New 99 Timing Belt help

Hoping to just get some opinions.

Just bought my '99 SR5. the guy I bought it from only had it for a month, never even put it in his name. The guy he got it from had it for 11 years. from 100 k to 272 k. he definitely took care of it!

Guy I bought it from said the timing belt was done at 260 that is what he was told from previous owner. I kept asking for paperwork because no sticker on engine.
Come to find out the previous owner said he did it himself... eeeekkk

I've had it in the shop and they said a couple things.

1. even if they take the cover off and look at the belt you can't always tell if it needs to be replaced.
2. the did say the coolant is brand new (crappy yellow stuff) and all the belts are new. so good chance he was in there.

Any thoughts. don't want to get stranded.
Thanks!

 

Greetings 4runnerfiendSD,
A couple of things that come to mind myself; none definitive themselves, just points of thought:
1. It's encouraging that the previous owner seems to have taken such care of the vehicle, but of course that doesn't necessarily make him a master mechanic.
2. Most people that maintain their vehicles with care also document any major work done, even if done themselves. I'd have hoped they would have kept the dated parts receipt, because A= there's so many variations in aftermarket timing belt kits it would be nice to know whether they just did the basics, or went for the more complete kit, and B= without a receipt you've no way of invoking any parts warranty assistance if the unexpected were to happen.
3. In many ways, I'd be more concerned with why the seller was turning it after only having it for a month himself. Could be nothing but what he saw as a profit opportunity, but equally possible he quickly found some high-dollar issue at hand and opted to walk away from it.
4. While nobody relishes the thought of losing a timing belt on the go, one aspect that I find some "comfort" in knowing is that the 5VZ (and 3RZ if you have the 4-cylinder engine) are both 'non-interference' engines, meaning that if the timing belt should break while in operation you're not facing internals like rods and valves colliding and busting hell out your engine, with potential damage being more in relation, and limited to what might be hit by the broken belt itself if it were caught on pulleys in motion, etc. Yes, you'll be stranded and waiting for a tow truck, but at least while you're waiting you won't be checking out the going rate on ebay for a complete replacement engine.

The timing belt replacement operation (when being done as normal preventative maintenance) is, IMO, one of the easiest 'major maintenance' jobs to perform, thank you, Toyota, for yet another well-thought-out and designed facet of your vehicles that keeps me (and countless others) solid believers in Toyota ownership, and in love with our (your) vehicles. Ever since I got my first Toy, an '84 Supra, I have always invested in the full (OEM) shop manual set with each vehicle owned. They've guided me perfectly through what few repairs have ever been required, and more often invaluable in helping to ensure the many customizations/mods that I've done to my Toyotas were not only done properly but ones which over time enhanced the vehicle's value rather than decreasing it and becoming a regret.

Good luck to you, and welcome to the forum-
David

 

Thanks FatrCat! good food for thought.
Yeah the guy I bought it from said it was supposed to be family car for their new one, but the wife veto'd and wanted a newer car thus the quick turn around.

Further investigation: there must have been some sort of explosion.. haha I'm thinking cooling of some sort. there is white ish splattered all over the engine bay. see images.
Also looking down at the Timing belt cover there is build up of grease/dirt across the seal as well as some of wiring that is connected.
I would assume if all of these parts were removed that build up would have been disturbed.









I can't see how that much would build up after just 15 k

 

I agree, Chase; for that type of a grunge build-up to happen that quickly you'd almost certainly have a fresh sampling on the pavement of your parking space every morning, too.

As to the "whitewash"- wow; almost looks like someone ran over a 5-gallon can of white paint in the street. Definitely would trying to determine what sort of material that was. I'm not 100% on whether I'm remembering this accurately or not, but if recollection serves right I believe another possible origin for the "whitewash" could be a chemical flash/residue from a fire extinguisher use?? Did you happen to do one of the vehicle history checks on the truck- the type that not only runs a title check but also can provide other background info like major hail damage/accident claims linked to the VIN? (You may want to check the VIN on the engine against the one on the dash and those found on the tags on each door & body panel, too.)

 

yeah I did a car fax on it. two owners first one was commercial and second guy had it for 11 years. all clear perfect report.
good point on the VIN I'll have to check.

Update. so I took off the 5 bolts on the timing belt cover and peeked in as much as I could. I could actually read that it is a Gates T271, no fraying, cracks ext. It is a nice clean black color. I tried to dig my nail in just a bit and was someone soft.

The Radiator is brand new, I wonder if it blew up and the fan flung really old dirty coolant all over the engine bay.

Hey thanks again for the feed back

 

Chase,
The new radiator could also be an indication that the vehicle had come down with "Strawberry Milkshake Syndrome", which I've read is an issue that primarily had occurred in 3rd gen 4Runners (called such because transmission fluid would leak into the cooling system and create a sludgy strawberry milkshake- looking goop.) In cases where there hadn't been any backwards contamination into the tranny, the radiator gets replaced and the cooling system flushed and that might be the extent of repairs needed. Was that possibly "pinkwash" in the engine bay rather than "whitewash, maybe?

Nice to see a Gates brand name in there rather than it reading something like " wal_mart everyday timing" (no offense, wal_mart; we'll make fun of me next go-round) (purposely used underscore vs the dash in the name so it would stop creating a hyperlink to the store, lol), but I think that would indicate a fair chance that the belt replacement did not include replacement of the other various parts included in timing belt replacement kits. In my recently looking into a belt replacement kit myself, I don't think I've found any that had a Gates belt in them. Hopefully at a minimum a new water pump was also put in with the belt.

It wouldn't necessarily be a "total" indication of when it was replaced, but I'm fairly sure there is likely to also be a date code printed on the belt as well. And if the code said the belt was manufactured in, say, 2010, that at least would rule out it's replacement being any time prior to the mfg. date.