If you expect those extra parts to fail, have them changed with the belt. It will at least give you piece of mind, if nothing else. I spoke to 2 different Toyota techs before deciding only to do the belt. They see a lot of that engine and both claimed those additional items never fail. I paid $325 to have my belt done by a Toyota dealer at 90K and will do the same again at 180K.

 

Is there a procedure to get a look on the timing belt's physical condition?

 

It's not too hard to get a look at the timing belt (a peak). The cover is plastic so you can take the bolts loose that hold the upper part of it and maybe a couple other things and kinda pry it out enough to get a peak in at it. I doubt that you will be able to tell much by that though because (if you read my post), even at 97k mi. when I changed my DIL's it looked like it had 20k mi. on it. Those things (the original belt) just don't show signs of wear. There was no cracking or signs of wear and it was definitely the original belt. How many miles do you have on your RX? There was a post recently (don't remember whether it was in this thread) by a guy who was asking about changing it and he had 185k mi. on the original belt. There are many here that will argue that if Lexus recommends changing it at 90k mi. that the sky will fall if you don't do it. I'm not going to argue with them. We each have the right to spend our own money in any way we wish. I'm just saying that Toyota puts some incredible parts in these things that will last FAR beyond the recommended change interval. And I'm one who has always believed in preventative maintenance rather supporting the tow company. Then again, I'm used to American cars. This is not your fathers Oldsmobile. LOL If Oldsmobile had built them this good, they'd still be in business.

 

There are two 2000 RX300 in my house - one is at 86k and the other is at 99.7k miles. There are running excellent. I believe in preventive care, but not in the way that sticks to the Lexus schedules. These things don't get broken in a sudden. All I need to do is checking the conditions often and replace them when there are signs of wear that starts to go bad.

I used to own a 1988 toyota Cressida, with a V-mount 6-cylinder 2.8L engine. The top half of the timing belt cover can be easily removed and one can observe its condition while the engine is running. Not many vehicles built with this kind of accessability any more. Consealing everything under hard covers and black box like compartments encourages/forces consumers to follow vender-defined replacement schedules, and test the will and confidence of the few DIY types.

If there is a DIY on the timing belt replacement procedure (best with picture illustrations), please post the link here.

Thanks to the many who contributed to this forum.

 

I'm pretty sure there is a DIY w/pict. either here or on one of the Lexus sites. One thing I would encourage you to do if you do the replacement is to get or rent a cam lock device to keep the cams in position while you have the belt off. With the # of miles you have on the 2 RX's i wouldn't personally worry about them any time soon. I doubt that the belts will ever get shabby looking. They are incredibly high quality and I would encourage you to use original Toyota belts. They should be "Mitsiboshi". Good luck!

 

With my timing belt and water pump, I may let it run beyond the 180K barrier. I also know of a lot of vehicles that don't run into issues with these two pieces of equipment. I have met personally a few RX300 owners (not on this forum) who have done as such, doing just other regular maintenance and are well in the 200K barriers after having done only the timing belt and water pump at 90K (along with the accessory belts).

 

Damn interference engines,I would run it until it broke if it wasnt for that.Simply because its one thing I hate to pay to have done,and a little too complicated to try myself.(dont like doing them) now if it was a 79 Pinto,no problem.

 

Sad part of it is,Oldsmobile used to be a good car at one time.

 

I have owned 3 of them (that was a long time ago) and I absolutely loved them. They took a licking and came back ticking. GM did it to themselves by thinking they could switch to building garbage and people would still buy them . Shame on them!

 

I wont continue this because it`s off topic,but the Olds. 350 4bbl Rocket motor was the best! You could hear the secondaries on that old Rochester carb mounted on that motor a 1/4 mile away.