How Long Should a Timing Belt Last?

My daily driver is a '93 Toyota Corolla DX, with the DOHC 1.8L engine. According to a sticker under the hood, the timing belt was changed 40,000 miles ago, in 2007. Not wishing my pistons and valves to become intimately acquainted with each other, I figured I should change the timing belt.

The problem is, I hate timing belts. I don't like doing them on SOHC motors, let alone DOHC motors. So, I called up a local shop that I actually trust and asked them for an estimate.

It was $475. For a timing belt. I paid less than half that for the car.

So should I change the timing belt now? Wait another 10,000 miles? Get another estimate? Or is it really not that difficult and should I just suck it up and do it myself?

At least another 10k miles. On a car of that vintage less than 50k miles is just wasting it.

Whats so hard about timing belts? Pop the belt off, change any bearings, tensioners and oil seals as needed, make sure everything is lined up, throw the belt on, set the tension, roll it over by hand several times to check for alignment and button it up.

If you were talking about a PT cruiser, or a 3000GT, I could understand, but a Toyota is easy.

It seems Japanese timing belts last alot longer than German ones.

logdog wrote: It seems Japanese timing belts last alot longer than German ones.

Understatement of the week!!!

Belt was replaced in July '07, at 130,000 miles. The car currently has 175,000 miles on it. Do you think I can wait another year or so?

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Whats so hard about timing belts? Pop the belt off, change any bearings, tensioners and oil seals as needed, make sure everything is lined up, throw the belt on, set the tension, roll it over by hand several times to check for alignment and button it up. If you were talking about a PT cruiser, or a 3000GT, I could understand, but a Toyota is easy.

The 7A-FE requires removal of the passenger motor mount, the drive belts, the ignition system, and the valve cover just to get to the belt.

This is what is listed as the steps on the Autozone repair manual:

1. Disconnect the negative battery cable.
2. Raise the vehicle and safely support it on jackstands.
3. Remove the washer reservoir tank.
4. Remove the right splash shield from under the car.
5. Remove the RH front wheel. Lower the vehicle.
6. Depending on equipment, loosen the air conditioner compressor, the power steering pump and the alternator on their adjusting bolts. Remove the drive belts.
7. Disconnect the harness from the ground wire on the RH fender apron.
8. Support the engine either from above (chain hoist) or below (floor jack and wood block) and remove the through bolt at the right engine mount.
9. Carefully elevate the engine enough to gain access to the water pump pulley.
10. Remove the water pump pulley. Lower the engine to its normal position.
11. Remove the spark plugs.
12. Remove the valve covers. Make sure to labile all hoses and wiring.
13. Rotate the crankshaft clockwise and set the engine to TDC/compression on No. 1 cylinder. Align the crankshaft marks at zero; look through the oil filler hole and make sure the small hole in the end of the camshaft can be seen.
14. Remove the bolts retaining the No. 3 and No. 2 timing belt covers.
15. Remove the crankshaft pulley.
16. Remove the three bolts retaining the (No. 1) lower timing belt cover. Separate the cover from the front of the engine. Remove the timing belt guide.
17. Loosen the mounting bolt of the idler pulley and shift it to the left as far as it will go, then temporarily tighten it. Remove the timing belt.

There are a lot of factors that can affect belt life; the length of the belt, the shape of the teeth, pulley design, belt material, average rotation speed, etc. This is why old Fiats need belts every 30k whereas some OEMs now rate belts to 100k.

40k is nothing on a Toyota belt especially if it is only five years old. I have seen Corollas do 150k+ on the original belt, albeit with a pretty scary looking belt at that time.

The Toyota A motors are non-interference, though, so why are you worried? Just run it until it breaks, then replace it.

Sure go another year. Those belts hold out for over 100k miles and the 7AFE isn't an interference engine.

SlickDizzy wrote: The Toyota A motors are non-interference, though, so why are you worried? Just run it until it breaks, then replace it.

