90-94 were non interference
95-00 were interference engines

 

My 2004 Lexus ES 330 with 155K+ Miles has a Non-Interference Engine. I'll take my chances. I've probably saved $3,000+ by never changing the timing belt and water pump. If it goes, I'll just have AAA tow it to my mechanic. But I'm very skeptical that these belts break often if ever. I'd love to see the statistics. Anecdotally, I've never heard of one breaking. In fact, I asked two Service Techs on two separate occasions if they'd ever seen one go and they both begrudgingly said no. I think this is a money-grab for the Dealership. And I don't see the scheduled service referenced in the Owner's Manual.

 

my 2003 es300 had the water pump and timing belt replaced by the stealership in 2012.

it's now 8 years. Probably not gonna replace it anymore. The replacement cost is worth more than the car itself.

 

Has anyone had a timing belt break?

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...elt-break.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...on-anyone.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...k-on-them.html

 

I have personally experienced a 1MZ-FE timing belt tensioner failure. Like I said, the belt will last a really long time but there is no guarantee that its supporting staff will remain perfectly functional forever.

in the end it’s your car and your choice for whatever maintenance you choose to perform.

 

What years were your dad working at Toyota? I remember hearing of only one Toyota TB failure in my life. It was in a Toyota mini-truck that was not well maintained. I think the chance of breakage was greater in the early days of TB's. It seems that nowadays, the design and materials are better and much less prone to breakage. Lately, the engine designers are getting away from the use of rubber belts altogether and going with timing chains again in their place. Seems they found a way to make the chains as smooth and quiet as the belts, and chains are much less likely to break.

 

From about 1974 until 2018. The time of this discussion was in the 90s, when my sisters and I were learning to drive and buying and learning to maintain our cars.

 

My 03 ES300, I replaced the timing belt at 90,000 miles. That was, wow maybe 2007? 2008?. It has 210,000 miles on it now on that belt. Same thing, it doesn't get driven much and the belt replacement is with more than the car. Its a non-interference engine.

 

I've worked on several Toyota and Lexus engines with broken timing belts it happens all the time. As for "take my chances" an engine stopping right when you need acceleration such as crossing traffic on a turn is dangerous or potentially deadly.

 

Lets put it this way. This is a huge Lexus forum, and until about 13 years ago all Lexus vehicles had timing belts. How many posts do we have about timing belts breaking at all, and how many posts do we have about them breaking in a situation where its dangerous to the driver? Not many. I would say...close to none.

An old car can break down. A myriad of things can happen. When you have a car worth $1,000 I just dont see the value in performing $1,000 worth of preventative maintenance. Just do what you have to do to make it safe, and drive it until it dies.

 

"It happens all the time" seems a bit of an overstatement. I would say "it happens." Here's what else happens...some people don't do any preventive maintenance. I've heard of people driving new vehicles for a decade/100K and not even doing an oil change! So, my guess is that when a broken TB occurs, it was likely more than double past its service interval. Sure, freak things happen, but should we live our lives in a manner to avoid any and all risk? If so, it would be a frightful, expensive and non-productive life. I'm good with simply minimizing risk, and doing what is reasonable. For me, based on my TB changing experiences, I'm OK with going up to 50% beyond the recommended interval. A leaking water pump or squeaking pulley bearing would likely happen before this, and would prompt the TB replacement. In the mean time, I'm good with 5K, quality oil changes and inspections.

 

Seems like splitting hairs but okay. It happens.
I've seen cars like this the engines are severely sludged and end up being junked.
How do you know that?
Extend that thinking to tires, how often do they really blow? Drive them until you see the cords I'm sure you'll be just fine. After all I've seen cars with tires like that they were still holding air.

 

How do we know anything? I don't know, I made an educated guess based on experience. My experience changing four Toyota TB's and knowing that some people never do any maintenance--likely leading to the few TB failures reported on CL. Even at 50% over its suggested change interval, my wife's Avalon's TB looked like new when I changed it.

I see your point, but it's less than an apt comparison. A tire blowout is just one risk of running them past their point of being safe. Performance, ride, handling, noise are all factors in determining when to change tires. With the TB, it works or is doesn't. Sure, it could break and end up causing an accident, but seems like a long shot to me. Worn tires are much more likely to cause an accident.

As I and many others have stated...each person must decide the level of risk they are comfortable with. Hopefully discussions such as this help them make that determination.

 

Tires are far more direct a safety item than a timing belt. Tires cease being safe long before you run them down to the cords, and bald tires have a far greater likelihood of causing a dangerous situation that a timing belt.

 

In most cases, that's correct, but I sure wouldn't want a timing-belt snapping on me on, say, the long I-66 construction zone, stretching from Rosslyn all the way out to Gainesville, where you have endless traffic, no shoulders during the construction, and only a couple of emergency pull-over areas every now and then.

......Nor would I want it to happen in some parts of D.C. or P.G. County at the wrong time, for obvious reasons.