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I am at a total crossroads here. I already had bought the TB kit with water pump for a project for this upcoming weekend. Me and my brother in law were going through some pre-check stuff yesterday and he pointed that out. Iv'e had the hood open maybe twice since buying it, and never paid attention to that writing. My thing is now do I just hold off for the next 90k interval?, or do i change it. No way of really knowing if water pump was changed, or even if OEM parts were used. Just kind of want an opinion I guess.
look at a carfax report and see if its on there and it might show what shop did the service.i wouldnt change it. only 3 years on a new belt.i would wait a few years and change the t/b and water pump and tensioner.
I remember something similar on a different thread where there was the timing belt sticker on there, but no records could be found of the service. To me that was a lot more evidence that it probably was done than this.
Even when the job is not done at the dealer, almost all timing belt kits include a decal. It's definitely a sloppy way to document a major service to just write it like that on the air filter with a marker and not at least use the decal.
But it's likely legit and was done (I just don't think this is a big scam going on) but I have to say it doesn't give me a great deal of confidence when the only evidence is something like a paint marker saying it was done. I would poke around and see if you can tell if parts have been replaced or maybe if it hasn't been that long, call the previous owner and see what the deal is. Did he do the job himself or a friend, etc?
If someone sold me a car and had no record or evidence of changing it besides a paint marker scribbling a mileage, I would price it like it needed to still be done.
Kinda hard to miss that writing. But yeah, try inspecting the water pump. It should look newer and cleaner than the surrounding surface. If it blends in (dusty) then it probably hadn't been replaced.
Dealer always uses a factory decal. Any good shop uses a decal. Any TB kit I've seen has a decal. Handwritten says DIY (and maybe/maybe not on the pump). Seems pretty sloppy.
Changed spark plugs with new Denso iridiums. (Did not use anti-seize) so hopefully I am good since they say not to use it.
Changed out thermostat.
Changed oil to Mobil 1 5w-30 extended performance full synthetic.
My brother in law said that my radiator was starting to corrode on the top (had this yellow snakeskin pattern). Went ahead and swapped in a new radiator.
Took the left timing cover off to check out the belt and I will post the pic below. Not sure if Mitsuboshi were oem from factory or not. Does anyone know? TB was apparently done at 115k. Now at 144k. Is that about normal wear for a TB at 30k?
The Mitsuboshi belt is oem and is available in the Aisin timing belt kit as well as by itself. Your belt wear looks good as the printing will eventually wear off as that side of the belt runs the water pump and touches the idler and tensioner pulleys. More important than the belt wear is the water pump, idler, and tensioner bearings. The failure of any of these components can ruin the belt and with it the engine. My idler bearing was noisy at 110k when I changed everything.
My timing belt was replaced before I purchased my car by an independent and then reinstalled by Lexus. It turns out not to be an OEM part and questionable about the water pump being replaced but most likely not. I found a Gates sticker in the engine compartment. My only concern would be the water pump which can fail early or over 200,000 miles. (currently 124,000 miles) I don't drive huge distances and keep my eye on the engine compartment and coolant level regularly for years.