Are you sure about that? The 1.8L DOHC in a '93 DX is non-interference? I thought for sure it was an interference motor.

dean1484 wrote:

logdog wrote: It seems Japanese timing belts last alot longer than German ones.

Understatement of the week!!!

All my friends call me "The Understatement Kid"

Wikipedia confirms it

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_A_engine#7A

Sky_Render wrote:

SlickDizzy wrote: The Toyota A motors are non-interference, though, so why are you worried? Just run it until it breaks, then replace it.

Are you sure about that? The 1.8L DOHC in a '93 DX is non-interference? I thought for sure it was an interference motor.

I'm positive, 100%, I have worked on them before. GameboyRMH has a Corolla as well and also says it's not interference.

EDIT:

GameboyRMH wrote: Wikipedia confirms it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_A_engine#7A

Well there ya go!

I don't think that's an interference engine by the way. So, if it brakes you are hoofing it or calling a tow truck. Not exactly how I want to spend my day, but at least it doesn't end in this

Interference or not, if a new belt is $475 and another Corolla is "less than half of that", run it until it breaks, keep us informed so we know how long a belt lasts, and then, go buy another Corolla. Repeat until you're sick of Corollas.

Thank you, gentlemen. You just saved me $500. Several websites have said 60,000 is the replacement interval. I drive this car about 8,000 miles a year, so I should be able to go another two years at least.

And now that I know it is non-interference (and since I also have AAA), I'm not too concerned.

SlickDizzy wrote: The Toyota A motors are non-interference, though,

For the record the 4AGE 20v blacktop is the only interference engine in the A-series.

though it's twin cam, isn't this another one of those engines where you only wrap the belt around one of the shafts?

belteshazzar wrote: though it's twin cam, isn't this another one of those engines where you only wrap the belt around one of the shafts?

No, it goes over both cam gears. The main problem is that it is underneath the valve cover, and the passenger side motor mount goes through the center of the drivebelts and the timing belt!

I'm going to use some of the money I would have spent on that stupid timing belt and replace the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor. For some weird reason, I enjoy installing spark plugs.

you enjoy installing spark plugs because they make fire!

logdog wrote: It seems Japanese timing belts last alot longer than German ones.

Huh? The change interval on my '03 TDI is 100K miles. I'm in the middle of changing the 3rd now at 302K.

it is a piece of cake. and i coulda sworn the 7a was a twincam driven by a gear off of one cam and only one came with the belt just like the 5sfe was.

yep cams are gear driven off eachother only one sprocket at the cams just like doing a sohc motor. and it only calls for 2.2 hours that should tell u something. pretty easy job.

KATYB wrote: yep cams are gear driven off eachother only one sprocket at the cams just like doing a sohc motor. and it only calls for 2.2 hours that should tell u something. pretty easy job.

What part of "drop the passenger side motor mount" do you consider a "pretty easy job"?

It just unbolts, put a jack under the oil pan with a load spreading chunk of 2x4, unbolt. Plenty of room to work. Pulling the valve cover insures you always have a leak free valve cover gasket! Its an old Toyota, they dont get much simpler and easier to deal with, the only thing easier in the timing belt department are old Hondas and the Yugo. On the Yugo you don't even have to remove the crank pulley, there's enough room to slip the belt in and out. Come to think of it, including the cover and loosening the alternator t get the V belt off included, its only 8 fasteners for a Fiat SOHC timing belt if you have deleted the smog pump, if not 10.

Do you really need to do it in your situation? No. Is it an easy as pie job for anybody who knows how to change a timing belt? Yes.

Sky_Render wrote:

KATYB wrote: yep cams are gear driven off eachother only one sprocket at the cams just like doing a sohc motor. and it only calls for 2.2 hours that should tell u something. pretty easy job.

What part of "drop the passenger side motor mount" do you consider a "pretty easy job"?

I have to undo the motor mount on my malibu to change the accesory belt. Doing it the way Kenny described it takes all of 5 minutes and half of that is finding the 2x4.