shartney

I have noticed most are worried about their timing belts around 60-90,000 miles and 8-10 years. I have a 2001(17) years old, with 190,000 miles on it and have not touched the belt. I got the vehicle from my brother with 70,000 miles on it and have changed the oil every 10,000 miles and used wallmart synthetic oil.

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

We worry because the motor is an inference motor meaning if the timing belt skips a tooth or snaps your valves are going to slam into the pistons and you will need to take apart the motor machine the heads and install new valves, guides etc. That's like a $4000-$6000 job.......so yah you might wanna get your timing belt and water pump changed as well as the tensioners before you have to buy a new motor just a friendly bit of advice lol

Romanova

You're probably on borrowed time at this point. I would pony up and get it done ASAP.

2KHarrier

This could be interesting... Most of us on here do all the preventative maintenance and never drift into "uncharted waters" in regards to the type of and quality of maintenance that is done.
Walmart synthetic oil, while not my first choice, seems to be working for him and no timing belt service and running at 190,000 miles? Fascinating.

Shartney , what if any problems have you had with the car?

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

The OP is literally flipping a coin everytime he starts his car and drives it there is a really good chance he is going to be posting a thread about his timing belt broke what do I do now.

His timing is probably off a couple of degrees because of the belt being stretched out, the car does not run as well and probably has a decent amount of sludge built up in the motor.

The engineering behind the ls430 is par to none my Hyundai elantra had 110,000 miles on it and the belt broke and bent valves I rebuilt the heads and did machining to them and it still cost me $400 to rebuild them the ls430 has 32 valves I believe and they are about $12-$30 a piece so even if he only bends 10 valves at $15 that's $150 just in valves thats not including anything else.

lexslexus

As others have said, this isn't the wisest thing to do and you are on borrowed time. Go read the post on here where someone else was on borrowed time and then there timing belt went at 138,000 miles

Gronemus

I think most people around here underestimate the robustness of the timing belt and that is probably why the OP posted his experience. Even though I don't recommend running it out as long as he has I applaud him for telling us. I'd imagine that there are more examples of this out there but we'll never find out as most owners of this car probably don't come here anyway.

As for any stretch in the belt, what little there might be will be compensated for by the tensioner. Timing is determined by the cam and crank sensors via the ECU and will not be affected by any stretching of the belt. I'd bet that his engine runs just fine.

As for sludge in his engine, which you are only speculating about, is this because he is running 10K intervals or do you think it's because he is running Walmart synthetic oil?

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

Its the 10k intervals and the Wal-Mart oil that make me believe that it has sludge in the motor the Wal-Mart oil is terrible I have been reading up on certain brands of oil and what they are made of etc.

bmore430

My old boss has a 2001 with 200k on the stock belt and basically zero maintenance the last few years still running like new. Drives it 100 miles daily.

shartney

I will sure grant you i should have changed the belt long before 195,000, if i knew the risk of not doing it, and the damage it could do. It's a no brainer for sure. As for problems with this car, I have a recent oil leak from the rear main seal, and a small leak in the exhaust system. Been a fantastic machine.

mafpolo

It sounds like gambling on a winning streak. I changed mine at 90k, but the car was at year twelve or thirteen, and I had not paid attention to the age...just the mileage. The tech showed me the old belt hen I picked the car up. The belt was fairly good, but some of the metal cords were showing (I guess it is made much like a tire), and he told me it was a good idea to change it. There is no way I'd keep running the same belt at that mileage. Spend the money and prevent an engine failure. That motor is not cheap. I am not sure what a used motor from a scrap yard costs, or a rebuild, but all are much more expensive than a timing belt.

bloomwcjkl

Change it along with the water pump and tensioners. Get the Asin kit.

Request the old belt back. I did mine at 132k and got the old belt back to look at. It was pretty rough looking. Cracking in multiple places. I'm not sure it was at the failure point, but the mechanic said it was a good move to change it.

Johnhav430

I did mine at 86k and 12 years....everything looked new. I guess this is just something nobody likes to spend money on. I bet > 50% of the used LS430s for sale have never had this service, as the owner dumped the car prior to spending the money (at a dealer potentially $1800). I guess changing this thing is how I felt changing my BMW brakes at 49k. they really didn't need them, but since I already pulled the wheels and took the rotors off, I changed them all. Regardless of if we can afford it, part of it feels wasteful. The rears were about 75% gone so changing them got rid of a squeak squeak squeak. The fronts were not even 50%...

bloomwcjkl

It seems like "9 years or 90,000 miles, whichever comes LAST" could work. My 04 just turned 65k. The timing belt has not been done. I'm kind of using my 01 with 132k as a guide. I might do the 04 when it hits 80k miles.

Bocatrip

I would certainly not be an advocate for not replacing the timing belt on our cars at the recommended mileage or even somewhat higher. However, for whatever it's worth and being on this forum for 12 years.....I just have not read any threads about a failing timing belt for the LS430 on this forum. If there are any, they must be very rare. Once again this is not to say they can't fail and they must (if never replaced) as it is an item that wears out. They certainly must be robust or the owners that experience failure just don't post here. Also remember that when purchasing our cars used after 3 or 4+ owners, the service records may no longer be available and owners might be driving these cars with no knowledge of when or if the timing belt was ever replaced in the past 90,000 miles (regardless of current mileage). If you told them the cost to replace and they paid under 5,000 for their car, they would probably laugh and say let it break.