Timing Belt Q

[EuroCamz]

I have 61000 miles on my puppy. I went down to have the timing belt and water pump replaced, but the guy @ the dealership told me that on my 2000 V6 Camry, timing belt doesn't need to be replaced until 90000 miles. Now you might be thinking why would this guy stop a customer from getting a relatively expensive service. So was I. However if he is on the level, I am happy and would love to hold off on thisd expensive service.

Does any one know for sure about this?... Remember the guy who told me thsi was service manager @ Torrance Toyota...

[cam2Xrunner]

Yeah you aren't due to changing it until 90k. If you plan on putting a supercharger on there you might as well do it at the same time.

[nobrainer]

im on
96k and just got mine changed and im saying... definently do it around 85k to avoid it just breaking on its own but it should be fine until then... i have a 94 btw....

[grapefury]

it used to be 60k miles for the older camry's, but with the gen4's, Toyota is saying 90k miles.

I just touched 60k recently myself, i'm leaving the belt

[bowlofturtle]

what about gen3's i'm at about 78k now


how do you know if your belt needs changing ?

[CDub LXi]

I was planning on doing mine around 80k on my 4.5. I didn't change my belt on my '89 Corolla till 110k miles .

[slosh]

New to camry's but I was told that they have a non-interference engine. Is that correct? So if the belt does break then the worse that can happen is that you're stranded. It won't bend any valves or anything. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[88 LE]

Originally posted by bowlofturtle
what about gen3's i'm at about 78k now

how do you know if your belt needs changing ?

You can take off the upper timing belt cover and inspect the belt.

Originally posted by slosh
New to camry's but I was told that they have a non-interference engine. Is that correct? So if the belt does break then the worse that can happen is that you're stranded. It won't bend any valves or anything. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Correct.

[jhbhatia]

Originally posted by slosh
New to camry's but I was told that they have a non-interference engine. Is that correct? So if the belt does break then the worse that can happen is that you're stranded. It won't bend any valves or anything. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

^^ yes sir.

I recently changed my belt (i'm at 75K). The dealership told me to hold off on it..but i had a nice coupon so might as well use it when the mulla's there. Yes gen 4 camry's don't need changing till 90K and there after every 60K miles. (at least thats what the service manager told me).

[GaviN]

Do Camry's have a low tolerance engine ? Like for example, my cousin has a 97 Dodge Stratus, and his timing belt popped while he was driving and due to the type of engine he had, it did no damage. Then on the other hand I had a 1989 Stanza and my belt popped and I ruined my engine in the process.. Is there any truth to Camry engine's being low tolerance ??

[slosh]

GaviN,
When you say low tolerance, I think you mean non-interference which means that it won't do any damage to the engine if the timing belt breaks. However, on an interference engine like on your Stanze, it will do a bunch of damage as you know. Camry's are non-interference engines. This was touched on a little bit in this post.

[CDub LXi]

to Toyota to keeping it non-interference. I have always been afraid of this because most of my cars have been Hondas. My two Nissans I owned had timing chains so it wasn't even a thought.

[GaviN]

Ahh thanks a lot slosh, thats what I meant . My Altima has a chain too and my Camry has another 35k miles before it needs its belt changed again.... Im good to go

:edit: Do the Gen 3's have a non-inteference engine also or is it just the newer gens ??

[jhbhatia]

Originally posted by GaviN
Ahh thanks a lot slosh, thats what I meant . My Altima has a chain too and my Camry has another 35k miles before it needs its belt changed again.... Im good to go

:edit: Do the Gen 3's have a non-inteference engine also or is it just the newer gens ??

I'm pretty sure its gen 4...however toyota isn't clear on this..as they say for 98+ camry (97 was the model yr change) 97 is 60K interval, 98 is a 90K interval. I'm assuming your still at 60K interval for the first one.

[foompla]

the NEW camrys have a timing chain. good stuff.

until they snap (as witnessed in a newer celica recently)