Timing Belt Service for low mileage 470 - preventitive maintenance? (1 Viewer)

[MobiusR]

Hello fellow 120 owners!

After being a member for a while trying to find my future ride - I finally pulled the trigger on a low mileage 08 GX 470 and couldn't be happier! Found a rust-free, Florida example and jumped on it.

I'm catching up on some maintenance and was thinking about the big one - timing belt/ water pump replacement service. While the car has 68K miles, its technically due for the service due to age.

Any advice would be helpful - should I replace the belt sooner (within the next few weeks) or can it wait until a little later (within 6 months). As I don't have the equipment to perform the service myself I'll have to rely on a mechanic - so I'd like to take my time to find a trusted shop.

Also, if anyone knows of a good shop in the NYC area that can do the service, I'd appreciate the tip!

Eddie

 

[Mahalol]

From what I have gathered online, it seems like timing belt changes by time is in the general area of 7-10 years. I probably wouldn't recommend doing any far trips until you get it sorted. Any water pump or oil leaks around the timing cover will contaminate and reduce the timing belt life as well.

I am sorta in the same boat as my timing belt will turn 7 years old this coming October with only 40k on it. I have 130,000 total miles. I'm planning on having everything changed by the end of the year including the cam and crank seals since everything will have to come apart. Maybe the starter as well? hmmm... Anticipating a $2,000 job.

It's always in the back of my mind and I am curious as to what other members on here have experienced by time instead of mileage?

Some folks have never changed their timing belts and they are going on 200-300k. Very lucky.

 

[ATBScott]

I am looking at a 2000 LX 470 that has 188k on it and I can find no record of the timing belt or water pump being replaced... Seems to be running fine, but I would want to pull the cover back and see what the belt looks like before pulling the trigger... That said, it may have gone nearly 2K miles with the same belt... Not sure if I should run away or try to beat on the price a bit more and then drive (very old-lady like) home and just do the job myself. We'll see. Also looking tomorrow(?) at a GX with a little higher mileage that has had 2 belts replaced. Both vehicles are the same price. Seems like the GX has had a better service history tho. The only thing that a belt with low miles might concern me is if it sat motionless for some time and maybe the belt took a "set" on one of the tighter bends around a pulley. Don't know if the 4.7 has any smaller bends in it....

 

[Diff Kraken]

I did my timing belt at 125k and bought the truck at 108k. It’s important for sure, but my understanding is that nobody has actually seen one break in these motors. Correct me if I’m wrong but I couldn’t find any cases of one breaking when I was researching the issue. Water pump and radiator on the otherhand are known failure points, but you can usually tell if they’re having issues by looking them over.

 

[TahoeLX450]

Hello fellow 120 owners!

After being a member for a while trying to find my future ride - I finally pulled the trigger on a low mileage 08 GX 470 and couldn't be happier! Found a rust-free, Florida example and jumped on it.

I'm catching up on some maintenance and was thinking about the big one - timing belt/ water pump replacement service. While the car has 68K miles, its technically due for the service due to age.

Any advice would be helpful - should I replace the belt sooner (within the next few weeks) or can it wait until a little later (within 6 months). As I don't have the equipment to perform the service myself I'll have to rely on a mechanic - so I'd like to take my time to find a trusted shop.

Also, if anyone knows of a good shop in the NYC area that can do the service, I'd appreciate the tip!

Eddie

A timing belt failure on an interference motor (I have heard that all variable valve timing motors are interference motors) will result in catastrophic. engine failure where valves and pistons collide. You could gamble and it could have years/miles left but you just don't know. It all depends on your risk tolerance.

 

[greenscobie86]

I bought a one owner 04 GX with 67k on it recently. I'll likely do a t-belt change before 90k but I'm not sweating it too much at the moment.

 

[chrspck]

I bought a GX with 60k, and no record of timing belt service on the carfax even though the previous owner seemed to do most maintenance at timing intervals rather than mileage intervals since it appeared to be a second car for most of it's life. It was on a lift at the Lexus dealer when I bought it and the technician said there was no sticker. I paid to have the belt replaced at about 66k miles.

Only after all of this did I find a timing belt sticker from ~53k stuck to the airbox underneath a plastic panel in the engine bay that I guess no one else had seen. I took all the plastic panels off and threw them in the trash and now have much easier access and view of the engine bay.

I would double check that there isn't one there. I checked all the places where I could find people have said TB stickers are placed, but this was new. The carfax record for the service when the first TB was done appeared to be like other services before and after, but I don't know if it would have showed on carfax?

Just double check and dig around for the sticker before paying for the service.

