Timing belt change frequency

Hello,
I have a 97 4Runner (V6). Per Toyota's recommendation I replaced the timing belt at 60K & 120K. In both instances the old timing belt was in almost new condition. Well the car now has 214K miles on it which means that I'm at 94K on current timing belt. My question at what frequency do people change their timing belts on the 97 4Runners? Driving wise my 4Runner does not get stressed and I live in a moderate climate (Northwest) but I figure there still an upper limit.
Thanks in advance,
Matt

 

I do mine at 100k

 

At 94k its time to start planning on doing it.

 

at 100k, plan on replacing...better to be safe than sorry

 

125k twice and no issues.

Both belts I took off showed very little if not any wear. I only use the Mitsuboshi (OEM manufacturer) belts.

It's a non interference engine so no harm if it does snap. On Hondas...I do it at 100k like clock work.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I suppose I can wait till at least 100K.
Negusm, At 250K did you replace the seals for the cam and the main or were they they still good?

 

At 125k, I skipped those seals.

At 250k I replaced them and they looked fine, none were leaking but after I took them out, they were not quite as pliable as the replacements. (get a seal puller...totally worth it and to install there are super cheap PVC pipe adapters for plumbing from Home Depot for the size of the seal to tap it in with).

At 250k, I checked the half moons for the cam shaft and they were fine...and not leaking, so I left them. I did do the valve cover gaskets. If you haven't done them by 200k...they have to be leaking. So best time to check those half moons.

Funny thing is I had gotten seals in the t-belt kit I bought at 125k miles. The t-belt kit I got for 250k came with seals too. I compared them and the newer seals were NOT quite the same. The difference was the first kit supplied OEM Asian seals and the second were no-name. I used the Asian seals. The second kit did have all OEM Asian parts except for those seals. So you have to be careful. Sellers will still throw junk in with good parts!

250k was a huge maintenance job. I also did all new vacuum hoses, coolant hoses, radiator, throttle body, intake air hoses, t-belt, seals, pulleys, tensioner, water pump, etc. Gunning to get a good 10 more years out of her.

 

well, if you do the maintenance on a regular basis, and don't skimp...your vehicle should serve you well...my corvair is over 50 yrs old, my fiero is 33, and my 4Runner is 23....and shows no evidence of giving up the ghost...

 

I let the belt in my '03 V8 go for around 240K miles. This was definitely too long!!

100K seems pretty safe.

 

James - thanks so much for the pictures. And you kept them on for 240K!. Now I have a visual reference on how bad they can get. I was under the impression that they just fail w/o any visual clues. This picture tells me one sees deterioration marks before failure occurs. As I write this I suppose I can inspect them on a regular basis if I wanted to delay replacement beyond 100K.

Negusm, I have already replaced the valve cover gaskets twice. They sure don't last that long. I see that you also replaced all the vacuum tubes. Did you buy the tubings bulk and cut them to size or are these things sold in kits?

 

I wouldn't push it until it looks like that ever again! It's a miracle that thing didn't snap, which would have been extremely expensive! I do not endorse waiting more than 100K!!

 

2007 2WD-Just replaced mine at 99,950 miles. The tech showed me the original belt and I was amazed at the looks like new condition. He assured me that it was the original belt from Toyota. This vehicle was definitely babied its one owner life. The CarFax was three pages long with oil changes and different fluid flushes.

 

I went on Partsouq.com, got all the part numbers for the molded hoses using my vin and bought them discounted from McGeorge Toyota. So they are all correct Toyota hoses. They are not that expensive.

The ones that are just straight hose, I went to NAPA and had them get me 6mm/8mm/10mm or whatever is correct vacuum hose. They only keep SAE hose in stock...but were happy to order metric stuff. The SAE sizes or Fuel hose won't fit the brackets for the vacuum hose. I try to do it right the first time.

I look at it like this...the Toyota engineers did a heckuva job on this engine. They picked specific sizes/diameters/lengths/bends. Why would I use anything except what they designed?

 

Thanks Negusm

 

@Ahdofu I feel like I should add this.

I have done timing belts on 3 Toyota motors.

-5MG, (twice), 3VZ, and 2UZ.

They have made it near impossible to screw up. Rotate the engine to where the marks are lined up with the inside timing belt cover before removing the belt. The new belt has marks that line up with marks one the cam gears and crank gear. Every one has been so easy. It's just a lot of removal and re-installation.

Anyone with a good set of tools, time, and able to follow directions can do it.

 

I have done this twice on my V6 4Runner. As you've noted there are a lot to remove and reinstall. They have made it easy with the marks but I found the installation method of the belt to be unsatisfactory. The directions say install the belt after all the components have been installed. I found it quite hard to to slide the belt over with everything in place. The right way to do it, is to not install the hydraulic tensioner. This allows the tensioner pully to drop a bit and this makes it a lot easier to install the belt. Once the belt is in place, then add the hydraulic tensioner and of course don't forget to pull the pin afterwards. Anyway it is still a chore as this time around I'll be replacing the main as well as the cam seals.

 

Good call installing the tensioner last!

And, those seals are definitely an added chore!

 

Ended up replacing the timing belt this week. The old belt had 100K miles on it. To me it still looks pristine.

 

Yup. I changed mine at 125k and 250k miles and it looked fine.

I think I saw someone who got a car with 250k miles or more that never had a belt changed. The belt was noticeably cracked all over. So definitely they need to be changed...but 100k is obviously not critical.

Nice thing is our engines are non-interference, so if a belt brakes, you just get embarrassed on the side of the road and no damage to the engine.