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Hi LS Owners! I just purchased a 2006 LS after months and months of searching. I found one with 104K miles that looks and drives great. Not a large amount of detail in the service history and the dealer I got it from was somewhat clueless about it. I understand that the belt change interval is passed on this car and I took the right side cover to inspect the belt. I saw a paint mark highlighting the line cast into the pulley and the markings on the belt itself seem to indicate that it is not the OEM. If you have changed your belt before - have you observed the same paint mark and markings on the belt? I'm trying to decide if I change it now or in about 10K miles when I can have some warm weather and time off. What do you think?
Hi LS Owners! I just purchased a 2006 LS after months and months of searching. I found one with 104K miles that looks and drives great. Not a large amount of detail in the service history and the dealer I got it from was somewhat clueless about it. I understand that the belt change interval is passed on this car and I took the right side cover to inspect the belt. I saw a paint mark highlighting the line cast into the pulley and the markings on the belt itself seem to indicate that it is not the OEM. If you have changed your belt before - have you observed the same paint mark and markings on the belt? I'm trying to decide if I change it now or in about 10K miles when I can have some warm weather and time off. What do you think?
If you are still able to read markings, if Mitsubishi then original belt...or Toyota/ Lexus OEM sourced timing belt.
Had bad experience with Aisin Timing Belt Kit sources from Rock Auto...
The spine on their timing belt is NOT the same quality as the belt purchased from Lexus...and Aisin attempted to persuade me that theirs was same as Toyota's..."off same production line at Ottawa plant".
The spine markings on Aisins kit belt were off in less than 50 miles.
I'm sure the belt would last another 10K miles. The edges aren't displaying any fraying. Take a good look around the open cam cover and front of engine for any evidence of coolant seepage. If it's clean, close it up and come back in the spring.
You could even turn the engine and inspect the whole belt from that vantage point, just to make sure there's no excessive degradation.
I've done timing belts on 2 LS's, an '01 and an '05. The only paint marks I've seen are on the crank pulley to highlight the 0 degree mark. As far as I know the factory didn't put paint marks on the cam gears. One of the belts I replaced was original with 110k miles and there were no markings left on the belt itself. I would venture to say that that belt has been replaced before.
How much black dust was on the inside of the cover you pulled off? That's all timing belt material.
I'm not so sure the Aisin kit is not on par with OE. It's no different than amazon. You can have a product with 5,000 reviews averaging 4.5 stars, but with that many reviews, you'll have 25 who gave it one star and had a problem. I'm not saying the problems did not exist, now the question becomes will you have the same problems.
The TKT-021 has gone into so many cars that it seems for the most part, it has proven itself. It's been in my car for almost 2 years.
And unless I am mistaken the belt is Mitsoboshi, not Mitsubishi.
All of this is less clouded with American and German cars, as they use the terms, OE, OEM, aftermarket. It seems Japanese interchange both OE and OEM, and they seem to enjoy clouding who manufactures their parts. One shouldn't have to assume. Example, Denso radiators seem to fail quite a bit. A < $100 LS430 Denso, cannot be the same as OE, it simply cannot at that price. Yet, Denso may also be OEM, and OE. My Lexus OE brake pads? They were stamped Toyota and Sumitomo. People told me Advics is OEM? Like I am saying, Japanese is all over the place.
For example, people on the BMW forum go through this all the time. Should I get the BMW OE water pump seeing the labor involved, or should I save a bunch and get the Continental OEM.
In the above, it is transparent. BMW, and Continental, are in fact identical parts. One got stamped with the BMW logo and comes in a blue box, the other, does not. But it is not gray if they are the same part. Continental is OEM. Gates is not OEM, it is aftermarket. There are still BMW fanatics who insist on always using OE, not OEM. That is fine. It is up to one's checkbook.
I've done timing belts on 2 LS's, an '01 and an '05. The only paint marks I've seen are on the crank pulley to highlight the 0 degree mark. As far as I know the factory didn't put paint marks on the cam gears. One of the belts I replaced was original with 110k miles and there were no markings left on the belt itself. I would venture to say that that belt has been replaced before.
