Timing belt change

Just bought a 2 wheel drive 2005 Tundra with 197,800 miles in very good condition. No rust, interior in near perfect condition.
One owner, but I don’t have maintenance records so I really don’t know if/ when the timing belt has been changed. Belt looks fairly new, not worn and has no visible cracks. Engine and engine compartment is very clean.

should I plan on going ahead and changing? If so, how difficult of job is this?

any advise would be appreciated, thanks

 

Sucks they didn't get the sticker to put in the engine bay at last change. If the belt isn't overly shiny and isn't cracked, I personally wouldn't be going out of my way to change. It's about 6-8 hours work, you can pack it into a day if you hustle. There's a couple of really good videos on YouTube showing samples of the work. But in my book, if the belt is matte/flat black, you can put a fingernail in it and it doesn't stay dented, and there's zero cracking, I'm throwing the cover back on for another 10k miles until I eventually do change it.

 

Thanks, I didn’t see a sticker but wasn’t looking for one either, thanks for the advise

 

The neighbor kid did mine for me right before he sold me the truck...

I will say, the old belt looked like it was original....it had a crack at every. single. rib.....and still held while towing a 4-runner three hundred miles.

But what I'd worry more about is not so much a belt snapping....but a tensioner failing. I've blown up subaru engines that way with a new belt, and old tensioner.

 

Register at Toyota Owners and enter your VIN. You may luck out and find some service records there.

https://www.toyota.com/owners

 

@RHickman
Don't be fooled by the "If it looks ok, then I wouldn't worry about it" mantra. If it were my truck, I would go through it and do the belt, water pump, tensioners and a new serpentine as well. Cheap insurance.
There's a couple of great videos on YT that you can follow to change the belt (depending on your skill set, of course). No weird Toyota Special Service tools needed, and you can split it up over 2 days, without breaking a sweat.
Unless you have belt change documentation that can be verified, do yourself a favor and start fresh.

And welcome aboard!

 

Thanks for the advise!

 

It will sometimes show up on the CarFax if it was done at a shop that reports maintenance items.

Personally, I would change it and the water pump for piece of mind. Then you know what you got.

 

I got on Toyota and got all the service records. Timing belt was changed at 118,000, truck now has 197,800 miles. The engine drive belt was changed at 167,000 miles. Is that the serpentine belt?

 

Engine drive belt is the serpentine.

Toyota recommends 9yr or 90k miles on the timing belt IIRC. Of course, it's assuming the previous owner didn't change it again since, but ...

If it were me, knowing the belt was changed at 118k, I think it's safe to wait and replace the TB/WP and associated tensioners between 208-218k miles.

 

With that mileage as a base number, I would agree with @Shifty. At least you know now...

 

I also agree with shifty.

I usually try to do a 100k service on anything with a timing belt. That would be plugs, timing and drive belts, water pump, PCV valve, radiator hoses if they are more than 10 years old. Basically, all the engine stuff. If it had an OEM belt I am not too worried about going over a little if the calendar time on the belt it not too high.

 

I would replace it.

 

I never did on my 2002. never a problem but bought a 2020 just because

 

your luck would have run out.

my 2005 92K miles was done last fall.I didn’t do it,
I had an Excellent shop do it. The mechanic showed me the original
Timing belt. It was crispy,a lot of cracks and on its way out.

I felt lucky that I did mine.

You were driving on borrowed time, with a reverse mortgage.

 

Ah, classy human. Leave those engine-sploding maintenance grenades for other people to deal with, eh.

 

My belt looked great from far, but it was far from great. At the time I had it changed on my beast, it had 140,000 miles and was 15 years old because this was the original belt. The only indication that there was a problem was the timing belt tensioner started clattering.

 

That looks more like dry rot from age than it does wear. Do you live in an arid climate?

 

I live in eastern Montana...it's dry, but not a desert

 

Mmm, sounds like a frustrating way to close out a meal

 

.......d'oh!!!!

I live in eastern Montana...it's dry, but it's not a place with sagebrush, camels and mirages...