2004 LS430 with 22xxx miles...perfect condition, one owner. Manual recommends TB change at 108 mos. or 90000 mi... this car will soon be "eligible" for the dreaded timing belt change... I have searched the site but can't find a comparable situation. What is the consensus of the experts here regarding this expensive maintenance at such low mileage? Thanks!

 

Hey there.....I too have an 04 with low mileage. Mine has 33k miles on it now. The timing belt was changed at 28k miles(last yr). The lexus dealer suggested the water pump and idler's did NOT need to be changed. I figured since we were doing all this, why not the rest. He stated, the mileage was too low, and the pump if properly working, should not be replaced.....and will last close to forever. Now he said, the idlers, that is something I should have replaced around 100kish miles. He said at that time, we can change the water pump as well. He was master certified lexus tech, who knew that car inside and out. He said normally, if it was high mileage, they would replace all of them at once, but on lower mileage vehicle, only belt should be addressed. he himself has done it to his own cars with low mileage.

 

I go by my mileage not by years......especially on garaged cars which are less prone to the elements. The way I'm going its gonna take me another 5 years to reach 90k on my 05. I have never heard of a timing belt snap prior to required replacement mileage

 

Well ...now you have. The timing belt on my first Lexus - a 1990 LS400 - was trashed when the water pump seized at about 75,000 miles and five years after I bought the car new. I smelled coolant and 30 seconds later ... BANG! OK, not really a bang. The car just coasted to a stop. I had enough momentum to coast off the street and into a convenience store parking lot space. And it was right in the middle of an ice storm -- tow truck took hours to get there.

I've never heard of an LS timing belt breaking from wear - it's always been another part that has failed and taken out the timing belt - water pump, idler, tensioner, etc.

 

I would change it. Year and rubber rot is more issue here than mileage. Even indoors, rubber is going to dry out and do you really want to risk the belt going? Also, if you drive so little, you'll go another 15 years before 100k so when were you going to do it?

 

Good point - rubber and plastics do age on these cars like on any other car.

I have an 06 with 34k miles, at 5-6k miles a year, I will likely not hit 90k miles for another 12 years.

So here is my current thinking on this - I inspect the engine hoses and external belts a couple of times a year. At some point the hoses and belts in the engine compartment will start to look a little tired and oxidized and at that point I will do the timing belt/WP.

My guess is ( based on local climate, driving conditions, and my car is garaged 100% of time its not driving) that will occur maybe 2014 -2015 or certainly by 2016 when I will do it no matter what . So for very low mile car I plan to wait until maybe at 8 years but certainly by 10 yo (even if it will only have 60k miles on it then).

Now if my car had 80 k miles and was over 7 years old I'd very likely do the TB at that time instead of waiting 1 or 2 more years as there is no sense in pushing it.

And in actuality its way more likely that I will sell my car in 2015 to buy a 2 year old GS350 so I may never do the TB/WP on the LS.

 

I think I'll shoot for the 9-10 year change......starting to feel a little more worried

 

I would say it depends where you live. In dry, hot climates like AZ, rubber degrades faster (it oxidizes, then cracks as a result). However, I had the timing belt and water pump on a honda prelude changed at 40K mi based on age. I had the tech save the parts. The water pump looked brand new, bearings were tight and smooth. Ditto on the H20 pump on my LX470 when it was changed at 90K mi at 7 yrs old. For the honda, the t-belt looked brand new. On the LX, it also looked pretty darn new. My dealer said the 2UZ V8 is easy on t-belts, so they recommended a 105K changing interval. OTOH, the V6's (in the RX, ES, etc.) are hard on t-belts, so they recommend a 75K mi change interval. Technically, you can tell how long the t-belt will last just be looking at it, as it might have an interior weakness. That said, one guy on the landcruiser forum ran the t-belt on his LX/landcruiser for 198K mi. Tech said it was ready to snap. For water pumps, they often start to weep at about 120K mi, so you might as well do them if you vehicle has 100K mi, but from what I've learned and seen, I would not change the water pump at 22k mi, or even 60K mi (for a Japanese car, since the OEM Aisin parts are of high quality). I wouldn't even change the t-belt then...would probably wait another year or two.

 

I have about 33k on my 05, and will inspect the belt at about 50k in a few years.

 

The timingbelt and water pump were replaced on my 2003 (72k mi) just before I bought it. I suppose I will need to change them again at 160,000, which is fine by me.