 

[MIGX470]

Got my 07 last year with 91k. I wanted to go camping. When I got back and had the belt kit done I was told I was very lucky because the water pump was leaking. 1 year on and my airbags are now losing air and my CV boots are giving up.

 

[MobiusR]

I am looking at a 2000 LX 470 that has 188k on it and I can find no record of the timing belt or water pump being replaced... Seems to be running fine, but I would want to pull the cover back and see what the belt looks like before pulling the trigger... That said, it may have gone nearly 2K miles with the same belt... Not sure if I should run away or try to beat on the price a bit more and then drive (very old-lady like) home and just do the job myself. We'll see. Also looking tomorrow(?) at a GX with a little higher mileage that has had 2 belts replaced. Both vehicles are the same price. Seems like the GX has had a better service history tho. The only thing that a belt with low miles might concern me is if it sat motionless for some time and maybe the belt took a "set" on one of the tighter bends around a pulley. Don't know if the 4.7 has any smaller bends in it....

I'm in a similar boat - the previous owners didn't use the car much (10K miles in the past 6 years) so always a little bit of concern there. I'll definitely have to change the belt sooner rather than later - are you mechanically inclined? If so you can buy the kit and do it yourself... all sorts of videos on youtube.

 

[MobiusR]

I bought a GX with 60k, and no record of timing belt service on the carfax even though the previous owner seemed to do most maintenance at timing intervals rather than mileage intervals since it appeared to be a second car for most of it's life. It was on a lift at the Lexus dealer when I bought it and the technician said there was no sticker. I paid to have the belt replaced at about 66k miles.

Only after all of this did I find a timing belt sticker from ~53k stuck to the airbox underneath a plastic panel in the engine bay that I guess no one else had seen. I took all the plastic panels off and threw them in the trash and now have much easier access and view of the engine bay.

I would double check that there isn't one there. I checked all the places where I could find people have said TB stickers are placed, but this was new. The carfax record for the service when the first TB was done appeared to be like other services before and after, but I don't know if it would have showed on carfax?

Just double check and dig around for the sticker before paying for the service.

Thanks for the advice! I'll do some digging. Those dang plastic covers just get in my way anyway

 

[FrankTorres]

...never seen one break. It happens, at almost 200k miles this one took out a few valves on bank one.

 

[MobiusR]

...never seen one break. It happens, at almost 200k miles this one took out a few valves on bank one.
View attachment 2331284

So many questions on this one.... did the belt snap or did the teeth fall off enough for it to skip? Was this the original belt?

 

[FrankTorres]

So many questions on this one.... did the belt snap or did the teeth fall off enough for it to skip? Was this the original belt?

I have never seen a timing belt snap, it's always the teeth get ripped, I've seen it on Honda's and Nissan's first hand, never Toyota until this one...

The vehicle above was bought at auction in this condition, no records of a belt change.
The teeth of the timing belt sheared off at the crank; so when you turned the starter only the bottom end moved not the cams in the heads.
I inspected the unaffected parts of the belt and it looked ok, I tried with pliers, and I could not rip any more teeth from the unaffected parts.

UZ timing belts should be changed at 90K for this reason.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Good information on how timing belts fail. It’s the teeth that will likely go first.

If you are pressed for funds or time, I feel you can push the timing belt up to 120k miles without fear...but that’s just me.

 

[MobiusR]

Good information on how timing belts fail. It’s the teeth that will likely go first.

If you are pressed for funds or time, I feel you can push the timing belt up to 120k miles without fear...but that’s just me.

Agreed... my issue is more so age. While I only have 70K on the clock, my belt is now ~12 years old.

 

[MobiusR]

I have never seen a timing belt snap, it's always the teeth get ripped, I've seen it on Honda's and Nissan's first hand, never Toyota until this one...

The vehicle above was bought at auction in this condition, no records of a belt change.
The teeth of the timing belt sheared off at the crank; so when you turned the starter only the bottom end moved not the cams in the heads.
I inspected the unaffected parts of the belt and it looked ok, I tried with pliers, and I could not rip any more teeth from the unaffected parts.

UZ timing belts should be changed at 90K for this reason.

Out of curiosity, how much was it bought at auction for? Was it sold as a non-runner?

Thanks!

 

[GX460fan]

Another good reason for changing these is when I took mine off I noticed that it probably had been changed once before because It had a Mitsubishi belt on it. I’m pretty sure that’s not stock. What surprised me was the belt looked incredible and not any real wear on it at all. The problem was the water pump which was already starting to grind. If I said the hell with it and didn’t change it I’m sure within 10,000 miles it would’ve failed.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

I think OEM timing belt is made by Mitsuboshi (not misspelled)