981uz

Hey everyone, My ls400 has 150,000 miles on it now and i just realized that I'm pretty sure its on its original timing belt and water pump. I daily it and also have a couple of trips coming up in it nothing more than 2 hours of driving. Unfortunately, I wont be able to get the timing belt and water pump replaced until end of next month. Should I be super worried?

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

I pulled my timing belt at 132k and it definitely had cracks in it however i am pretty confident it will not break. what usually fails is the idler or tensioner bearing which seizes and destroys the belt in seconds.
i would personally stop driving it for risk of being stranded on your trip, and worse permanently damaging your engine!

Banshee365

If you have other transportation then yes, stop driving it. If that is your only set of wheels then you'll either have to risk it or get the work done ASAP. That is a long time on the original belt. Many belts have lasted that long but it's not worth the risk on an interference engine. If the engine weren't interference I would say drive it until you can get the job done next month as the risk factor is pretty low. On that engine it's a different story. Your pistons will contact the valves in a catastrophic fashion if the belt breaks. Do I think the belt will break between now and next month? No. But, the small chance is still a large risk.

Legender

Time and miles are not on your side. If you can get it done before your trip then get it scheduled. If not, then I'd look for other transportation. Unless you've just got a lot of money and can easily handle emergencies on the side of the road. Lots of extra dollars if you allow it to break on the road. As Eastwood said once upon a time..Are you feeling lucky?

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

If you had asked the same question a couple of years ago, saying you had 140k miles, you would have received the exact same advice you've gotten so far here. And then 10k miles later, now at 150k, nothing has blown up yet. Just saying. Predicting is often difficult. But I don't think this is an emergency.

None of us wants to be the guy that told to you skip it, and then have it fail on you - so that also will affect the advice you get here.

For me, with anything like this, I would try to estimate the true cost of the various options (repair cost and effort, vs. cost of a failed engine, perhaps ruining your trip, missing work, etc.) along with their probabilities. Then make the decision that is best for your whole situation.

For me, analyzing all that, with my '91's non-interference engine, I will wait until the belt breaks or I'm "in there" for something else. Not saying that should be the same answer for other gen1 owners, but it is for me. BTW, I'm about 73k and 10+ years on this belt, putting on about 2-3k per year at this point.

Elless400

Have you checked the service history on lexus.com? If there was a 90k service done within the past decade, you're in decent shape for the moment.

If not, I'd park it. Too nice a car to junk.

981uz

I really appreciate everyone's feedback. I am still driving it, but have decided to take a different vehicle on the long trip. I am going to call the Lexus dealer as well as my personal mechanic on Monday and get a quote on how much it will be to replace. I would like to stay in the range of $1500 for this repair so with that being said I am going to ask for the following parts to be replaced: Timing Belt, Water Pump, No.1 idler pulley, No. 2 idler pulley as well has the timing belt tensioner. Am I leaving anything out?

Also do you guys think I should go only with the dealer for something like this or am I okay to use the mechanic I have always been using? They already have replaced the serpentine belt and did an excellent job. Sorry for all the questions I am not sure if this is a super sensitive job to have done.

dashan

+ Crank oil seal.