How much black dust was on the inside of the cover you pulled off? That's all timing belt material.
Paint marks on the pulley itself or the T mark behind the pulley are not uncommon.
Hi LS Owners! I just purchased a 2006 LS after months and months of searching. I found one with 104K miles that looks and drives great. Not a large amount of detail in the service history and the dealer I got it from was somewhat clueless about it. I understand that the belt change interval is passed on this car and I took the right side cover to inspect the belt. I saw a paint mark highlighting the line cast into the pulley and the markings on the belt itself seem to indicate that it is not the OEM. If you have changed your belt before - have you observed the same paint mark and markings on the belt? I'm trying to decide if I change it now or in about 10K miles when I can have some warm weather and time off. What do you think?
To me your belt looks good. I did my timing belt last year and the belt was badly cracked - there were splits in the belt near every tooth. Yet there were no driveability issues.
I did not have any paint markings on the gears before I changed my belt, but I did afterwards. The factory timing marks on the belt are convenient, but not necessary.
To change timing belts without the factory marks, all you do is turn the crank pulley so both timing marks on the cams are at the "T"s and the white notch on the damper is next to the timing dowel on the plastic cover. Then mark the mark the teeth on the old belt right next to the notches on the cam gears. Also mark the tooth on the belt that is next to the timing dimple on the crank gear. Then you take the belt off and stack both old and new belts on top of each other (using tape to keep them aligned), then transfer the marks to the new belt and reassemble. This is probably what was done before and the marks on the cams are still left over from that.
Hi Team - I was able to change my timing belt. I had one moment of being terrified as my cams shifted when I removed the tension on the belt. Luckily I had paint marked the belt, pulley, and the block. I was able to hold the pulley in the appropriate place against the spring pressure with large clamps. Everything worked out fine. Thank you so much for your help and pictures.
I did my timing belt last year and the belt was badly cracked - there were splits in the belt near every tooth. Yet there were no driveability issues.
Thanks for reporting your experience, sounds like you narrowly avoided a timing belt failure. Can you identify how many years and kilometres since that belt was last changed, and other other notes about why it was so worn? Lots of people are curious about the true lifespan of the timing belt relating to the recommended replacement interval of every 7 years or 144,000 kms, whichever comes first.
Thanks for reporting your experience, sounds like you narrowly avoided a timing belt failure. Can you identify how many years and kilometres since that belt was last changed, and other other notes about why it was so worn? Lots of people are curious about the true lifespan of the timing belt relating to the recommended replacement interval of every 7 years or 144,000 kms, whichever comes first.
My 03 LS had around 150000kms on it. It was a Canadian car bought in Quebec, but I'm told the original older had it kept in Florida as a summer car. When I bought it it had a service reminder tag from a place in Florida. As I have heard stories from other going 200,000+ miles with the belt looking like new, I'm thinking age (14 years old) and or weather / humidity conditions may be the reason for its poor condition. I'll try and send you some photos to show you what it looked like, but the belt was a cracked through the rubber on either side of every tooth. Scary indeed. Glad I did it when I did.
Hi Team - I was able to change my timing belt. I had one moment of being terrified as my cams shifted when I removed the tension on the belt. Luckily I had paint marked the belt, pulley, and the block. I was able to hold the pulley in the appropriate place against the spring pressure with large clamps. Everything worked out fine. Thank you so much for your help and pictures.
If you have your crankshaft in the "safe position" you should be able to spin your cams as much as you want without damaging anything. At the safe position none of the pistons will be at top dead center.
If you have your crankshaft in the "safe position" you should be able to spin your cams as much as you want without damaging anything. At the safe position none of the pistons will be at top dead center.
This is incorrect. The valves can still contact the pistons if they are rotated too far in the "safe position". The purpose of the timing setting is to relieve the most valve spring pressure from the cams so they don't rotate when the belt tension is removed.
12-02-18, 07:44 PM
Original Timing Belt Markings?
