Digital odometers and timing belt warning lights

[MikeN]

Not specifically Thai related, but maybe somebody here knows ....does a warning light for the timing belt on a diesel (specifically a hilux) come on when the cars digital odometer shows the scheduled service distance, or does it take a reading from the vehicle's electronics somewhere else ? My S.I.L's pickup is 15 years old yet shows only 71,000kms because often none of the dashboard instruments are working, including the odometer. I asked her about it while driving the pickup today, she said they have not worked properly for years ! possibly a loose connection somewhere as they stopped working when i hit a bump, and started again when i hit another bump. We did over 200kms today but the odometer only increased by 35. So it could well have actually done 100,000kms or more and be due for a timing belt replacement, but if the warning light reads from the odometer it would not light up. I had visions of driving at highway speed when the timing belt failed, and the consequent repairs !

 

[bwpage3]

Time to replace timing belt.

 

It is probably long overdue?

 

If you have a timing belt and not internal timing chain, do a visual inspection and make sure the belt is not frayed anywhere or excessively shiny.

 

If it is, best to change it now before it fails on the road

[rambling]

When was it last changed? Timing belts are also susceptible to wear over time from the heat regardless of km done.

 

How much would it cost to change? I would change it just for peace of mind if last change was 4-5 years ago.

 

[transam]

My Vigo had a dash light that would come on at 150kkm. Your ride will probably not do that at the correct mileage. Think I recall something about replacing it at 7 years, even if 150kkm hadn't been reached, but the handbook doesn't say that.

I sold my Vigo at 11+ years old with 130kkm on the clock with the original belt, but a friend had the belt let go for one reason or another, could have been well over the 150kkm or age, I don't know, but I do know it cost a lot of money to repair the engine..????

[MikeN]

^ apparently it has never been changed, all I could get was blank looks when asking about it. The sister doesn’t speak English, the wife’s English and my Thai don’t extend to mechanical stuff so it was hard to get the message across.

 The pickup is kept at the sister-in-law’s but was actually paid for by the now deceased British husband of another sister and is used by the family as a communal vehicle, which everybody uses but nobody takes maintenance responsibility for.

 My hiluxes back in Oz were older models with a mechanical odometer and a warning light at 100,000 km, so if it is 150,000 now that is a bit more comfortable, may not have done that much. Will have to check, I imagine the owner’s handbook has long since vanished.

[transam]

2 minutes ago, MikeN said:

^ apparently it has never been changed, all I could get was blank looks when asking about it. The sister doesn’t speak English, the wife’s English and my Thai don’t extend to mechanical stuff so it was hard to get the message across.

 The pickup is kept at the sister-in-law’s but was actually paid for by the now deceased British husband of another sister and is used by the family as a communal vehicle, which everybody uses but nobody takes maintenance responsibility for.

 My hiluxes back in Oz were older models with a mechanical odometer and a warning light at 100,000 km, so if it is 150,000 now that is a bit more comfortable, may not have done that much. Will have to check, I imagine the owner’s handbook has long since vanished.

I have an in English Vigo handbook (2007 issue) if you need any info..

[fredob43]

I had the same engine in my last Tuna. My book said change at 90k km. But never said anything about year. So I phoned Toyota BKK and they suggested 6 years or 90k km. I got Toyota to change it took around 25 min: cost if I remember correctly was under 4kbht for everything tensioner the works. N/B They didn't keep in stock so had to order.  

[KeeTua]

The manual for my Vigo says 150,000km to change the timing belt for the diesel engine but no duration of time was listed just inspect every 40K. I've inspected mine it took about 5 minutes to expose it enough to see the condition. The manual didn't mention changing the timing belt on the gasoline engines so maybe they use a timing chain.

 

At under 4,000 baht as fredob points out I'd change it for sure. Looks to be an easy job. Often its recommended to do the water pump at the same time and judging from your story they may have just run water in it or very old coolant.

[transam]

34 minutes ago, KeeTua said:

The manual for my Vigo says 150,000km to change the timing belt for the diesel engine but no duration of time was listed just inspect every 40K. I've inspected mine it took about 5 minutes to expose it enough to see the condition. The manual didn't mention changing the timing belt on the gasoline engines so maybe they use a timing chain.

 

At under 4,000 baht as fredob points out I'd change it for sure. Looks to be an easy job. Often its recommended to do the water pump at the same time and judging from your story they may have just run water in it or very old coolant.

Yes, it is 90,000 miles or 150,000km....

