Timing Belt V8 Question

J

jumpman86

New member
Hi All,

I have searched on this and most of the thread I looked at mentioned that the T-belt should be replaced at 90K and this is what the service manual states.

My question is that my 2005 V8 had 60k miles and has just past the 10 year mark.

The service manual states that the T Belt should be replaced at 90k or 108 months (if I recall correctly).

I wanted to see if I should have this done right away or have some time to wait due to lower mileage.

I know I should get this done soon but wanted to hear from some of the folks here in regards to whether they follow the mileage requirement or the time requirement for when to perform maintenance.

Thanks.
 
Register to hide this ad
if id be you id do it asap because over 10 years and it doesnt matter whats the milage,the belt could get dry or crack or unflexible ,and if it snaps,you are looking at around 4000$ bill.

its time for my belt to go and i am at 97k and 2006 !!!the dealer estimated me at under 900$ with all necessary parts and labor besides timing belt itself.
 
beliy25 said:
its time for my belt to go and i am at 97k and 2006 !!!the dealer estimated me at under 900$ with all necessary parts and labor besides timing belt itself.
Click to expand...

Um.... what?

I got timing belt done thru a Toyota Dealersip, out the door, all parts, service and labor included, for a bit over $500....
 
If it were me I'd get it done. Could it run a lot longer and be just fine? probably. But on an interference engine a timing belt failure is costly. Get the water pump and stuff replaced while they're in there too if you decide to not roll the dice.
 
The issue is that these belts are made of different material than older ones, so they don't crack or degrade in appearance as much as the serpentine belt does.

The 9yr/90k guideline is because the material starts to break down around that time and can lose its strength. I haven't heard too many 2UZ-FE belts breaking and some of them have reached the 11yr/140k+ mark before being replaced. But that doesn't mean you should play with fate in my personal opinion. There are other issues with these engines that can take out a timing belt easily, one example is a leaking water pump.

Unlike older Toyota V6's and Honda Timing Belts, the 2UZ-FE uses a flat water pump pulley rather than a geared one like on the above engines. This greatly reduces the chance of a water pump snapping the timing belt (about 9/10 broken timing belts I have seen in my career are Honda engines, the geared water pumps seize, stop rotating, and rip the belt to shreds.) Unfortunately this does not mean it cannot be damaged by the water pump, leaking coolant can degrade the belt and wash out bearings which could seize and cause excessive heat and/or tearing in the belt to occur. From my experience, it seems like the factory installed water pumps tend to leak before the timing belt ever needs to be replaced; the good news is that after changing the water pump the first time, they tend to hold up far longer than their factory installed counter parts (perhaps a minor design change? I honestly don't know...)

TL DR

If you can afford it, get the water pump and timing belt changed; if you can't afford it now, start saving up and try not to put it off too far.
 
Last edited:
Not to hijack your thread but I have a question on changing the V8 belt. I have changed a 2003 before and it was a full day job for me. I work kinda slow and like to clean everything as I go. Anyway, now I have a 2005 with VVT-I and would like to know if there are any differences in changing this belt.? There are some cautions on the cover on the driver side but I haven't really looked at it too closely. Does the VVTI present any problems?
TIA

JR
 
jreask said:
Not to hijack your thread but I have a question on changing the V8 belt. I have changed a 2003 before and it was a full day job for me. I work kinda slow and like to clean everything as I go. Anyway, now I have a 2005 with VVT-I and would like to know if there are any differences in changing this belt.? There are some cautions on the cover on the driver side but I haven't really looked at it too closely. Does the VVTI present any problems?
TIA

JR
Click to expand...

In my thread http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/130732-2uz-fe-r-r-t-belt-water-pump.html I posted a link to a .pdf document. Its a section from a 2005 FSM regarding changing the timing belt and outlines the procedure in dealing with the VVTi cam phasers. It is not too much different than a non-VVTi 2UZ-FE Timing belt job; there's just an extra step or two in regards to making sure the VVTi cam phasers do not give you false timing when lining the marks up.
 
