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Old 09-01-2015, 09:23 PM   #1
MotoringMark
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Thumbs down New timing belt needed after only two years. Unusual ?

My 1999 Toyota Avalon was running fine, but heard that it was overdue for a timing belt replacement. So two years ago with 210,000 miles had its first timing belt change. The belt looked decent. The repair place advised on installing a new pump and hoses, so that was done.

All fine until a week ago when for the first time ever it idled rough and the engine light came on (first time ever) then flashed, then steady, then off, and repeated. Immediately brought it to a mechanic. His hand held meter showed misfiring in cylinders 1,3, and 5. A slit was in the plastic housing over the belt, and when taking off that cover the belt was almost off the top sprocket wheel, shreds of belt were plentiful, and the ?idler wheel? was loose and he turned the screw 360 degrees clockwise three times to tighten it.

So this Avalon went 220,000 miles on the original belt, but went only two years and 20,000 miles with the new replacement belt.

Is this unusual? My friends never heard of the spinning wheel idler getting loose then destroying the belt.

The car has been fixed and is running fine.
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Old 09-02-2015, 03:24 AM   #2
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Re: New timing belt needed after only two years. Acceptable?

From your discrible, it is really unusual. Because the miles is so different. Did anything wrongly when you replaced your belt?
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Old 09-02-2015, 07:20 AM   #3
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Re: New timing belt needed after only two years. Acceptable?

A bad tensioner could cause this, was it replaced?
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Old 09-02-2015, 11:00 AM   #4
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Re: New timing belt needed after only two years. Acceptable?

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Originally Posted by maxwedge View Post
A bad tensioner could cause this, was it replaced?
Going to retrieve the repaired car tomorrow, but YES, the tensioner (whatever that is) was replaced and all old parts were saved.

Car repairs seem like the most complex part of life.
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Old 09-02-2015, 09:05 PM   #5
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Re: New timing belt needed after only two years. Acceptable?

it's time to replace it! Yes!
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Old 09-02-2015, 09:53 PM   #6
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Re: New timing belt needed after only two years. Acceptable?

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it's time to replace it! Yes!
You must be missing the point here. Yes, as a result of the damage it had to be replaced.
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Old 09-03-2015, 07:37 PM   #7
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Re: New timing belt needed after only two years. Acceptable?

Something else failed causing the belt to get chewed up. It's more than possible that the repair place used cheap parts of poor quality causing your issues.
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Old 01-19-2016, 09:10 AM   #8
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Re: New timing belt needed after only two years. Acceptable?

The factory usually has maintenance intervals listed for this and if it fails sooner than that something else is wrong. A lot of shops gloss over the details with a Timing belt change. All pulleys need to be inspected for wear and damage, all idlers replaced, thought needs to be given to the water pump if it's driven here, and most importantly all oil sealing in the area much be perfect. Oil on a belt, even in small quantity, degrades the rubber quickly rendering it soft so it will fail quickly if it isn't clean. I always replace the crank and cam seals with a timing belt change; many do not. Wipe the used belt with a paper towel and if you see any traces of oil that was the problem. And if the same person did the job this time it's going to fail quickly again unless they did something differently this time around. Certain cars can benefit from changing the belt a bit earlier than recommended; never go longer than the recommended intervals.

So you can either find and address the problem or replace the belt frequently. Based in how much the job costs and how long you want to keep the car, frequent replacement may be cheaper than a new cam and balancer which were grooved at the seals through normal wear along with new seals, idler, and yet another belt change. Your decision now that you know the whole picture.

Phil
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