Johnhav430

Now I'm no expert, but all the old parts looked virtually brand new: timing belt, water pump, tensioner, two idlers, and serpentine belt. As a layman, no signs of wear whatsoever in 11 yrs./87k. Maybe the 90k change is as mythical as unicorns

Scootymad

Can't beat peace of mind though, knowing you have fresh new timing gear in there that's good for another 75,000 miles

ejthomp

I waited to do my 2005 until 102,000 miles. All looked super EXCEPT my waterpump had just started to weep.

Be glad you did it.

tallcaguy

The 90k is a conservative recommendation based on LS use anywhere. CA highway miles and weather are pretty easy on a car. When I was looking for an LS, asked one owner if the TB had been replaced. She said she hadn't bothered to do it (car had 125). A buyer came to look at my 01. Told her the TB had been done at 90. She looked surprised. Told me she'd never had the belt done on her 400 (car had 198). Looks like it's possible to go farther but I agree about piece of mind.

Ugly question but what does an interference engine do if the TB breaks? It probably wouldn't be at idle. On the road, broken engine sounds, RPM's suddenly drop, car skids to a stop and it's new engine time?

Johnhav430

Yep overall I'm glad it's done, I don't think I need anything more on this car for a while. I was gonna push it to Jan next year, maybe get up to 105k...in reality, does that mean I wasted 18k of wear on the new belt/pump etc., not really....but I likely would be willing to go beyond 87+90=177k, but who knows? At least we're talking like $775 at an indie, not $12k like an Audi S4 (8 cyl.)!! Not the end of the world to spend the money...I think the tech was really good, I talked to him personally, I bet it was a better job than the dealer. Car runs the same, temp the same, I just topped off the coolant a little because I like it full when cold....

p.s. I think if the belt broke the motor would be finished. But I don't think a belt could even break. My guess is the water pump seizes or maybe the belt loses tension, but it wouldn't be the actual belt breaking...I'd like to know for sure if Toyota only does the tensioner and idlers at 180, or every other, I thought I read that, I think that's dumb....and wasn't there even a carfax with no water pump and no new coolant, but timing belt, at Lexus? Also dumb...

02Legend

iTrader: (3)

My car is in the shop now getting all this stuff done (06 with 83K). However my mechanic is having an issue and telling me both cam sensors are telling him the timing is advanced. At first I was told it was the timing belt itself from the kit I bought from Rockauto. He went and got a Toyota belt and is waiting on a friend (Toyota/Lexus tech to double check the timing).

Johnhav430

Good luck, please let us know how it works out....the tech who worked on my car seemed really sharp, I didn't really ask him much about the job, saw him afterwards and asked him if he ran into any difficulty, and he said no....that's when he told me he rebalanced my front tires no charge since I said I felt a vibration at 70-75? Also he said in draining and refilling the tranny (made sure it was not a flush, they said they would never flush), only 3 qts. gets replaced, so he suggested sometime in the future come back and do again, might be all clean after 3 times....

He put all the old parts in the box--I let them supply the parts for warranty purposes and it was the Aisin kit. I dunno folks know better than I do, I think it has the Aisin pump, Koyo idlers etc. and Mitsuboshi belt???? I did not see the new parts, but I have the box from which the shop ordered the kit, and it has my name and their shop on the shipping label....

02Legend

iTrader: (3)

All the parts listed are the same in the kit I provided. I trust the shop as I have known the guy running the business side for almost 20 years now. He said the car started and ran smooth after the job was done, but got the check engine light. He said is not comfortable giving it back until it is back to 100%. Now it's just a waiting game. I did mention that the cam sensors/wires can be a little problematic with age.

Sounds like you went to a good shop to get the work done. I will keep this post updated when I hear back.

clickart

May I ask how much y'all paying the shop to change out the timing belt and water pump? My Toyota is charging 400$ for parts and another 1100 for labor.

Johnhav430

. I ended up paying $875...the lower quote I first got was without the tensioner and idlers....Lexus quoted $1400 and I believe that was without tensioner but not positive...I know some have paid less than I did, but I feel pretty confident the shop did a good job and was already familiar with the 3UZ.....oddly my labor was written $425 so that means the parts charges were like $450...this may be taboo to mention, but my gut tells me if you bring your own parts, the labor quote will be higher....

Edit ps since this job requires removing the serpentine belt, why not replace....although my hoses and thermostat were reused....my feeling is if thermostat were replaced, I would want Oem and hope the temp does not change....

Scootymad

You really do not want to find out the hard way, I can assure you that. In all interference engines, when the cam belt lets go, there is a real risk that there will be open valves, and pistons will be charging their way up the cylinders for a meet and greet session. I met a guy with an AE101 BZ Touring Corolla with the Blacktop 4A-GE 20v that had a timing belt let go. The 3 intake valves on Cylinder 2 hit the piston, the 3rd valve (centre valve) had snapped the head off it and was buried in the piston. There was also a deep gouge in the head from the same valve. Very messy situation, especially with a high compression (11.0:1 CR) engine like that

texan_176

iTrader: (5)

Toyota has made many engines that are non-interference in the past and on them the T belt could be a "wait until it breaks" service. No harm would be done and the only adverse thing would be getting stranded and needing a tow. Around town it would not be a big deal unless it broke during rush hour on the freeway bumper to bumper traffic. IDK, they should have just made it a policy to keep building them that way for the sake of the customer. Now they use chains in most of their engines and people wrongly assume a chain will last the life of the car when that is completely false. The chains wear at the point each link pivots on the pins. This causes the chain to stretch and loosen. It will not last the life of the car unless you junk the car around 100K miles.

At least Toyota does not use electric water pumps with plastic impellers that rot away like BMW does; not yet anyway.

http://www.tomorrowstechnician.com/b...p-replacement/

toddmorr

are you saying a chain only lasts 100k?

if so, you're wrong. Chains last much much longer than belts. The downside is that they tend to be noisier and more costly to manufacture.

2KHarrier

I'm planning on taking a couple days this spring and tackling my 05's TB because of the age factor, but I'm sure the components will look exactly like John's... I know, I know... peace of mind, right? With 53K on the car, I know the parts don't show much wear, but you just never know when something could fail.

Johnhav430

I think it's a good idea because if you're going to keep the car, say you do it 10k sooner than you would like (my case), I can push it 10k further without any problem on the new one (100k instead of 90k), but I did gain the peace of mind. The reason I did it now is they found a slight leak at the tranny output seal. I saw it up in the air, very slight amount of fluid seeping out (Lexus AND Toyota both missed it on multipoint inspections). Technically called an extension housing seal I think. $15 part, $250 labor! So since the car was going back, they did the tranny drain and fill, and I figured let's get the timing belt out of the way. Again, being able to talk to the actual tech was a good feeling...because now to him, there was a face behind the owner of the car....an ugly one, but a real face....hahahahahahaha

again he said the undercarriage was exceptional, to which I said it was a FLA car 8 yrs....

Edit. I wish I could diy, it would be very satisfying...maybe someday when I have more room and the kid is a teen...Good luck on yours! I think the Aisin kit is very popular (parts are from USA I believe)....

edit 2 on the serpentine, They used a Bando. I notice Oem has two parts, and the Bando lists for $90? I think non Oem Bando is $20. Again one of those weird high prices, like the Oem brake sensor wires....