Timing belt--age?

I started this post. Back on the question. Toyota does not give a time. I would put new external belts on a car after 5 years, also water hoses, due to possibility of dry rot. Would a timing belt be similar?

Let’s not forget that many glove compartments contain a work of fiction from the dealer’s service department specifying replacement of every moving component every 30,000 miles…

Make sure you’re looking at the FACTORY maintenance schedule, not the dealer’s service department sales brochure. The dealers around here have a sneaky habit of replacing the factory documents with their own little profit generators.

Really? The Haynes repair manual has the maintenance schedule for the timing belt as, “Every 90,000 miles or 108 months, whichever comes first.” 108 months is about 9 years, isn’t it?

A little inconvenience if it breaks?
Like on a life or death emergency run to the hospital at 2 in the morning? Or as you’re trying to beat the Amtrak train at the crossing or 90k pounds of loaded down Peterbilt at the intersection?

All Honda Civics are interference engines. However, if his timing belt had slipped a tooth the TDC sensor and other electronic controls shut down the engine shortly after attempting to start it… Found that out the hard way when I did my timing belt and the cam pulley slipped on me when I wasn’t looking - d’oh!

It is likely that your dealer adjusted your valve clearance, which should be done every 30K miles or so, but is so slow to go out on civics that performance loss is gradual. It is only when they get put back into spec that you notice what you had lost!

Yes, Melott, Toyota does give a time and miles. For 2007 V6 and V8 powered vehicles the timing belt should be replaced every 6 years (72 months) or 90,000 miles whichever comes first, V6 Camry ecepted, don’t know why. I can’t find a specific time reference to 4 cyl. engines.

all the comments about changing the timing belt by the book are fine-but mitsubishi wants $3,000.00 to change the belt on my 01 montero-independent shops are no cheaper-so how long can i really expect the belt to last-i dont have the money-ron

That sounds a tad pricey to me, any idea what makes it so expensive?

If you want to completely avoid or eliminate this nuisance, just buy a vehicle with timing chain.

That works for me, at least for a few 100K miles.

I think the whole engine and car are built around the timing belt. I believe this vehicle also needs 10 hours to change the A/C core since the entire dash has to be disassembled. In technical terms this is very low “maintainability”.

Ouch!

Note to self: Do not buy one of those.

It’s more a lifetime service, or at least it will outlive the engine. I have peace of mind since I don’t have to keep thinking when I should change, like in years or in miles whichever comes first, who to change it, which brand of belt, etc…I am also saving a bundle. Aside from the belt, there is the waterpump (if run by the t/b), tensioner, bearing, pulley, & other parts.

My engine with 416K miles is currently on it’s third timing chain and second oil pump drive chain. I replaced the timing chain at about 200K miles because the “stretch” was affecting the cam timing and I didn’t want to play with offset keys to correct the timing. It was replaced again at about 300K due to some damage from a vacuum pump failure. My oil pump drive chain was replaced at almost 400K miles, when the oil pump was replaced the chain looked very worn and was replaced.

Timing chains do last a lot longer than belts, but certainly not the life of the engine (unless the engine has a very short life). I like to replace them every 200K miles or so, just to be safe.

The timing GEAR on a 1951 Chevy I bought in California failed in the last 2 miles of a 2835 mile drive, on the main street in my parent’s home town, as I returned with it. In 1969.

You had to replace the chain because of some other problems that affected the chain’s performance. But compare to the belt, how much savings & how often do you need to change it? Belt need to be change, on average, every 90-100K miles, plus waterpump if connected even if in good working condition, plus tensioner, pulley, bearing, adjustments, etc… You change yours every 200K, that’s a saving of what you would have paid twice for the belt change itself. But the point is-you have peace of mind & less worry.

Don’t get me wrong; I would never buy a vehicle with a timing belt, I think it is a very poor way to design an engine due to the potential of a sudden failure and the requirement to replace it every few years. There are many reasons, including “peace of mind” to prefer a chain.

I was simply pointing out that timing chains are not really “life of the engine” components, it is prudent to replace them in the 2-300K mile range. They can (and will) eventually fail if they are neglected.

I currently have 3 chain-driven car out of 4. The latter was a rush mis-judgement purchase & the oldest. After I have to change the belt, & forced to change a good working H2Opump, pulley, etc…costing me over $2-T (including tune-up, & other maintenance), I decided no more belt-driven car. Although I haven’t reach the 200K mileage on my 4 cars, I did reach over 500K when I had the WWII Willys Jeep & Dodge Weapons Carrier (both had chain). I never had to change them (except rebuilt the Jeep engine) during the over 20 years of service until I sold them before I came to USA.

“I did reach over 500K when I had the WWII Willys Jeep & Dodge Weapons Carrier (both had chain). I never had to change them (except rebuilt the Jeep engine) during the over 20 years of service until I sold them before I came to USA.”

Wow, I’m not really familiar with those engines, are you talking about a short chain on a pushrod engine, or a long overhead cam chain? I agree that a timing chain can last that long, but I would expect it to be “stretched” significantly and affecting cam timing (maybe not significantly on a short chain).

I did have an old ford (1969 302ci) in high school with a short timing chain and some kind of plastic/nylon coated sprocket, for noise reduction maybe (I don’t know much about domestic v8s)? On that car, the sprocket broke (after a little off-road “excursion”) and resulted in the chain skipping a tooth.

Yeah, those WW2 vehicles were built to last since they didn’t expect the war to end so soon. After the war, they were either given away or just left behind in the country liberated by the Americans & allied forces. Those vehicles were plain pushrod engine, not overhead cam. They have single cam, straight (in-line) 4 or 6 cylinder, 6-volt not 12-volt, manual transmission, with carburetor, & 4-wheel drive. I really miss them, especially the Willys Jeep.