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Since our car is now 15 years old and has 63k miles on it and had never had the belt changed, I decided to take the plunge. Glad I did. The tech guy at Lexus said the belts themselves seldom fail; it is usually the water pump that goes first, taking the belt with it, Idler and tensioner were still in good shape so we did the belt, water pump, thermostat and gaskets. Belt had a rib deteriorating so the change was worthwhile. Total cost was $1,300 with a one year warranty. Cheaper than a new engine.
It's good you changed the belt, but the comment about the water pump failing is curious.
I've been driving for over 45 years. The only time I've ever experienced a water pump "failure" was when the seal failed and it started leaking coolant.
Has anyone ever had a water pump catastrophically fail?
It's good you changed the belt, but the comment about the water pump failing is curious.
I've been driving for over 45 years. The only time I've ever experienced a water pump "failure" was when the seal failed and it started leaking coolant.
Has anyone ever had a water pump catastrophically fail?
I believe the tech was referring to the pump bearing failure although he did mention leaking seals. His lifelong experience has been with BMW and Toyota vehicles. Since most of the repair cost was labor, I surmised that another $145 for the pump was not a bad investment at that time. 'Free' replacement coolant too.
Water pump at same time as timing belt is SOP for our SC430's. Much of the labor for accessing the pump is already needed to access the timing belt. It makes sense to go ahead and replace the pump, bearings and tensioner during the process. Mine have been done twice and she is due for it again this year.
Should've replaced the idler and tensioner. Otherwise, 2/4 of the failure points weren't replaced (WP & belt being the other 2/4).
Having said that, the 3UZ-FE has a compression ratio of 10.5, the same as 1UZ-FE VVT-i. We know that the 1UZ with 10.4 compression ratio was non-interference, so I don't think the 3UZ / 1UZ VVT-i are very much interference. If things fail, with luck it may just be fine (which I've read many times online and saw videos of).
It's good you changed the belt, but the comment about the water pump failing is curious.
I've been driving for over 45 years. The only time I've ever experienced a water pump "failure" was when the seal failed and it started leaking coolant.
Has anyone ever had a water pump catastrophically fail?
Same here, I've only had a WP fail by leaking, not by breaking down internally and potentially harming associated components in the TB train. I did have a smog pump fail catastrophically once on a push-rod engine and it snapped the crank pulley/harmonic balancer off the end of the crankshaft! It was touch-and-go getting the broke-off bolt out of the crank by drilling a hole in it and using an Eazy-out.
One person in the archives reported a catastrophic failure of a component in the TB train that broke the belt and destroyed the engine, but I don't remember which component, and it may have been in something other than an SC, but, with a similar Toyota V8. Something like this is extremely rare judging by the how rare the reporting is.
Same here, I've only had a WP fail by leaking, not by breaking down internally and potentially harming associated components in the TB train. I did have a smog pump fail catastrophically once on a push-rod engine and it snapped the crank pulley/harmonic balancer off the end of the crankshaft! It was touch-and-go getting the broke-off bolt out of the crank by drilling a hole in it and using an Eazy-out.
One person in the archives reported a catastrophic failure of a component in the TB train that broke the belt and destroyed the engine, but I don't remember which component, and it may have been in something other than an SC, but, with a similar Toyota V8. Something like this is extremely rare judging by the how rare the reporting is.
Could well be the idler or tensioner. Those aren't lubricated by coolant or oil and have sealed (ball or roller?) bearings. If somehow the grease gets out...
Could well be the idler or tensioner. Those aren't lubricated by coolant or oil and have sealed (ball or roller?) bearings. If somehow the grease gets out...
An interesting theory: A poster in Car Chat noted recently that rare TB failures could most likely be traced back to DIY and indy shops, using inferior, aftermarket parts.
It’s happened to my 07 Corolla. The water pump failed and completely destroyed the serpentine belt. Luckily, the Corolla has timing chain, so I was saved.
It’s happened to my 07 Corolla. The water pump failed and completely destroyed the serpentine belt. Luckily, the Corolla has timing chain, so I was saved.
Did you perform a failure analysis? Was it corroded bearings that seized or an impeller that self destructed? Were you keeping up on the coolant changes with red or pink, OEM fluid? Was it an OEM or aftermarket pump? Inquiring minds want to know!
I hear that upgrading from red to pink coolant, or going backwards (for questionable reasons) can raise issues with one type contaminating the other, if you don't perform a 100% flush of the old coolant. A 2007 likely was using pink coolant from the factory, correct? Pink is superior: I think it is good for 10 years/100K miles! I've considered upgrading my "red engines" to "pink engines," as I like the longer change interval. Has anyone done this? Any reason I shouldn't?
An interesting theory: A poster in Car Chat noted recently that rare TB failures could most likely be traced back to DIY and indy shops, using inferior, aftermarket parts.
Indeed. Best is to do DIY right. If too difficult (and I have this coming this year and haven't decided), go to the dealer. Certainly only OE parts for this.
Importantly, "OEM" parts are not always to OE's standard, and eBay / Azn are full of fakes.
How is your timing belt?
