Is 272k too long to replace my timing belt?

spooky0512

spooky0512

New member
Hahahahahaha
Sorry, I had no idea this thing was such a beast.
I have been pulling a loaded trailer with no aux tranny cooler.
No less than 8 times back and forth from Atl to Ft Walton beach Fl.
720 miles round trip.
I take good care of her otherwise but what are your thoughts?
Do I have a freak or are there more of you out there with high miles and no timing belt change?
 
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spooky0512 said:
Hahahahahaha
Sorry, I had no idea this thing was such a beast.
I have been pulling a loaded trailer with no aux tranny cooler.
No less than 8 times back and forth from Atl to Ft Walton beach Fl.
720 miles round trip.
I take good care of her otherwise but what are your thoughts?
Do I have a freak or are there more of you out there with high miles and no timing belt change?
Click to expand...

yeah it has to have been changed twice or atleast once way late in its years.
ive heard of them going 150K miles but almost double that. thats crazy
 
spooky0512 said:
Hahahahahaha
Sorry, I had no idea this thing was such a beast.
I have been pulling a loaded trailer with no aux tranny cooler.
No less than 8 times back and forth from Atl to Ft Walton beach Fl.
720 miles round trip.
I take good care of her otherwise but what are your thoughts?
Do I have a freak or are there more of you out there with high miles and no timing belt change?
Click to expand...

That's in the vicinity of the most mileage I've heard of on a still-intact original 5VZ-FE timing belt. The recommended service interval is intentionally conservative, to prevent it breaking and leaving you stranded wherever that happens.

The engine is non-interference, but you'll still be stuck wherever it does break, which could be very inconvenient.

If your 4Runner were mine, I'd treat it to some long overdue maintenance.
 
Check out the TB mileage mega-thread on Yotatech.com. Some of these go on forever. They rarely break on their own. They break because an idler or water pump bearing seized or the hydraulic tensioner wimps out. A coolant leak will kill them quickly. The miracle would be if you had a factory water pump. I'd change all these components on your engine, they are all way into borrowed time if original.
 
Last edited:
Replace it! However, I saw a 3rd Gen with 260k on the original TB/WP. It is very likely for them to last long.
 
thats completely believable for a timing belt to last that long, i have honestly not heard of them snapping or breaking, like others have stated its typically something else that fails that caused the belt to become damaged.
 
I changed my belt, water pumper, etc. about two months ago and it had 200K on it. The belt had cracks about every inch and was definately weak. Glad I changed everything out. I feel a lot better about its reliability.

Have you pulled the cover to see what condition the belt is in?
 
I'm at 230,000 miles and still original belts and water pump. I changed out the radiator and hoses but belts are original to the t4r. I did look at the belt when it was still under 200k and it had minor cracking but not all that bad. Like someone has already said, unless and idler or something seizes up, the belts usually are good for quite a while. I keep planning on doing mine as I've had the parts put together for 2 years now but I keep putting it off as I know it's a real pain and it's been too hot to work in the garage.
 
277 and change

Ok time to bring this thread back to life. With respect to everyones opinions...I agree with regular maintenance intervals. However, I have been a lifelong motorhead and always take good care of my vehicles. That being said; I know every squeak and rattle on every vehicle I have ever owned and if it aint broke...
I will post pics when I take out the old parts. Water pump took a pooh and left me NMC. So looks like I will be replacing wp/tb. 277k miles and pulled in to work and it puked green. Funny cause I heard the water pump bearings going just before and knew what was going to happen.
Jason
 
I'm at 160 now on the original.

Having read this thread, I don't feel so bad about putting it off for the past few months. Wow.
 
Disclaimer: I am in no way advocating putting off this maintenance. I know, I am a bad person and deserve shame.

That said, I have a 97 and 02 4Runners at my house with 255k and 177k respectively, both on original timing belt / WP. I also have the parts to change them sitting in my garage waiting for time to do the job. The 97 is no longer being daily driven.

They're both on original suspensions too, and also have parts to change that sitting in garage as well.

I'll try to remember to take pics when I change them.

Flame away. :hiding:
 
I have to ask as a preventative maintenance guy if those who put off changing the water pump and timing belt enjoy calling AAA when it breaks/bearings go south.

I still want to see pics of the belt.

I would imagine the tensioner has been maxed out for some time.
 
LittleCaesar said:
I have to ask as a preventative maintenance guy if those who put off changing the water pump and timing belt enjoy calling AAA when it breaks/bearings go south.

I still want to see pics of the belt.

I would imagine the tensioner has been maxed out for some time.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I was never taught about preventative maintenance more than just oil changes. I'm very capable, but was never taught to work on cars so I learn as I go. I have only semi-recently become aware of a lot of things that should have been done, such as timing belt. I've addressed what I can as I find information about it (and can afford it). This site has been really awesome for that, and your posts [MENTION=69868]LittleCaesar[/MENTION] have actually been very helpful with some of my issues.

For instance, I have changed the radiator on one and done the external cooler on another. I have also done the LBJs/UBJs/ITRE/OTRE/Rack bushings on one and have the parts to do the other one on hand.

I was put off initially by the cost of getting timing belt done. I also was unsure if I could do it myself, but have recently decided that I have the skills and tools to do it and bought the parts from aircabinman on ebay.
 
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