[transam]

1 hour ago, fredob43 said:

I had the same engine in my last Tuna. My book said change at 90k km. But never said anything about year. So I phoned Toyota BKK and they suggested 6 years or 90k km. I got Toyota to change it took around 25 min: cost if I remember correctly was under 4kbht for everything tensioner the works. N/B They didn't keep in stock so had to order.  

It is 90,000 miles or 150,000km...

[Hi Tea]

13 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

Time to replace timing belt.

 

It is probably long overdue?

 

If you have a timing belt and not internal timing chain, do a visual inspection and make sure the belt is not frayed anywhere or excessively shiny.

 

If it is, best to change it now before it fails on the road

Is it easy to see the condition of the timing belt, there's no dismantling that needs to be done?

[transam]

1 minute ago, Hi Tea said:

Is it easy to see the condition of the timing belt, there's no dismantling that needs to be done?

How, on a Vigo.....?

[MikeN]

11 minutes ago, Hi Tea said:

Is it easy to see the condition of the timing belt, there's no dismantling that needs to be done?

I think you are confusing the timing belt of a diesel with the fan belt of an ordinary car....

Even in my old model hiluxes you had to take off the belt cover, which meant draining and removing the radiator. I doubt it has got any easier or simpler with a modern vehicle !

[transam]

3 minutes ago, MikeN said:

I think you are confusing the timing belt of a diesel with the fan belt of an ordinary car....

Even in my old model hiluxes you had to take off the belt cover, which meant draining and removing the radiator. I doubt it has got any easier or simpler with a modern vehicle !

It can be done without removing the rad on a Vigo, but there is no way the belt can be viewed without taking the cover off. The new Hilux (-2015 Revo) engine has a timing chain and self adjusting tappets (valve clearance)..

[HauptmannUK]

Timing belts deteriorate with age and mileage. Leaking oil also causes deterioration. Maximum tooth load occurs on starting so doing lots of short journeys is hard on them. Most common time to snap is on start up.

6 years 150k km is long enough. 

I've changed literally thousands of belts and I'm not much in favour of visual inspection.  Often the belt looks fine in-situ but when you take it off and double it back on itself there will be cracking at the roots of the teeth.

Be sure to also replace everything that the belt drives (WP, tensioner, idlers etc). Oftentimes something seizes and that causes the belt to snap.

[fredob43]

3 hours ago, transam said:

It is 90,000 miles or 150,000km...

You could well be correct. I never had my Vigo that long to even think about it.

 

If you care to read my post you will see that I quoted what my last 3lt Tuna book said. And that was 90Kkm. As I said I did check with head office and they confirmed also that should change at 6 years.

 

Point of interest the English Manual and the Thai one's don't quote the same things. EG: I have just had a 40k service the English manual said replace the gearbox oil at 40k. The Thai one says inspect??? So you tell me what one is correct. I went by the UK one and changed.    

[pineapple01]

29 minutes ago, fredob43 said:

You could well be correct. I never had my Vigo that long to even think about it.

 

If you care to read my post you will see that I quoted what my last 3lt Tuna book said. And that was 90Kkm. As I said I did check with head office and they confirmed also that should change at 6 years.

 

Point of interest the English Manual and the Thai one's don't quote the same things. EG: I have just had a 40k service the English manual said replace the gearbox oil at 40k. The Thai one says inspect??? So you tell me what one is correct. I went by the UK one and changed.    

Nah nee Nah.! Jeeezus.!

[DaLa]

Mine didn't have a warning light, obviously superfluous as it had an audible warning. If I remember it went something like:

 

clank, clank, clank, bang!

[transam]

1 hour ago, fredob43 said:

You could well be correct. I never had my Vigo that long to even think about it.

 

If you care to read my post you will see that I quoted what my last 3lt Tuna book said. And that was 90Kkm. As I said I did check with head office and they confirmed also that should change at 6 years.

 

Point of interest the English Manual and the Thai one's don't quote the same things. EG: I have just had a 40k service the English manual said replace the gearbox oil at 40k. The Thai one says inspect??? So you tell me what one is correct. I went by the UK one and changed.    

Hilux and Fortuner had the same 3lt diesel engine, with the same timing belt from 2004 till 2015.

Handbook in English says replace 150,000 KM, in brackets 90,000 miles. The dash warning light at change interval will come on every time you turn the engine on until Toyota reset it. MPH speedos the light will come on at 90,000 miles, KM speedos 150,000....

