My car broke down on I 35 yesterday morning. The timing belt appears broken. Since I have drove about a mile after I heard clatters in order to exit to the ramp, will that damage the engine? how much to replace timing belt for es300 Lexus 2000
You’re lucky! The Gates web site lists your engine as a non-interference engine, so there should be no engine damage.
The price to replace the timing belt depends on the region you live in and where the vehicle is taken for repair. And since the timing belt drives the water pump, it’s a good idea to replace the water pump at the same time the timing belt is replaced.
Tester
Two things here aren’t adding up for the timing belt to have broken:
First, if the timing belt broke, how did you drive it about a mile further to the next exit?
Second, how you get “clatter” from a broken belt on a non-interference engine?
Are you sure that clatter wasn’t related to something with low oil or low oil pressure? If so, then driving it an extra mile is not a good thing.
That Car Wouldn’t Run A Mile With A Broken Timing Belt.
Were you coasting for a mile ?
Is it possible that the belt jumped a tooth or two ?
Was the car running, but running very poorly ?
Did you have to shut it off to stop the engine ?
Please explain “The timing belt appears broken.” Timing belts generally are fully enclosed and can’t be seen without some disassembly first.
Did you uncover it and have a look ?
Describe what you’re using to reach this conclusion.
CSA
The clattering noise he heard might have been the water pump failing which eventually took out the timing belt. The same thing happened on my Camry.
Tester
I thought the same when the car made noises. This morning, the lube guy came to my house check the motor oil level and leakage and she found nothing. She found timing belt busted. I guess When I drove at high speed, it could be speed and down slope helped me exit to the ramp. I will check with the repair guy to see if there are any other result. I sent my car to the firestone tire shop for alignment a day ago. I was not sure what did they do to the car before. My car has 150000 mileage on it, but I replaced timing belt and water pump at 85000 mileage once. By the way, the tire shop was the one messed up the pinon and mount
Now I saw those steel balls exposed, That was why I said appears to be broken. I don’t know how that happened. I drove a bit when the car has low oil indicator light on. Then a cluster of clattering. the car coasted and speed reduce and then automatically shut off on the service ramp.
thanks
I just have to ask about the “steel balls” just what do you mean? Not giving you the 3rd degree but you actually have a service that will come to your home and check basic things out on your car? First this person is a “lube guy” but then turned into a “she”. Myself I don’t at all like the idea of clattering noises and oil lights and continued driving. When you get a verdict (and a price),let us look it over if you will.
robertfeng wrote:
I drove a bit when the car has low oil indicator light on. Then a
cluster of clattering. the car coasted and speed reduce and then
automatically shut off on the service ramp.
The timing belt, if it is bad, may be the least of your worries.
If you try to crank the engine by turning the ignition key to the “start” position, does the engine crank over (I’m not referring to starting, but does it even rotate?)
Isn’t a Lexus a luxury car? Luxury cars such as Cadillac, Lincoln, BMW and Benz don’t have timing belts. They have timing chains.
Timing belts are typically used on inexpensive cars such as Yugos and VWs.
$500 is a typical cost to replace a timing belt but the price varies. You may need a tensioner pulley as well as a water pump as precautions to keep their failure from taking out the next belt. Timing belts can be installed incorrectly with too much or too little tension.
"Isn’t a Lexus a luxury car? Luxury cars such as Cadillac, Lincoln, BMW and Benz don’t have timing belts. They have timing chains. "
You’d be surprised.
“I drove a bit when the car has low oil indicator light on” Why would you do that?
–Does this car actually have a low oil indicator, or are you talking about the low oil PRESSURE light? Either way, not a good thing at all. If you come out of this with no engine damage, you will be lucky. When the oil light comes on, turn off the engine immediately! Every second that the engine runs with low oil pressure, you are likely causing internal damage. The clattering is a bad sign.
Gates has a very comprehensive guide that lists many Lexus’s (or Lexi) having timing belts. This is one of them, as Tester pointed out in the first response.
A luxury car?
Hmmmm…Well, if you consider a glorified Camry to be a luxury car, then I suppose that it is a luxury car. The Lexus ES300 is built on a Camry chassis, with a Camry engine and transmission.
Don’t let the nicer body styling and the fancy upholstery fool you. This car is nothing more than a premium-priced Camry.