rm1

Hello,

I recently purchased 92 ES300 and the owner told me that he had the timing belt changed at 72K but he failed to have the receipt with him. I believed him because he had all the other receipts except the timing belt.

So this car has presently 114K on it. I was not really concerned till yesterday when one of my friend told me that it made a strange noise when I shifted the gear from Park to Reverse (Automatic shift). I did not hear anything but he claims that he heard a weird noise.

Is this normal? Is there a possibility that the car's timing belt was never changed? Can a car last without a timing belt change till 114K? I am just very concerned because if the timing belt was not changed then I may end up damaging its engine.

Please feel free to post your suggestions and replies.

Thanks.

PERRYinLA

Please feel free to search the Maintenance and the ES forums for plenty of threads that discuss timing belts. You'll find they last a long time and the factory recommended intervals are conservative, to say the least. I'm not sure about your particular car, but on mine a broken belt does not damage the engine.

But in a way this is off-topic because whatever noise your car is now making is NOT timing-belt related. And what kind of "friend" says that without any details? IF you have a problem (and you might not), it is more likely in the trans, drivetrain and/or suspension. Get another friend for a second opinion, or read up in the ES forum and become an expert yourself.

JellyBean

Timing belts normally break suddenly without any warning. And if there's some warning, it may be the noise of the belt coming apart. If you're so concerned, I suggest the obvious. I don't know if your engine is of the type that gets damaged if the belt breaks, but why take the chance?

VVT-i

The noise you hear when shifts from P to R may related to the broken motor mounts. One of the motor mount we called the dog bone( on the right hand side of the strut) and the another one is located under the oil filter. If those two motor mounts broke, you will fell the sudden move from the engine. But it got nothing to do with timing belt.

The 92-97 ES300 recommended to replaced timing belt at 120k. I also recommend the water pump and all the seals because it will save you money in the long run. They have to tear down the timing belt to get to the water pump and all the seals behind it.

The water pump is driven by the timing belt. In most case( I said 99%), the water pump locked up and cause the timing belt to seized. But this is personal preference, you don't have to do it and drive it until it die, because the 1992 ES got the non-interference engine( if the timing belt break, it won't damage the engine). You have to know how much do you want to spend on the car and how much the car's worth for you.

rm1

Thank you Guys.

Your advice has certainly been very helpful. I will definately look into the other areas you mentioned in the post and definately get a second opinion.