Bgteacher

I was wondering when members on this forum R&R their timing belts ,after at least a 10 year period, what condition were your timing belts in? I spoke to a Independent Lexus mechanic, he told me he has never seen a Lexus timing belt fail due to age. I have a low mileage 04 RX330. The dealer recommends a timing belt/water pump service since the car is 13 years old. The Independent Lexus mechanic said wait on replacing it, if I want to play it safe change it out when the car reaches 40K.

My question is as follows: Those that got their timing belts changes at 100k plus, what did your belts look like? Excessive wear? Cracks? Extra play?
Has anyone got their belts R&R'd because of the 10 year (odometer less than 100k) Lexus recommended maintenance schedule? If so, what did your belt look like?

I know a timing belt R&R is cheaper than a blown out engine, but the fricken R&R is expensive, if at a independent shop.

Thanks

BGteacher

Lexuswiz

iTrader: (1)

Give me a week and I'll report back, timing belt pieces just came in the mail today. Car is an '05 and ~75K miles. But I'm getting noise in the belt area so I decided to pull the trigger, better safe then sorry with an interference engine. I'd assume cracking and worn teeth but even I have never personally seen a belt snap in my days of working on Toyota's.

Bgteacher

Thanks Lexuswiz
That's what I hear too. The belts are pretty strong. I know Lexus has a pretty aggressive maintenance schedule, I guess that's why it's such a great car. I know I have to bite the bullet and get it done sooner or later. Do RX 350s have belts or chains?

BGteacher

thomas1

The RX350 had a chain. Hey just did mine on my RX400h (3.3 liter engine) This was my second timing belt with 196 k miles. The belt looked good, but the smooth side showed the mirroring of the ribs on the other side. Mechanic said that is when they are known old belts.

Bgteacher

Thanks Thomas

I've heard the RX 350 was superior to the RX330, less interior road noise, more powerful engine. Did not know about the chain. How long can you go before you have to swap out the chain in a RX350? How expensive is it to R&R? Is this an issue when deciding between a RX330 vs RX350. Would it be cheaper to restore a RX330s engine vs a RX350 given that each would have about the same mileage and wear and tear?

Lexuswiz

iTrader: (1)

You never need to replace the chain if you keep up with maintenance, it's life depends on your oil condition. All my 4 cylinder Toyo's are chains and I've never had to touch them. If you have to replace the chain, you'll probably need a new engine too.

Personally 350's are better in terms of maintenance and performance. No belts to replace and it's more powerful. But engine is not as quiet or fuel efficient in my experience with Toyota belts vs chain engines. I do like my 330 but I would have taken a 350 given the chance. My family has the new Highlander which has pretty much the same engine as the 350 (2GR-FE) and it's a blast to drive, but it also has much better fuel management and power distribution due to obviously the age gap.

05RX330AWD

I replaced the timing belt at 137,000 Miles with the water pump, pulley & auto tensioner just after I purchased the vehicle.
I had a feeling it wasn't done before with no records to rely on.
It was the original belt therefore 11 years old, it had cracks everywhere, fortunate it was still in one piece.
Rubber decomposes with time, therefore 5 years or 100,00 miles should be about right.
More about it here:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...s-rx330-2.html

thomas1

My RX400h is more powerful than the RX350. I just drove a RX450H and must say I don't like it. The earlier RX450h was easier to navigate in the dash controls. The RX350 engine has had it issues with the oil lines bursting. The 3.3 liter other than a timing belt has been a very reliable engine. Chain drive does preclude that maintenance. Though I will tell you chains do stretch. My sons old Toyota truck needed a chain and guides. However the key is good maintenance.

matts6887

on this note; does the second gen rx's have a timing belt or chain and at what point should I consider replacing it? I currently have a 07 rx350 with not quite 72000 miles on it at the present time.

matts6887

I dont believe mine has had this done yet as mine does not even have 72000 miles on the clock yet. However this vehicle is 10 years old. Should i be worried that mine whether its a chain drive or belt drive could go kaboom on me suddenly or am i good to almost 100,000? I previously had a 99 rx300 and that one had 165,000 when i did away with due to having the known first gen pre mature transmission failure due to crappy design but that one I never had the belt done on it and it never went bust on me so Im not sure at this point.

willdogg

On my 2004 RX330, I had timing belt and water pump removed and replaced at 125,000 miles. The belt had a little wear, but no cracks. But since it was over 100K miles, my wrencher recommended I get it done.

Bgteacher

Thanks Everyone for replying! This is exactly the info I wanted. I will proceed with the timing belt R&R, my RX330 is 13 years old. The Lexus Service writer told me they recommended the service at 10 years. As RX330 AWD stated his belt was cracked everywhere at 137K and 11 years, I would venture to say that was normal driving for that period of time, the belt was worn significantly. A new belt and water pump will give me the peace of mind of knowing that my belt won't snap and destroy my engine, and the water pump is fresh and won't fail and overheat. My Lexus dealer wanted $1300 for the service, Indy shop was around $800. When I need another RX, I will look for a low mileage RX350, any suggestions for the best year to buy? I love the build quality on my 04 JDM assembled RX330.

Lexuswiz

iTrader: (1)

Chain (if you have a 350) should not go kaboom unless your engine is in really bad shape. You have to worry about belt but odds of it snapping are very low if you follow recommended intervals. But yes, consider a belt change if it's been more then 10 years. Both age and mileage affect the belt whether or not you have low miles but high age and vice versa, works the same as oil.

~75K on my '05 and the belt will be changed hopefully this weekend.

To be honest, even at $1300, for something that you do every 100K miles or ~10 years, I don't see that as a crazy offsetting cost. Yes it is steep but the interval is so large you have time to prepare for it.

Personally I like to try to buy the facelift or years closest to the last years of our generation. So an 07-09 RX350 would be prime as by then all the kinks from the 04-06 models have been worked out. It still may not be perfect but major issues are usually solved by then like the oil lines, etc. To be honest, I've driven many and still repair many Toyota's and now Lexus and JDM vs USA made isn't significantly different, usually most the parts are still Japanese it just the labor is American.

Bgteacher

Thomas Mentioned oil line issues in RX350's? What years, and what were the issues? Following the logic of previous posts, the end of Gen 2 RXs are a good bet, most bugs ironed out? I am a Toyota Corolla fan, and I have an end of Gen 2002 Corolla, great car. So I can see the logic in buying late into a Gen. Resale value is our enemy. Hard to finance older cars, so resale value tanks.

mandyfig

I did my TB and H20 at about 96K on my 330. The pump was showing a slight leak, very minor, I can see crusting. The belt however looks used but nowhere near chapped nor cracked. It just looked used.

The peace of mind is more of the PLUS than an actual failure mode of the belts and the pump.