UpperCase

iTrader: (2)

i have a 92 sc300 with 90,200 miles. the manuel says that i dont have to change the timing belt is that really true?

Devir

THe lexus dealership "for my 98" told me 90,000 miles or every 7 years.

I had just hit 90k miles recently and the car is well past 7 years old now. So I had it done.

They told me the belt was still working, but the teeth were starting to show through the belt. I would dare to say it is prudent to change the belt on your car considering it's age alone.

It cost me $1,200 at the dealership to change the belt and water pump.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

moved.............

audi2nr

iTrader: (1)

the jz series engines are non interference engines, meaning pistons won't hit valves if your t-belt failed. it wouldn't be super catastrophic but you should probably do it along with a water pump/t-stat for a good 100k major service.

thaimonkee

iTrader: (2)

I always thought the stock 2JZGE was an interference motor.

shonuff53

iTrader: (3)

my timing belt went on my stock motor and no damage occurred even with me cranking the engine over and over trying to trouble shoot the problem. I would also suggest replacing the water pump as I just replaced my timing belt with out doing that and now I have a crack on my pump like 200 miles later so ill be repeating step one because I was cheap.

19psi

what everyone is forgetting to mention is that when the timing belt breaks, yo uwill be stranded in the very spot on the road where it breaks. it won't damage the engine, but you will be stranded.
so yes, you do have to change it, it will not last forever. typically i do them at 120k miles.

atx

iTrader: (1)

I hope I am not threadjacking (it appears 300's question has been answered), but I have a '98 SC400 with only 66k miles... Is its age (9 years) or mileage more important for the timing belt change?

19psi

usually it's mileage, but age does factor in as well. keep in mind that the high compression 98's ARE interference engines, so if it breaks on you, you'll be rebuilding the heads and possibly new pistons as well...

CyBorG

So have you changed the timing belt in the life of the car yet? Lexus I believe, recommends the change every 60,000 miles but to popular belief, it is more cost efficient to just change it every 90,000 miles (or 7 yrs). If you have not done so, you are risking alot of issues that may come up since you have surpassed twice the recommended lifetime of the timing belt (your car is 14 years old!).

A good maintenance routine is to change the timing belt, water pump, camshaft and crankshaft seals, distributor rotor and cap, serpentine belt, and possibly the idler pulleys as well. That way, all these get taken care of in one shot since the labor to access parts such as the timing belt and water pump are related. (you don't want to find out that something else goes bad in a year or 2 and have to take off the timing belt again.. replace all of them and save labor costs in the long run )

awj

I'm going to take on this job also. The crank pulley is my challenge so I'm considering a competent mechanic. One issue that may or may not be overlooked here is the timing belt tensioner. There is an oil seal on that thing. My belt is fine, but I'm throwing a larger amount of oil than I like from this thing at that location. So I'm ready to bite the bullet and get that thing taken care of. So, remember, timing belt tensioner, replaced new... in addition to pulleys, water pump and belt(s)...

Anyone got a parts list on that?

Devir

Good rule of thumb is that if the car is 10 years or older, regardless of the miles replace the belts. Replace all rubber parts as well, including the weather stripping and other such items.

A little extra money up front saves you quite a bit in the future.

As stated above the 98+ model years were all Interference engines when they made the swap to VVT-i

CyBorG

Yeah, that is the idler pulley. I forgot which one, 1 or 2. I have my order confirmation with the oem parts numbers from irontoad:

Timing belt 13568-59045---$57.76
Drive/serpentine belt 90916-02361---$37.66
Water pump 16100-50023-83---$100.82
o-ring 96761-35035---$2.54
o-ring 96761-24019---$2.34
Timing idler pulley no.1 13505-50022---$110.10
Timing idler pulley no.2 13503-0F010---$63.61
Front crank seal 90311-A0001---$7.32
Front cam seals (x2) 90311-38036---$6.29 each
Distributor caps (x2) 19101-50020---$15.10 each
Distributor rotor buttons (x2) 19102-50020---$8.41 each
Rear crank/rear main seal 90311-A0002---$22.09

These are the prices I got at that time so they may have changed. You may be able to get a better deal from pembroke pines lexus or other providers.