Timing Belt Failure <10k after replacement

[MikeMH]

Hi all--about a year ago at toward the early stages of COVID I recognized I wouldn't be needing my truck as a DD, so I went ahead and did the Timing Belt/water pump maintenance. I posted about it in this thread here

Fast forward about 15 months and less than 10K miles to this week, and I'm coming up the hill in my neighborhood, just a few houses away, when I all of a sudden lose power. The truck will crank but not start. My neighbor tows me home and I have a P0340 code, so I assume it's a Cam position sensor. When I open the timing cover I immediately see the belt has broken.

Below/attached are a bunch of pictures. For the life of me nothing jumps out as what would have caused it to fail so soon. I am certainly an amateur mechanic so it very well could have been something I did wrong, however in my original thread I illustrated how we had a really hard time getting the new belt on. Based on the picture of how the belt has literally torn apart, is it possible I just got an undersize/out of spec belt?

I didn't have any issues with the truck after last time besides a power steering leak from where I pinched an O-ring. I had a noisy pulley but I am pretty sure it's the alternator pulley. Nonetheless I've done a few long trips without issue.

My plan is to simply replace the belt and tensioner and recheck torque on all the other pulleys/components. Is there anything else I should do differently?

Appreciate y'all's insight!

<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="a/zuUgY2K" ><a href="//imgur.com/a/zuUgY2K">T4R broken timing belt</a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[3bears]

you dont say what brand of parts you used..that can make a difference.
Maybe you got a nick in the belt putting it on and that nick spread
Maybe an idler or water pump seized
\Maybe some chemical got on the belt
those are the only things I can think of right now that would make a new belt fail that fast

 

[MikeMH]

you dont say what brand of parts you used..that can make a difference.
Maybe you got a nick in the belt putting it on and that nick spread
Maybe an idler or water pump seized
\Maybe some chemical got on the belt
those are the only things I can think of right now that would make a new belt fail that fast

Yep good point. I bought one of the kits off eBay that was linked multiple times around here and claimed OEM parts. Looking at the part number on the belt, it does have Toyota markings but appears to be an older part number (13568-62050).

I’ve got a new belt with the latest YZZ03 part number so we’ll see how that goes.

 

[Kanoe]

It’s important to not kink the belts. With the old kit being from eBay, who knows what it went through before you got it.

 

[Too Stroked]

I'm going to show my partial ignorance here. Is the motor in the OP's truck an interference motor? If so, simply replacing the timing belt isn't going to get him back on the road.

 

[FD7683]

Might be a knockoff "Genuine Toyota Belt" if it was purchased from eBay. I have dealt with knockoff parts from eBay in the past and learn't to never buy genuine parts there again unless they are a legit seller.

 

[Sarki]

Might be a knockoff "Genuine Toyota Belt" if it was purchased from eBay. I have dealt with knockoff parts from eBay in the past and learn't to never buy genuine parts there again unless they are a legit seller.

Toyota parts on eBay……..been there done that, no more for me either.
Got burned on some steering components, never again unless a proven well established well known seller with long established history…..and then probably not!

 

[ToyotaBrah]

I'm going to show my partial ignorance here. Is the motor in the OP's truck an interference motor? If so, simply replacing the timing belt isn't going to get him back on the road.

5VZ is non-interference. However, a tech who I have spoken with who has worked extensively in the 5VZ mentioned he has seen valves bent from the belt tearing at a high RPM. In OP's case, it does not sound like it was the case, as he was driving in a neighborhood.

Lots of variables in this case as 3bears mentioned as to what could have caused the failure, but I think the kink theory is plausible. Also, it could been sitting in a storage where there was no climate control.

That being said, only buy directly through Toyota for Toyota parts. I have been burned by factory parts on eBay, and now know better.

 

[MikeMH]

The new belt is on and went way easier than last time. Maybe it was just a bad belt.

 

[Devbot]

My only guess is the belt was a sliver too small, stretched and snapped

 

[MikeMH]

Well the new belt is in and she’s back running. I also had acquired a stretch of hose so I was able to loop my trans cooler back in and run both the radiator and external, since I replaced the radiator last year.

I rechecked everything and all the torques were still spot on. Here’s to hoping I just got a bad part…lesson learned.

Thanks to everyone who offered your thoughts, and again all the great references out there that I used again (although it was definitely easier the second time!)

 

[3bears]

I know we say....only Toyota....but aircabinman on ebay is supposed to be a good source.....isnt it ? I was gonna order one of his kits...says its all asian and yota....
have used "asian" kits in past with no problems

 

[Ted02]

I know we say....only Toyota....but aircabinman on ebay is supposed to be a good source.....isnt it ? I was gonna order one of his kits...says its all asian and yota....
have used "asian" kits in past with no problems

I’ve read nothing but great things about his TB kits on 4runner and Tacoma forums, plus his eBay feedback is great! I put one of his TB kits on my Tacoma a few weeks ago, and have another for my 4runner in the cabinet waiting to install this winter. Everything in his kits look 100% authentic to me, including packaging and markings. I personally wouldn’t hesitate to purchase from him again. My 2 cents!

 

[Brian.]

I know we say....only Toyota....but aircabinman on ebay is supposed to be a good source.....isnt it ? I was gonna order one of his kits...says its all asian and yota....
have used "asian" kits in past with no problems

I believe his WP is a "2nd", has all the same casting marks as OEM, but they're ground off. Maybe they're just over-runs that the factory (not Toyota, the actual manufacturing facility) sells in bulk. Regardless, I've used a couple of his kits without problem.

 

[snydmax]

I know we say....only Toyota....but aircabinman on ebay is supposed to be a good source.....isnt it ? I was gonna order one of his kits...says its all asian and yota....
have used "asian" kits in past with no problems

Going on 2 years with one of his kits installed


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[calimobber]

This post is funny, got me thinking who I got my ebay kit from 10 years ago. It was aircabinman too. I installed at 155k and now im at 260k. I popped the cover off last week and it looks perfect still, gotta love the desert.

Id say he sells genuine stuff.

The crazy thing is its still the same price, I just checked my email.