[fredob43]

29 minutes ago, transam said:

Hilux and Fortuner had the same 3lt diesel engine, with the same timing belt from 2004 till 2015.

Handbook in English says replace 150,000 KM, in brackets 90,000 miles. The dash warning light at change interval will come on every time you turn the engine on until Toyota reset it. MPH speedos the light will come on at 90,000 miles, KM speedos 150,000....

Question. Did you ever own the last model 3lt Tuna No. Did you ever read the English manual I got with the one I had No. Why don't you ever believe what people put in??

Before you questioned how much I paid for a 10k service with 8lt of full Syn: Oil, filter for the new 2.8lt Tuna at Toyota. Then demanded to see the receipt. Even then when I put it in you still wouldn't believe me.

 

I don't have the old book so cant put copy of that in or I would. This is my last post on this subject so no need to answer.  

[KeeTua]

1 hour ago, transam said:

The dash warning light at change interval will come on every time you turn the engine on until Toyota reset it.

It is possible to reset yourself, I did mine. Google for instructions on how to do it.

[transam]

15 hours ago, fredob43 said:

Question. Did you ever own the last model 3lt Tuna No. Did you ever read the English manual I got with the one I had No. Why don't you ever believe what people put in??

Before you questioned how much I paid for a 10k service with 8lt of full Syn: Oil, filter for the new 2.8lt Tuna at Toyota. Then demanded to see the receipt. Even then when I put it in you still wouldn't believe me.

 

I don't have the old book so cant put copy of that in or I would. This is my last post on this subject so no need to answer.  

What year was your last 3lt Fortuner....?

[transam]

16 hours ago, fredob43 said:

Question. Did you ever own the last model 3lt Tuna No. Did you ever read the English manual I got with the one I had No. Why don't you ever believe what people put in??

Before you questioned how much I paid for a 10k service with 8lt of full Syn: Oil, filter for the new 2.8lt Tuna at Toyota. Then demanded to see the receipt. Even then when I put it in you still wouldn't believe me.

 

I don't have the old book so cant put copy of that in or I would. This is my last post on this subject so no need to answer.  

Here is a printout of maintenance on the pre-2016 Fortuner, look at the first item on the list. Are you sure you had a 3lt diesel Fortuner....?    ????

 

https://media.toyota-gib.com/pdf/eng/maintenance/schedules/pre-2016-fortuner.pdf

[Hi Tea]

22 hours ago, transam said:

22 hours ago, Hi Tea said:

Is it easy to see the condition of the timing belt, there's no dismantling that needs to be done?

How, on a Vigo.....?

"How" what? 

I was asking the poster, bwpage3, a question about the ease of visually inspecting the condition of a timing belt. He said this..."If you have a timing belt and not internal timing chain, do a visual inspection and make sure the belt is not frayed anywhere or excessively shiny".  

 

You seemed to find the question funny, why?  Can a timing belt be seen easily in order to check it's overall condition just by looking into the engine compartment?

Edited August 13, 2020 by Hi Tea

[transam]

2 minutes ago, Hi Tea said:

"How" what? 

I was asking the poster, bwpage3, a question about the ease of checking the condition of a timing belt?  You seemed to find the question funny, why?

You quoted you can check the condition of the Vigo timing belt without dismantling, you cannot. Now if "you" can, then tell us....? 

[Hi Tea]

3 minutes ago, transam said:

You quoted you can check the condition of the Vigo timing belt without dismantling, you cannot. Now if "you" can, then tell us....? 

No, I didn't, I was quoting bwpage3.  He was the one who said that could be done, that's why I asked him the question.

[transam]

5 minutes ago, Hi Tea said:

No, I didn't, I was quoting bwpage3.  He was the one who said that could be done, that's why I asked him the question.

I replied to your post....

 

[Hi Tea]

4 minutes ago, transam said:

I replied to your post....

 

I'm aware that you responded; I was wondering why you responded that way. 

 

You seem to think that I claimed that checking the condition of a timing belt was easy, I didn't, bwpage 3 did that, that's why I quoted him and asked him a question about his claim.  See the question mark at the end of my post?

Edited August 13, 2020 by Hi Tea

[pineapple01]

When You Buy ask if it has a lousy  cheapo belt thing, if it does walk out.  Of finish up bickering here.

[Lancashirelad]

Hi Tea said:

Quote

Can a timing belt be seen easily in order to check it's overall condition just by looking into the engine compartment?

With respect, if you need to ask this question, you are not experienced enough to assess the condition of a timing belt.