natesi

Hello all,

Looking at a 2004 ES that had the belt done 8 years and 36K miles ago, at the Lexus dealership. I see the recommended interval from Lexus is 90K or 9 years though.

How important is the 9 years, really?

Could I get 10-12 years out of it, safely?

Thanks,

LeX2K

You will get a wide range of answers. Now this is just me, not advice. I think the belt is just fine after 10+ years and low mileage.

mmsafd

Like already stated, it depends on lots of things. I would think other factors would be what kind of belt was used last time it was replaced? OEM or autozone special? From what I know at least the Lexus is a non interference engine vs my Hondas being interference engines. If the timing belt does happen to break the non interference engine will not be destroyed like the interference engine will be.

natesi

It was replaced in 2016 - 36K miles ago - at the dealership. So... should be good belt quality.

I think the 3MZ is an interference design though.

Bolo123

3mz is a interference engine. 1mz is not. I bought oem kit from Amazon about $400 with tax. Found a local guy specializing in Japanese shop did it for $350. He even flush the coolant system. He said my water pump was leaking. Took him 3 hours. Of course he did kind of jobs countless time. That’s was last Jan. I bought the es330 with 100200 miles on the clock with the original belt. Money well spent peace of mind.

natesi

Wow! That's really low mileage. How much did you pay if you don't mind me asking?

mmsafd

I am not up on the Lexus engines for sure. I have a 2002 ES300. How can I find out what I have?

Bolo123

$5000. She was asking $4500.offered her $5000 to get first crack at it. Phone call none stop for the first hour. The car is in excellent condition inside and out. One thing wrong passenger air bag light on.will fix later

Bolo123

Just looked at the old belt. 100k miles and 20 years old no sign of crack. They made first class belt. Only thing it’s an interference engine and the other relate stuff like water pump tensioner and the seals cam and crank. The kit comes with the drives belts everything to do it right. I got 3 or 4 estimates about $1000 at local shops. Your choice but it’s not critical.

natesi

WOW -- that's a smoking good deal, in this market!

natesi

Amazing; thank you.

Oro

The 2002 has the VVT-i version of the 1MZ-fe engine. The VVT-i version is listed in references (Gates, etc.) as an interference design, unlike the earlier version. Here is page 29 of the original 2002 brochure. The pistons, showing the relief, were even pictured in the full model brochure. Whether the relief cuts fully protected the valves in case of failure, I don’t know.

More important than if a water pump was changed along with the timing belt, verify that the timing belt tensioner assembly was replaced, also. I had an Acura SLX where the timing belt was done, but the dealership did not change the tensioner (exact same tensioner as on these engines, btw). It failed about 50k miles later wrecking the timing. Engine OK as it was a non-interference engine, but a needless hassle to re-do the timing job again over a $30 part skipped. And, it demonstrates the tensioners are not reliable enough for two timing belt intervals.

LeX2K

Striker (CL member) confirmed the 1MZ VVTi is non-interference although others insist that it is. The real issue is not catastrophic engine failure as bad as that may be it's the engine potentially shutting off at the worst possible time. That can get you killed.

Have done 2 1MZ VVTi timing belt jobs recently but I'm too chicken to test the interference aspect on a car that is not mine.

Oro

I think it’s a definition evolution issue. Years ago (decades), I was taught if the valves crossed the “plane” of the piston, it was interference. So even if relief cuts guaranteed no damage, the engine was an interference design. Damage, etc. had nothing to do with it - the design concept was what was important.

Forward 25+ years and now people quote a different definition - whether it causes damage or not, and NOT the basic design principle.

Based on the old (or original) definition, the VVT model is interference, and on the latter one, it is not.

LeX2K

Interesting didn't know that. If I remember, next time I'm at a salvage yard and have the opportunity I'm going to test for valve/piston collision.