Good evening, Scotty. I am the original owner of a 2003 Sequoia 4WD, 140K miles. Serviced every 3000 miles, excellent condition. I rarely tow anything. I intend to keep it despite the gas mileage and its interference engine. I need to know the proper mileage and time intervals to change the timing belt. I had the original timing belt changed at 89K miles in 2012 when the vehicle was almost 9-1/2 years old. However, I have since heard "every 7 years or 70K miles" and "every 9 years or 90K miles" from the local Toyota dealer. I am now approaching the 9 year mark, but with only 51K additional miles. I obviously want to protect the engine.
- What the is your recommended (1) not-more-than mileage interval and (2) not-later-than time interval for a timing belt change for this vehicle?
- Since the vehicle is over 18 years old, I want to replace all of the parts that are related to this job, such as the water pump and serpentine belt. What other parts are there, such as pulleys or tensioners, internal or external, that I should replace while the technician is "in there?" We plan on taking some trips, and I want to minimize my chances of needing a repair when I could have taken care of it during the timing belt change.
We appreciate what you do for us a lot!
At the most, you should consider replacement every 9 years/100k miles. Always a good idea to check it for signs of dry rot every other year or so depending on climate just to be extra safe.
Mod_Man, thanks very much for your prompt and thoughtful response. Any idea about what ancillary parts I should replace in addition to the belt and water pump?
You're welcome. There are some pullies you can swap out while you're there. I can't remember which ones specifically, but they are relatively inexpensive and I would do them since you already have it apart. You should be able to find a diagram of how the belts are run easy enough and get the part numbers from there.