Timing belt change...

[robpark]

Hi,

My Prado came without service history, so ....would it be safe to assume that the timing belt doesn't need doing until the warning light comes on? (I assume it's mileage activated from the last change). Generally everything is in good nick & appears to have been looked after and not abused.

...I'm also assuming that on the diesel this only drives the diesel pump, so failure wouldn't be damaging?

Thoughts please??

 

[Bounder]

No the T-belt breaking will cause damage, the loading on the belt is not bad though.
Job is easy to do. I think Bob Murphy has a Pictorial how-to somewhere on here.
Diesel pump is driven by gears from the engine, the belt drives the cam.
It takes about 20 mins to do. putting the light out in the dash takes longer!

 

[Chris]

Child's play. It's a very understressed component really. But vital nonetheless. All depends on the age / model, but if you change the belt, the light will still come on at the correct interval - it doesn't know you've changed it. Generally you can't reset the light other than at 60k. What miles has it got on there. If it's close to say 120 then I'd wait and see if the light comes on. Change it then. You can always take the cover off and have a look at the condition of the belt. I did with mine last week at 69k. The belt looked like new. I didn't change it.


Chris

 

[andyw]

Being a Prado it wil light up at 100k Klm.

 

[robpark]

...Job is easy to do. I think Bob Murphy has a Pictorial how-to somewhere on here.

Cheers ....found the thread here: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=10353&hilit=timing+belt+change

Being a Prado it wil light up at 100k Klm.

I'm currently showing 225k km, so the light probably won't light up any time soon - it all looks pretty straightforward so I guess it'll get changed soon'ish

Any recommendations for sourcing a belt? ...or are Toyota as good as anywhere else?

Just on the 'off chance'..... does anyone know what a Japanese timing belt replacement sticker looks like? I've got a small square sticker on the front of the engine bay, with a mileage of 175k km (I'll post a photo, but the Prado is at the garage waiting to have it's MOT tomorrow)

Thanks for all the help

 

[BIG clean GREEN]

I'd forget all about the stickers, if you look it up it'll probabily say 2 eggfried rice and a happy family ! The belt is a piece of cake to do and for peace of mind it'll be worth it, not sure what the local toyota stealers would charge you but I get most of my stuff from here http://www.milneroffroad.com/categories.asp?cID=24

 

[robpark]

Cheers Nick ....is it normal to just replace the belt, or should I be considering the tensioner pulley as well?

 

[fridayman]

I have my belts and tensioner on order from Ian. My truck has done 130k miles. Should I wait until the light comes on, or should I just change them now?

 

[BobMurphy]

Cheers Nick ....is it normal to just replace the belt, or should I be considering the tensioner pulley as well?

When I replaced my belt I also replaced both the gel-filled tensioner and the pulley - but to be honest I didn't need to, the old parts were perfect.

Just make sure that the idler pulley pivot is clean and lightly greased, when mine came apart the pivot was siezed and the belt was running a bit slack ( ).

I replaced mine when the light came on at 120,000 miles. The timing belt looked perfect and there was no black dust anywhere under the cover. They have a very easy life as both ends run at half engine speed and therefore will rarely go above 2,000 RPM on the pulleys.

As they are easy and cheap to replace I would do them when the mileage crops up - don't wait for the light.


Bob.