timing belt vs drive belt

Hi,

I am pretty sure its recommended at 60.000 miles. I had mine changed at 64.K. Mine is a 1995 but I don't see it changing to 99.

Cheers Johnny UK

One of the reasons I have purchased Camry 4 cylinder (2005) is that it does not have a scheduled change of the timing belt - 6 cylinder has. I have not found in my owner's manual, any scheduled/recommended change of the "drive belt", which I assume is a serpentine belt.

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My 1999 Camry has 180K+ and the timing/drive belt was changed once at about 170K as the original belt broke will in park. The engine made a bad noise and quit. Would not restart. Had the car hauled, belt replaced and started up first time. That was over 1 year and 10K+ miles ago. Thankfully the engineers at Toyota made the engine so that nothing else breaks. My $.02 Norm

My 2004 Camry 4 has a timing chain. My 1998 Camry 4 has a timing belt. Toyota went back to a chain around 2000 or 2002 on the 4 cyl.

99 Camry uses the 5SFE engine. It has a timing belt.

Customarily "drive belts" refer to belts driving external "accessories", such as power steering, alternator, and A/C compressor. So when the woman says "drive belts", I would NOT take it as the "timing belt".

If the timing belt was change, there should have been a small sticker on the timing cover telling you the time and date. Maybe it was never put on there or maybe it fell off. But if it's not there and the woman didn't say "timing belt" was changed, then I'd assume it's not.

If you do need to change it, do a complete job and negotiate a price before hand. What's complete job? They should include the following (you can use OEM parts, but here I made a list from rockauto.com):

GATES TCK199 (kit of timing belt with two pulleys and instruction) $84.79 GATES Part # K030295 PS belt $4.32 GATES Part # K050435 Alt/AC $12.12 FEL-PRO TCS45641 Cam seal $4.11 FEL-PRO TCS45920 Crank seal $6.04 BCA Part # 221820 Oil pump seal $2.71 AISIN (Toyota #16110-79185) water pump $58.79 FEL-PRO VS50304R valve cover gasket set $13.94 BECK/ARNLEY 0396428 $1.87 (PCV grommet)

Correction: timing belt change sticker shows mileage and date. :)

5-year 60K miles is a good interval, especially for the do-it- yourselfers. 6-year 90K mile that came in the later years of those engine is stretching the limit. Timing belt already began to stretch ~50K miles and the grease in the pulleys were drying up then too. But if people have to pay dealer prices then try not to go beyond 6/90K miles. Although I've heard owners driving with 200K miles! ;) ;) ;)

Any recommendations as to the "drive belt" (one that drives external "accessories")?

No. These are usually inspected at various intervals. For example, oil changes, intermediate services, major service, etc. In fact, at the older 5yr/60K timing belt interval I don't think any decent belt would snap on you. Maybe minor hairline cracks and lost some tension. Today's belts are much more reliable than before.

Drive belts are replaced if glazed, cracked, or worn. However, I'd just change them with the timing belt 5yr/60K miles since they'll be off anyway and are cheap online.