Scheduled Maint.

[Grnarowana]

I was checking out Toyota's website about scheduled maint. and I notice that it stops at 120,000 miles. What should a Solara owner do after it surpasses 120K?

[MCOjerry]

Start at the beginning again?

[Solorange]

^^ Thats what i would do too.

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

LOL, 30K intervals are same (same service at 60, 90, 120...) only thing different is timing belt service (and drive belts) at every 120K miles!

[indiglosolara]

Damn... you change your timing at 120k.. your are very brave... I would do my timing at 90k miles as what Toyota recommends, Some of the older models engines are at every 60k miles...

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

^^ actually if you are really a neard like me you can 'hear' when you need to replace your timing belt. On my camry, i replaced it at 60K miles (its city driven) - on my solara i just did got it replaced last week (95K miles). In TX dealerships recommend 120K interval as we drive predominatly all highways.

[Jon11582]

Keep in mind that if you have a 2AZ (02+ Inline 4) that you dont need to replace your timing chain as part of standard maintenance. A timing chain (found only on the 2AZ) should last the lifetime of the engine, and will not break from regular wear and tear.

[indiglosolara]

Keep in mind that if you have a 2AZ (02+ Inline 4) that you dont need to replace your timing chain as part of standard maintenance. A timing chain (found only on the 2AZ) should last the lifetime of the engine, and will not break from regular wear and tear.

Yup.. Thats what I liked about the 2AZ.. However my Camry's 5s-fe needed to be changed. I am at 75k on the belt so it will need to be changed soon. Mostly highway miles.

[Sentinel]

Sorry if I sound skeptical, but exactly what does a timing belt sound like before it skips a tooth and eats your engine?

Its not like your serpentine belt, out in the open and easy to inspect. (or hear what it is doing) The timing belt is buried in a housing that muffles what sound it does make.

I can see 120k for all highway mileage, if you're willing to take the risk, but the timing belt is far too critical an engine component to let go too far. At the least it will strand you, and can possibly cause major engine damage.

[onefiend]

I can see 120k for all highway mileage, if you're willing to take the risk, but the timing belt is far too critical an engine component to let go too far. At the least it will strand you, and can possibly cause major engine damage.

I read somewhere that Toyota engines are "non-interference", meaning that if the timing belt goes, no internals will get messed up. But it will leave you stranded somewhere.

[onefiend]

A timing chain (found only on the 2AZ) should last the lifetime of the engine, and will not break from regular wear and tear.

they put a timing chain on the 2GR also. I think all modern engines has timing chains now.

[Jon11582]

A timing chain (found only on the 2AZ) should last the lifetime of the engine, and will not break from regular wear and tear.

they put a timing chain on the 2GR also. I think all modern engines has timing chains now.

Thats true. I guess that makes the 3MZ a non-modern engine. All the other current Toyota car engines are chain driven now I think, even the lowly xA and Yaris.

The only passenger car engines left are the 3MZ (Solara/Highlander/Sienna) and the 3UZ (GS430/LS430)

Both will be gone soon enough.

Yes our engines are non-interference. Under normal circumstances, if anything breaks, the engine will halt and wont cannibalize itself. But you will be stranded on the side of the road on Monday morning while getting to work in the winter with no heat while it takes AAA 5 hours to get there only to tow you to a gas station garage with no way to get home without calling a cab and waiting another 3 hours, then decideing to walk home but since you have no sense of direction you ended up walking two hours the exactly wrong way when you were only 2 miles from the apartment to begin with.

But the engine will be OK.

EDIT -

FYI, for those that dont know, an "interference engine" means that the valves, when open, occupy the same physical space as the piston when hits top dead center. Normally the valves will always be closed when the piston hits top dead center, except of course if the timing is off If the valves are open and the belt breaks, the piston will keep moving (due to momentum) and crash into the open valves, breaking the valves and/or pistons, if not other things. Non interference means that even if the valves are open and the piston hits top dead center, they still dont collide.

Now this is interesting:

Reading here

5SFE = Belt/Non interference
2AZ = Chain/? (Its chain driven, so interference shouldnt matter as much)
1MZ = Belt/Non Interference
3MZ = Belt/Interference

That means, if you have a Gen2 V6, change your timing belt on at least the recommended intervals or youll be replacing your internals (Valves and possibly pistons) if the belt snaps. I guess thats the price of displacement, that extra 10% of displacement came from a longer stroke that occupies the same space as the open valves do.

I know this is the Gen1 forum, but maybe we should let the Gen2 V6 guys know this...if they remember when they hit 90K. I think its absolutely stupid to make a belt-driven interference engine in this day and age, but I guess that was Toyota's way of getting "cheap horsepower" out of the 3MZ until the GR engines were ready for prime time passenger car application. I predict we're going to be seeing alot of dead gen2 V6's in a few years from timing belt neglect, and people will be crying foul about Toyota reliability.

[TMMK Toy]

I don't think its totally stupid to make a belt driven interference engine. Hondas and Mitsus are the same way. Course non interference is best and chain is even nicer.