years this car will have about 58,000 miles. Do the timing belts deteorate with age or miles? Should I replace the belt at 9 years or 90,000 miles? What happens to this engine if the belt fails? Nothing or destroy the engine?
Ol' Hoss

AlexusAnja

You don't want the belt to fail, because it's an interference engine so if belt snaps, the piston will contact the valves and then... syonara LS engine.

9/90K, I would error on th side of caution and replace it. The belt is still basically rubber and it deteriorates. People have said after x-miles or y-years that their belts still look fine, but after nine years, it's time.

Look at it this way, would you rather save the $1K now, and then possible have the belt snap and tear the engine and have to fork out $6K later?

Jabberwock

Like others have said if the TB breaks the engine will be scrap almost instantly. By the time you hear funny sound and turn of the ignition the motor will be toast.

I have super low mile 06 LS. I think manual actually says 90k miles or 7 years. I will likely change TB at 8-9 year point and that will be well before it hits even 70k miles. I would change TB at 7 years but my car has always been garaged and is driven very gently so I will likely push the TB work by a couple of years. But if my car was out in a harsh environment or had been driven hard I would definitely do the TB in 7 year time frame.

Think of it this way - you will spend the money anyway doing the TB in the next 5-7 years if you going to keep the car that long and don't drive high miles per year. So why delay?...if you delay changing belt for a couple of years and then do it, it saves you very little especially at current interest rates. So I advise do the TB and get it over with and have peace of mind. And not have to worry for another 7 years - and at least in my view I would sell car before its 14 years old as I would likely not drive a car older than 14 years so the way I see it the TB cost is a one time only deal for me over my 10-12 year ownership cycle.

Lynzoid

3uzfe wont bend valves etc if that's you're talking about. But it's wise to not let it come to guessing if it did...

Bocatrip

The OEM Lexus timing belt is quite robust and numerous LS430 owners have described their belt condition with over 100K at replacement as looking close to new. For whatever it's worth, although a different manufacturer, I replaced my mom's 2000 Honda Accord V6 timing belt after 10 years sitting outside in Florida with 50,000 miles on the clock and the belt looked brand new. It's fairly certain that your belt is not in need of immediate replacement, but if you are planning on keepinig your car for many years, you can do it in the near future and not have to worry again for 7-10 years depending upon the amount of driving you do. Once again, it's sometlhling you might want to do for "peace of mind". Good luck and enjoy your car.

AlexusAnja

I think there is a falisy with the statement of the belt "looked like new" with owners that have changed their belts. If you change your belt before it breaks,of course it will look fine on the surface because it hasn't broken and nothing was wrong with it, but the failures of belts occur at ONE spot where the material has weakened and it just snaps. You can't see that with the naked eye. You're not going to see a belt removed that's all torn, dried out, teeth broken and in terrible condition because the belt would have snapped already.

sajack

The LS430 has an interference engine. If the timing belt breaks, it will bend the intake valves.

It should cost about $350 labor to replace the timing belt, serpentine belt, and flush the cooling system. Total parts and labor and tax should run around $600.
That's cheap insurance for such a nice car.

Bourke

Do it ,they are a reasonably simple belt to replace ,it is not worth the possible pain.

Randy B

I inspected the belt throughly. While it did not look any different from the new belt, it was more pliable then the new one. One thing I did notice on close and slow inspection was the fiberous overlays on the belt on the side that touches the sprockets, there were a few fibers streched. Just an observation. The fiber is kind of like a mesh that is the first surface of the teeth side of the belt.

The water pump looked fantastic inside. Other than the dirt on the outside you could not tell any difference from the new one. The camshaft seals were perfect, however the crank seal showed a little wear. Not dripping, just looked bloated. I put a new one in to replace that.

I had bought the extended kit from Sewell. The only parts not used were the camshaft seals. All else were used. My mechanic said they put together a wonderful kit with every O ring and sealant you could possibly want while performing this job. He also cleaned the screens on the VVTi amplifiers while he was in there and said the screens were spotless.

Overall he said my car would go another 100,000 miles with no effort. If I am to sell it between now and then, he wants first shot it. He was amazed at how clean and tight the engine was. He said he has not seen one like that in a long time. The Mobil 1 has defintely paid off as well.

Randy B

ForrestY33

Alas, another great timing belt debate. The challenge with taking advice from anyone (including myself) on this forum is that you're asking advice from the people who have the LEAST direct experience with a timing belt failure. Go find the people who have actually had a timing belt fail on a LS430 and ask his/her opinion. Wait a second...you can't find a single one??? That's because they probably don't exist because timing belts just don't really fail very often, no matter how old or how many miles they have.

If you ask around, what you will find out is a lot more members (especially relative to how many have had a timing belt failure) who have gone way past the recommended 90K miles and have yet to see a single failure.

True, the LS430 has an interference engine, but it also has hydraulic tensioners, which in simple terms, keeps the timing belt properly tensioned thus greatly reducing the probability of failure. I think you should have no issue waiting until at least 90K to change your timing belt. I'm personally going on 98K on a '04 and don't lose any sleep over it. Maybe I'll think about it at 120K.

BradTank

I personally think you're safe waiting until 90k miles actually appears on the odometer before you need to change it.

I know I wouldn't change a timing belt at 58k miles, even if it was 9 years old. I would be willing to bet the odds of a kevlar timing belt snapping on a car with 58k miles is about the same as the odds a mechanic botches a timing belt replacement.

I remember I had a "beater" car that had a timing belt, but it was a non-interference design. The former owner kept detailed records, and I never saw a timing belt replacement. The car was over 20 years old and had nearly 180k miles, and it was still going strong when I sold it.

warminwisc

I am looking at an 04 with 62 k. Might just due the belt to change the coolant anyway, keep the pump, tensioners etc?. I have a hard time thinking coolant should go 10 years? Pump is a better gamble at 62k as other mechanicals will not be ruined in a failure? Thanks

BMW7_LS430

Op was confused and thanks to this board OP is now confused more.

Here is my contribution to increasing confusion.
I have 73K miles on 04 and I am not going to replace timing belt until at least 90K and that means another 3 years or so. We will see how it goes but I am confident that it will go well.

Problem with car forums is that people spend way more money than necessary to keep the car running.

jimbosr1

i changed my belt in my mr2 2 years ago for the first time.
she is a 86 and at that time she had 68k miles and the belt looked pretty good. was a little stiffer then the new one.i didnt change the water pump.i will change it the next timing belt change

marktmark

I agree with BMW7_LS430.