So I assume the t-belt should be changed every 90k miles. I guess I'll be coming up on it again before too long. I didn't bother with the water pump first time around but will this time.
 
CXS said:
So I assume the t-belt should be changed every 90k miles. I guess I'll be coming up on it again before too long. I didn't bother with the water pump first time around but will this time.
Click to expand...

I'd personally say 90k at minimum, 120k at maximum; the time part I really wouldn't feel too comfortable after about 10yrs.
 
BlackWorksInc said:
In my thread http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/130732-2uz-fe-r-r-t-belt-water-pump.html I posted a link to a .pdf document. Its a section from a 2005 FSM regarding changing the timing belt and outlines the procedure in dealing with the VVTi cam phasers. It is not too much different than a non-VVTi 2UZ-FE Timing belt job; there's just an extra step or two in regards to making sure the VVTi cam phasers do not give you false timing when lining the marks up.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. I appreciate it.

JR
 
BlackWorksInc said:
I'd personally say 90k at minimum, 120k at maximum; the time part I really wouldn't feel too comfortable after about 10yrs.
Click to expand...

since you're in service and my little knowledge of dealing with service writers and looking at RO's all day. In my history it shows my vehicle was recommended at 78k for a timing belt and w/p and all that jive turkey. Well, it skips three months in service time and it was never mentioned again. Whats the likelihood that the previous owner had it changed elsewhere? Also what a quick way for me to look at the belt to get an idea.

I dont have the money to do the belt and all that but i WILL if i should.
 
LTDSC said:
since you're in service and my little knowledge of dealing with service writers and looking at RO's all day. In my history it shows my vehicle was recommended at 78k for a timing belt and w/p and all that jive turkey. Well, it skips three months in service time and it was never mentioned again. Whats the likelihood that the previous owner had it changed elsewhere? Also what a quick way for me to look at the belt to get an idea.

I dont have the money to do the belt and all that but i WILL if i should.
Click to expand...

I would look for a sticker somewhere on the firewall or timing belt covers that says the timing belt has been done (almost all Timing belt kits come with this sticker and most technicians put them on.) If the sticker is really faded, I would shine a UV light on it, they seem to highlight the ink even though it looks severely faded. (little trick I discovered.)

Also if you inspect the bolts holding the timing belt covers (the black plastic covers) you should see if the bolts have ever been taken off (they'll have small wear marks or dents where the socket imprinted slightly on the bolt head. Another place to look is the water pump inlet, if it has black FIPG (Form-In Place Gasket, or RTV) then it has been done, factory stuff is usually grey.

In the picture below it is the rectangular aluminum piece just below the throttle body opening. (One of the bolts that secures it is like right in front of the throttle opening in the picture.)

EngineBay_zps3bc10578.jpg~original
 
BlackWorksInc said:
I would look for a sticker somewhere on the firewall or timing belt covers that says the timing belt has been done (almost all Timing belt kits come with this sticker and most technicians put them on.) If the sticker is really faded, I would shine a UV light on it, they seem to highlight the ink even though it looks severely faded. (little trick I discovered.)

Also if you inspect the bolts holding the timing belt covers (the black plastic covers) you should see if the bolts have ever been taken off (they'll have small wear marks or dents where the socket imprinted slightly on the bolt head. Another place to look is the water pump inlet, if it has black FIPG (Form-In Place Gasket, or RTV) then it has been done, factory stuff is usually grey.

In the picture below it is the rectangular aluminum piece just below the throttle body opening. (One of the bolts that secures it is like right in front of the throttle opening in the picture.)

EngineBay_zps3bc10578.jpg~original
Click to expand...


I don't have a sticker but I definitely will check the rest this weekend if this storm fizzles out. Gave me a few things to look for though hopefully I'll see some groupt black goodness. I love FIPG until it gets on my clothes.
 
crap, i dont see any FIPG splooge nor do the timing belt cover bolts look touched. This is not good for my wallet.
 
You can register on the Toyota owners site and see if it was ever done by a dealer.

Edit: Maybe you already checked. I just remembered your post on the previous page.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 271 (members: 5, guests: 266)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,309
Messages
3,554,071
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top