430SLOwner

I have been searching the forum to get feedback from LS 430 owners on how many miles were on their timing belts when they changed them and in what condition were the old belts. I am thankful for the many members who have been so very kind to let me know. If anyone else cares to share this information, I shall be very grateful.

How many miles were on your LS 430 timing belt when it was changed?

In what condition was the used LS 430 timing belt?

bradland

No you haven't been SEARCHING you have been asking in usually all the wrong places. If you were to actually search the 400 and 430 forums there is a plethora of info re members who changed their belt, in the interest of safety and or just not knowing, and were pleasantly surprised if not AMAZED how their old belt looked barely used.

What is the current mileage, and or years / months, of your current belt?

You own a profoundly over engineered automobile so conventional timing belt wisdom doesn't necessarily apply. If you are so concerned, removing the pass side cam timing cover is fairly simple and rather revealing...

OG Member

iTrader: (1)

My '03 LS430's timing belt was changed ~91k miles, tech shared the belt looked like new!

Kansas

Pay no attention to the condition of the timing belt. An owner of an indie Lexus repair shop once told me that he had never known of a timing belt to fail on its own and that it was always the failure of another component that took them out.

As I've recounted several times on Club Lexus, the original timing belt on the 1990 LS400 I purchased new was trashed at about 75,000 miles about 25 years ago when the water pump seized on a cold winter day. There was little warning .. an odor of coolant and then the engine lost power. I was fortunate to be able to coast into a convenience store parking lot since the street was about to turn into a rural highway with no shoulders. Unlike the later LS400 and the LS430, the generation 1 LS400 had a noninterference engine and there was no damage.

I've always followed maintenance schedules for timing belt replacement and all other maintenance. And I've always had all the ancillary parts replaced that can cause a timing belt to fail - water pump, idlers, tensioner. All the timing belts I've had replaced appeared to be in excellent condition.

I did a little "happy dance" when we sold the last vehicle we owned that had a timing belt.

Trilkb

After 105k miles.....




Just kidding, but maybe people will start doing maintenance on their cars from that picture.

caddylover

just did mine yesterday with 164000kms on it. Timing marks were worn off the belt, but it otherwise looked good. Tech had mentioned water pump was on its way out as there was coolant dripping from weep hole. Not sure if original owner had the w/p replaced when doing the first timing belt at 153000kms. Could have been original w/p. Good life on it if it was at 317000kms.

Bocatrip

I was told that there is a better than good chance my water pump was not changed when timing belt was replaced at 95,000 miles. That was 10 years ago before I purchased my car. My LS now has 143,000 miles. Does removing the cam cover on passenger side give access to viewing the weep hole or at least any evidence of water pump leaking? Is it that easy to remove? I don’t smell any coolant or add anything unusual. I was just curious.

NetG

well mine looked new...but I bought the car used with 146k and couldn't find any documentation (no under hood sticker either) that it was done so I had it done just in case. It did have the lexus dealer 100k service stickers on the door jams so it was probably done.

But a belt can stretch and look new. Same with a chain driven engine. Plus there are all the other components.

When I worked as a tech at toyota the belts wouldn't start cracking until 120k...usually. I knew mechanics that would do theirs at 90-100k but tell customers to do them at 75k because then they'd actually bring it in around 80-90 that way XD

If the belt is due then replace everything and use aisin parts or you'll get to find out how much rebuilding heads costs...or worse. NEVER use dnj parts.

The water pump can, honestly, be ok through two belts but I wouldn't risk it, same with seals...they really aren't expensive and most tbelt kits come with a water pump, aisins does, seals are $.50 to a couple bucks. On my old accord I only did the belt, idlers, and tensioner...when the second belt came do the water pump was leaking slightly from the seal and the cam seals were a little wet, same with crank seal, I was trying to save money but didn't realize how cheap those parts really are. I would NEVER re-use the tensioner or idlers...even though I was trained by toyota to re-use the tensioner one time IF it was oem. I wouldn't though. Now when I do tbelts I replace EVERY part...I probably should have rebuilt the oil pump too since this was belt change #2, will definitley do it next belt

Trilkb

I used Aisin, quality parts right there, and definitely dont break the bank.

2KHarrier

My 2005 had 59K on it when I changed it last year, and everything looked new. Water pump. belt, pulleys, they all looked like they could have gone another 13 years..

kos

iTrader: (1)

Quoting just because it needs to be seen again.

Romanova

77k and 11 years old. Would have been fine for a few more years but here in Houston, the summers are so hot... why risk it?

430SLOwner

Perhaps you ladies should get together for a cup of tea and further discussion...?

430SLOwner

05-28-15, 05:12 AM TFBTRADE

Have gone way past the times to replace timing belt

I own a 2001 LS430. It is my fourth 430. I put a lot of miles on this one fairly quickly. At 180,000 miles I replaced the timing belt. Because of the high mileage, it wouldn't be worth much in a sale, so I kept driving it. I tried not to spend anymore than I had to because I assumed it would be DOA at any time. When I bought tires, I typically didn't get the best quality, again, because I figured it was on its last legs. Suffice to say, I have continued to buy new tires. It didn't drive like it was on its last legs, so I kept jamming on the miles. When I got to 300,000, I skipped the timing belt because of the miles and because I knew the last one had gone for 180,000 with no problem. Now the damn car is at 393,000 miles. I haven't even been changing the oil at regular intervals. I can't kill this car! Besides, at this point, I was on a mission to get to 400,000 miles. Unfortunately, when doing a recent brake job, my mechanic noticed that the the left rear portion of the unibody frame was badly rusted and about to fail. He told me the car was toast, but another mechanic said that portion of the rear frame was replaceable for about $1700. LIke the fool I guess I am, I decided to have it fixed, if for no other reason than to say I got it to 400,000 miles. Now my dilemma is the timing belt replacement, which is 213,000 miles from its last change. Got to think about this. Maybe I am just lucky or maybe the likelihood of timing belt failure, is, in fact, way overblown. On the other hand, I would hate to have spent the $1700 and then have it snap on me next week. Think I'll write a letter to Lexus complaining about why they can't make a car that can go 400,000 miles. Just kidding. If I get to 400,000, I will have no choice but to shoot for 500k. These are the finest of cars ... the finest, even if you abuse them. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...acement-5.html

Ellesse

What is the purpose of this survey