ranchgirl

Hello every one, I enjoyed several of the questions and responses here and thought perhaps someone would have the answer to my own question. My ES 300 is a 1997 running like a real trooper, very dependable and great to drive but to my knowledge the timing belt has never been changed. I am taking a trip, very soon, to South Dakota from Washington State and I was wondering if it might be wise to have the belt changed before I set out. My Son says," If it isn't broke don't fix it.", however, he is not a Lexus mechanic and so I wonder about the wisdom of that advise.
Thank you for any advise you might have to offer, I will check back tonight as I will be leaving on the 16th for this trip.

ranchgirl

llcoolpass

you do it on a set schedule as part of preventative maintenance. if you're going on a long trip and it would be disadvantageous to breakdown, then change it before the trip, if you are at or past due to appropriate time of changing the belt. warning: other things, like valve cover gaskets, might have to get done concurently.
the timing belt tends to last no less than 100,000 Miles/ 162,000 Kilomteres worth . After that, it's bigger and bigger chance.
Your son's comment has no place in preventative maintenance. Especially with timing belt. Your car under the 'not broke dont fix it' feelings will still last longer than cheap cars, but not as long as it can and should. Maintain it. It can last for a very, long time.

JSM1284

When the timing belt is replaced, It is also advised to replace the water pump at the same time as preventative maintenance. Most people also elect to replace the timing belt idlers and tensioner as well. If the belt has been changed before, Usually at or around 100k miles, There should be a sticker on the timing cover that says when it was changed, If the person who replaced the belt did their job correctly.....

llcoolpass

yep, what jsm1284 said ... the water pump should be done too since if it ever went bad, the timing belt stuff has to get pulled whic means it's cost effective to just do it all at once, since most of the time, the water pump is wearing out.

also the valve cover gaskets probably leaking

also the thermostat and coolant should be flushed out and the system pressure checked

also the drive belts should be changed too, should be shold be definetely be since you're going out of your way on trhis trip

OceanView

It really depends on how many miles you have on the car.

Trexus

The timing belt is a very important preventative maintenance upkeep. I change mine every 90,000 miles and I've it three times so far as I'm currently over 333K miles. The ES will last a very long time with proper upkeep and maintenance. Have lots of fun on your roadtrip...

llcoolpass

We're all jealous and looking forward to our own 333,333 miles :>