I have 67,827 miles on this truck. I don’t use it a lot, mostly for long trips. My mechanic told me that I should replace the Timing Belt because of TIME not mileage. I don’t know if I believe him. Any thoughts???
There’s no need for blind faith in your mechanic. Look in your owner’s manual or (if separate) service schedule. You will see that Toyota (like everyone else) says that the timing belt has to be replaced every xxx miles or yyy months, whichever comes first.
I don’t know why so many people want to ignore that last bit. It’s which ever happens first, not whichever you want to go by.
Your mechanic is correct, assuming your Tacoma has the V6 engine. It has a timing belt, the 4-cylinder engines have timing chains, which don’t require periodic replacement.
You wouldn’t want to be stranded on one of your long trips becuase of a broken timing belt, would you?
Timing belts have the annoying habit of breaking at the least convenient time and location, and when they break the engine stops running, which means you also lose power steering and brakes.
YIKES!
You have a good point, and I questioned the mechanic because I lack blind faith. My Maintenance Guide states 90,000 miles or 72 months. 72 months is 6 years. My truck is 8 years old. No mechanic said anything to me when the truck was 6 years old up until now. So, I am wondering if I should definitely do it now or wait since it has never been an issue with anyone.
Absolutely do it - there is really no way to tell when a timing belt will go. It just goes - no warning, no prior signs (though I suppose there could be in rare cases). At that moment the truck will immediately cease running and this event may wreck the engine (depending on design). On your next long trip in this truck so you want to be driving along wondering at which moment the truck will very suddenly cease to run? Probably not, but that’s what happens.
Thank you so much. I have decided to do it!
My 2004 PT cruiser owners manual says absolutely nothing about a time interval for the timing belt replacement. It just lists 90,000 miles for severe service and 105,000 for “normal” service.