Opinion on timing belt (1 Viewer)

[kandabear]

New to the forum here, just bought a 99 LX470 with 193K. Wife got t-boned in her Sienna with the kids and thankfully no one got hurt but the car was a total loss. She wanted an SUV and we looked at a lot of things, even looked at new LX570's (100K was a bit out of our immediate budget!) and found this 99 on a local Ford lot. everything works in it and it has a little surface rust under it here and there but no bubbling, or anything serious, but overall it was in pretty fabulous shape so I bought it for her for $6800. Not a bad deal I thought. Bone stock, and looks like it has been well taken care of.

I have had LOTS of Lexus / Toyota V8 powered vehicles and I do all my own service including major services of all types except for internal transmission work. so I am very familiar with the 1/2/3UZ series motors.

The vehicle came with no service records. I put the VIN the lexus owners site and there are a lot of records from when it was newer at the dealer ( at one point it was a CPO before it had 100K on it).
Brakes look all pretty much new all around, fluids all look great. AHC works fine, but I will at least be changing the fluid on it this weekend as it looks a little darker in color than I think it should. It leaks nothing, anywhere. I did end up replacing the bellcranks for the parking brake a they were quite frozen in place. Instructions on this site were fabulous BTW. Made it easy.

Anyway, There is no record I can find of timing belt service being done.

There are "tool" marks on all the associated hardware / bolts that are removed to change the WP/TB so at some point it has been done at least once.

I pulled the timing covers, rotated the motor and inspected the belt and all the teeth look great and the belt even still has all the paint marks on it for lining up cams, etc. It looks near new ( no paint worn off the indicator marks even)

So, its a bit of a dilemma for me....

I am super-anal retentive about maintenance and service on all my vehicles, and if the belt was done on time, it should have been done at 180K plus or minus, but I have no record of that.
I have done belts on the UZ-series motors that have had a known 100K+ on them and they looked new structurally, but never had the paint marks left on them.

Curious of y'alls opinion, Should I replace everything despite the belt looking new? or just drive it.
Makes me a little nervous, but at the same time, I don't have a full shop day available right now to do the job. Too many work / kid things going on right now.

thanks in advance for help! This site and forum is great BTW!

 

[chrismenke]

So, along with searching Toyota records, I'd recommend MyCarFax as well. I found that the service histories were complementary but that neither had complete records. To be fair, collating both together was still an incomplete record, however you just might find a service record which sets your mind at ease, even if you lack an underhood sticker.

 

[shadow247]

Honestly, if the belt is in that good of shape, no reason to change it. Keep inspecting it, and replace if needed, but I think the TB change out on these vehicles is overkill. My 4runner had over 150k on the timing belt, and still looked great. I could have kept it going, but the water pump leaked, so I went ahead and did it anyway.

Don't open it up if you don't have to.

 

[Sandroad]

I'm sure this is a dumb question, but did you look on the truck for the TB service record? It's hard to imagine anyone doing a belt job on the 4.7 without taking advantage of that little sticker that comes with a new belt and sticking it somewhere in the engine compartment. If you haven't done so, run a forum search on where folks have been finding those and double check your LX.

 

[Eicca]

I suspect the t-belt on my Lexus (same engine basically) was original when I had it replaced at 190k. Obviously don't neglect it, but if it looks like it's been done and there's nothing else suspect, it's probably going to be fine.

 

[nukegoat]

Id change it. You have to probably do it once in the remaining life of the vehicle. If you do it now itll likely go well past 300k without needing to be revisited. So just do it now and get it ticked off the list

 

[jimmc1331]

If you change it now, you will know when it was last changed creating a baseline for this vehicle's future while you own it. Don't forget the 4.7 is high compression, aka the piston will hit the valves if the belt breaks which you know if you service your other Lexus/Toyotas yourself.

 

[nukegoat]

If you change it now, you will know when it was last changed creating a baseline for this vehicle's future while you own it. Don't forget the 4.7 is high compression, aka the piston will hit the valves if the belt breaks which you know if you service your other Lexus/Toyotas yourself.

"High compression"

 

[2001LC]

***

There are "tool" marks on all the associated hardware / bolts that are removed to change the WP/TB so at some point it has been done at least once.

I pulled the timing covers, rotated the motor and inspected the belt and all the teeth look great and the belt even still has all the paint marks on it for lining up cams, etc. It looks near new ( no paint worn off the indicator marks even)

****

"paint marks" if your referring to belt manufacture marks like these arrows and dots, they don't last long.

Also OEM or aftermarket replacement belts have different markings then factory belts.

Also some replacement belts are made in USA.

Many clues! If you look in my thread "Merlot" thread (07 LC w/64K no AHC). You'll see in page #6 post #107 clips I always find missing or busted.

Additionally in Something timing belt-ish failed post #138. You'll see marks that are often made on harmonic balancer doing the job.

 

[cruisermatt]

If you change it now, you will know when it was last changed creating a baseline for this vehicle's future while you own it. Don't forget the 4.7 is high compression, aka the piston will hit the valves if the belt breaks which you know if you service your other Lexus/Toyotas yourself.

High compression =/= interference

 

[97 AZ LC]

High compression =/= interference

?? I'm not familiar with "=/=". The OP has a 1999.

 

[cruisermatt]

It means “does not equal”

An engine that has valves that travel deep enough into the combustion chamber that they could contact a piston in the event of a timing failure is referred to as an interference engine. There are many engines that make high compression that are non-interference. How about any diesel engine from before about 2000.

 

[TXLX100]

I'd be more worried with the tensioner, idlers, and water pump than the belt. The belt just has to be taken off to r&r those parts.

 

[OutoftheMud]

Just drive it. If the belt looks fine and has marks it has to be somewhat new. Personally, Id just keep on eye on it, pull the covers and check it again in 20 thousand miles or something....

 

[bdruff]

Mine just broke while driving just over 200,000 miles and I'm sure it was the second belt.

Lots of posts confirm that most likely there is no internal damage.

Wealth of information, especially 2001LC to help do it.

Might be a good idea to do it. My fan bracket froze up in Feb. Snapping my serpentine belt. I did a quick repair and didn't replace anything except the fan bracket. Less than a year later, I was doing the job again to replace the timing belt. This time, I'm doing everything I can while I'm in there.

 

[kandabear]

Thanks for all the replies and opinions!

I did try looking at the Toyota records and also the Carfax route and did not find any maintenance records that could have indicated that the TB was done recently, but the evidence, I think, shows that it has been changed somewhat recently with the lack of marks wearing off on the belt, etc.

I had an old partial belt from our 2003 SC430 ( 3UZFE motor, mostly same engine design but aluminum and 4.3L) that I know for a fact had about 110K on it when I changed it. no paint marks left and a very minor amount of edge fraying on it at that mileage. So, my final decision is to watch it for now, and reinspect in the spring prior to the summer road trip season. It there is anything that looks unusual at that time, or any noise from a idler, or anything related sooner, then everything will be replaced.

thanks again for opinions! Awesome forum and community for lots of things!

 

[BullElk]

Drive it.

 

[bigredmachine]

the v8 belts are very stout, personally ive never seen one break that didn't have soe sort out outside influence like a wp, idler or something seizing up. drive it like you stole it and do the t-belt, water pump and such later, youll probably have other repairs to address first