20 year old timing belt (1 Viewer)

[Tareq]

Decided to open the cover yesterday and this is how it looked.

Looks very good to me!
Very smooth, with no cracks.

Thought I share the pictures!

At 80k miles now, driving ~3k miles per year, will definitely change it at 100k mark!

I over tourqued one of the 3 screws when I put it back and it broke inside!

 

[Rhetoric]

Thanks for sharing!

"Looks very good to me" are the famous last words of so many owners of vehicles that are in the landfill due to timing belt failures.

Even though supposedly the 98-05 2UZ is not interference, why take a chance? The way a belt looks is rarely ever an indicator of when it will fail.

 

[Rigster]

Decided to open the cover yesterday and this is how it looked.

Looks very good to me!
Very smooth, with no cracks.

Thought I share the pictures!

View attachment 3326960View attachment 3326962View attachment 3326963


At 80k miles now, driving ~3k miles per year, will definitely change it at 100k mark!

I over tourqued one of the 3 screws when I put it back and it broke inside!

View attachment 3326971

Bummer about that screw!!! I have broken many over the years. Drill it out, retap and insert a new one. You may have to go a size larger, but there looks to be enough meat on the housing.

just a quick question, when you say "miles" I am assuming you mean kilometers? As waiting to 100,000 miles would be 160,000 kms.

 

[Tareq]

Thanks for sharing!

"Looks very good to me" are the famous last words of so many owners of vehicles that are in the landfill due to timing belt failures.

Even though supposedly the 98-05 2UZ is not interference, why take a chance? The way a belt looks is rarely ever an indicator of when it will fail.

I appreciate your feedback.

After doing so much reading and seeing people going over 200k on the original belt, I decided at least to check how mine looked like. Based on the visuals & the fact that the water pump is not leaking, I am very comfortable now leaving it as is until 100k.

If it breaks, it breaks, this car is the least of my worries

 

[Tareq]

Bummer about that screw!!! I have broken many over the years. Drill it out, retap and insert a new one. You may have to go a size larger, but there looks to be enough meat on the housing.

just a quick question, when you say "miles" I am assuming you mean kilometers? As waiting to 100,000 miles would be 160,000 kms.

I appreciate your advice, but when I change the belt I will have the mechanic take care of it, should be ok for now.

No, I meant miles, I always convert knowing most people here are from the USA

 

[Devils Paw 80]

80K for a 100 is really low miles. This would be very rare in US.
So you’re looking at 6 more years until it’s changed.
About the same for my ‘97 Legacy. Changed timing belt at 25 years and 150+ K miles. It also looked OK, although the backside was glazed.

 

[Tareq]

80K for a 100 is really low miles. This would be very rare in US.
So you’re looking at 6 more years until it’s changed.
About the same for my ‘97 Legacy. Changed timing belt at 25 years and 150+ K miles. It also looked OK, although the backside was glazed.

Yes, about 6 more years, or the water pump shows signs of leaking, whichever comes first

 

[Rigster]

I appreciate your advice, but when I change the belt I will have the mechanic take care of it, should be ok for now.

No, I meant miles, I always convert knowing most people here are from the USA

Yeah I can appreciate your reticence in changing it out if you are paying a mechanic to do it as it is a fairly lengthy and pricey job.

I cannot afford to go past the recommended change time on my diesel engine as it would be too costly should it fail (replacement engine cost last time I checked was $20,000). Even if I was lucky and only needed to rebuild the existing head it would still be min $5000. So for me, the risk is not worth it.

Hope she makes it to 160,000kms and beyond for you!!

 

[Rhetoric]

If it breaks, it breaks, this car is the least of my worries

Let me know what landfill it ends up in!

Cheers.

 

[BullElk]

"Looks very good to me" are the famous last words of so many owners of vehicles that are in the landfill due to timing belt failures.

Regarding the '98-'05 V8 4.7..... Do you have any supporting information to get remotely close to proving that?

 

[johns94cruiser]

80K for a 100 is really low miles. This would be very rare in US.
So you’re looking at 6 more years until it’s changed.
About the same for my ‘97 Legacy. Changed timing belt at 25 years and 150+ K miles. It also looked OK, although the backside was glazed.

I changed mine at 80,000 miles in 2019 . Just hit 100,000 last weekend.

 

[Tareq]

Yeah I can appreciate your reticence in changing it out if you are paying a mechanic to do it as it is a fairly lengthy and pricey job.

I cannot afford to go past the recommended change time on my diesel engine as it would be too costly should it fail (replacement engine cost last time I checked was $20,000). Even if I was lucky and only needed to rebuild the existing head it would still be min $5000. So for me, the risk is not worth it.

Hope she makes it to 160,000kms and beyond for you!!

For 20k I will do an LS conversion should anything goes wrong, but I hope it lasts you many miles as well!

 

[SNLC]

I appreciate your feedback.

After doing so much reading and seeing people going over 200k on the original belt, I decided at least to check how mine looked like. Based on the visuals & the fact that the water pump is not leaking, I am very comfortable now leaving it as is until 100k.

If it breaks, it breaks, this car is the least of my worries

FYI, you didn’t inspect the belt correctly. You need to look at the other side, the side with teeth. You need to bend it over in your hands while looking at it on this side to inspect for cracks. That means it needs to come out.

It does look good from your pics but proceed at your own risk.

Cheers

 

[Tareq]

I changed mine at 80,000 miles in 2019 . Just hit 100,000 last weekend.

Nice, how did it look?
Water pump was ok?

 

[Tareq]

FYI, you didn’t inspect the belt correctly. You need to look at the other side, the side with teeth. You need to bend it over in your hands while looking at it on this side to inspect for cracks. That means it needs to come out.

It does look good from your pics but proceed at your own risk.

Cheers

I appreciate your input, thank you!

Yes, I was told that, however, at this stage I should either just replace it or keep it, and I am very comfortable keeping it until 100k.

If it had 1 of the 100s cracks the belt in the pic below has I would've changed it immediately, but no cracks whatsoever.

 

[johns94cruiser]

Nice, how did it look?
Water pump was ok?

Water pump was fine, belt looked ok but it spent the first 18 years in southeast Ohio so temperature variations even on a hourly basis can be pretty crazy year round. I just figured it was time.

 

[97 AZ LC]

It does look good from your pics but proceed at your own risk.

But his risk is of being stranded, and he may have good tow coverage.

 

[SNLC]

I appreciate your input, thank you!

Yes, I was told that, however, at this stage I should either just replace it or keep it, and I am very comfortable keeping it until 100k.

If it had 1 of the 100s cracks the belt in the pic below has I would've changed it immediately, but no cracks whatsoever.
View attachment 3327151

I hear ya and Cruisers have surprised me more than once. I could tell stories about it but won’t here.

I personally feel an once of prevention is far better than a pound of pain.

Cheers

 

[jsloden]

Here's my question. Hopefully you wouldn't drive on 20 year old rubber tires so why would you trust a 20 year old rubber belt? You can purchase the entire aisin kit for under $200. You can follow OTRAMM's youtube videos and do it yourself. It's really not that hard of a job if take your time. I just wouldn't chance a 20k vehicle on a $200 timing belt job. But that's me.

 

[GTV]

I’ve heard of a handful broken belts but none that resulted in a trashed engine. Who knows of a 2uz that died from a busted belt?