Cam Belt

[gozzyis200]

I have just read about the guy whos belt snapped. I have a 04/04 is200 LE done 44k should I get the belt chnaged???.

In my book it says 100k to change the belt, but it seems as though it ha sbeen reduced to 60k. I have just bought the car so any help I would be very greatful

[Steviewevie]

It's 60K miles or 6 years, so you shouldn't need to change yours yet. If you're concerned about it, get a garage to do a quick visual check of the belt.

[gozzyis200]

It's 60K miles or 6 years, so you shouldn't need to change yours yet. If you're concerned about it, get a garage to do a quick visual check of the belt.

Thanks yeah il take it to lexus Newcastle and see waht they think of the belt. Also does anyone know where I can get genuine lexus mats, as my dealer told me they had been discontinued. Also when you replace the belt do you need to replace the water pump????

[Steviewevie]

Also when you replace the belt do you need to replace the water pump????

You may as well if the pump is getting old, since you have to take all the drive belts off to change the cam belt, and then it's a very quick job to change the water pump at the same time. If you don't do the water pump, there's a good chance it will fail before the cam belt needs changing again, which will be a big job (i.e. replacing just the water pump on its own).

My car has done 52K miles and is 9 years old. Getting the cam belt and water pump changed tomorrow (even though the water pump looks ok visually), also doing the bypass pipe/seals at the same time (which are showing signs of a slight leak).

[Lochie]

My car has done 52K miles and is 9 years old. Getting the cam belt and water pump changed tomorrow (even though the water pump looks ok visually), also doing the bypass pipe/seals at the same time (which are showing signs of a slight leak).

Steviewevie, would you be able to post some photos of your 9 year old belt ? I'm hoping to do mine soon (7 years 35k) I checked the belt visually and it looks pretty good though.

[Paradroid]

My car is on 58k and is 4yrs old. I spoke to the local Lexus dealer, they said they would check the belt but not replace it at the 60k service/6yrs service because the car is not 6yrs old.

[Steviewevie]

Steviewevie, would you be able to post some photos of your 9 year old belt ? I'm hoping to do mine soon (7 years 35k) I checked the belt visually and it looks pretty good though.

Yep, I've asked the garage to give me the old bits back, so I'll post up a pic of it.

My car is on 58k and is 4yrs old. I spoke to the local Lexus dealer, they said they would check the belt but not replace it at the 60k service/6yrs service because the car is not 6yrs old.

Yeah but your car will soon be over 60K miles, shouldn't they be doing it at this service ?

[Steviewevie]

Steviewevie, would you be able to post some photos of your 9 year old belt ? I'm hoping to do mine soon (7 years 35k) I checked the belt visually and it looks pretty good though.

Here are some pics of my old cam belt (52K miles) :

It looks like it's in excellent condition (that's about the worst bit of wear in the first picture). The garage wondered if it had been changed previously, but I don't think so, because I spoke to the garage who did the previous few services and they didn't have any record of having changed it.

[DJ Wozza]

That looks in terrific condition Stevie to be honest.

There was a pic on LOC of an old verses new belt side by side that was horrifying as half of the belt was gone....

[Lochie]

Steviewevie, would you be able to post some photos of your 9 year old belt ? I'm hoping to do mine soon (7 years 35k) I checked the belt visually and it looks pretty good though.

Here are some pics of my old cam belt (52K miles) :

Thanks mate, that looks healthy. :)

I've got some pics of mine, I'm too lazy to figure out how to post pics on here, will try soon.

[Lochie]

There was a pic on LOC of an old verses new belt side by side that was horrifying as half of the belt was gone....

wozza, could you post the link to those pics if possible plz? would be great to compare with mine

[The Transporter]

Although it is hard to tell from a photo, the first picture of the belt appears to be delaminating... If it is, then the job was well worth doing and in the nick of time.... It is scary when you consider jut how hard a cam belt actually works in it's life

[DJ Wozza]

The fella that posted the pic has deleted it from imagshack (he no longer has an IS200)

Basically the belt was about half the new ones width.....not a pretty picture :o

[Steviewevie]

Although it is hard to tell from a photo, the first picture of the belt appears to be delaminating...

I can see why you'd say that, but as you say it is hard to tell from the photo. I don't think there was any danger of imminent delamination. To me, it looks more like a slight groove worn into the belt in places (not all the way round), rather than any actual delamination.