I just bought a 2000 Toyota Tacoma 4 cylinder with 44K miles on it. My wife was telling me she heard that Toyotas need to have the timing belt changed periodically or they will break and ruin the engine. Any truth to this?
The 2000 Toyota 4 cylinder engines have timing CHAINS. The 6 cylinder engine has a timing BELT. So, your wife is correct…about the 6 cylinder engine.
The 2.4/2.7 liter Toyota engines utilize a timing chain, not a timing belt. However, the timing chain system uses plastic timing chain guides. And when these fail it can cause the timing chain to jump time. But I wouldn’t worry about this happening until the engine has over 100,000 miles on it.
Tester
Sounds great, I won’t have to worry about it for quite a while then. I will probably trade up to a newer one before then. Thanks a bunch!!
Hopefully or it won’t rust into dust as Toyota for whatever reason cannot make a truck that is not salt resistant after over 30 years experience.
I agree, but like most older PUs they have to be maintained to prevent rust. Never had a Toyota or any PU show rust anywhere on body panels in models over 10 years old in the rust belt. The routine has never failed. Many change their oil fastidiously and never give a thought to the body til it’s too late. It needs routine maintenance too.