Thread: how to tell if timing belts have been done? D3

I don't see how pulling the covers off will assist in telling if the belts have been done. In most cases the belts at their end of life will look as good as new but may be structurally worn.

If the service was done at a dealer then checking with your local dealer who can check such things in their system might be an option. Other than that, check with the company that did the 168k service but if that is not known I would say there is not any really way to know for sure.

In that case you would have to assume it was not done .

As far as the gearbox is concerned the LR service schedule has the first service at 10 years/240k unless there has been heavy use so would not have normally been serviced. However to do the steel sump, at least 1/3-1/2 of the oil would have to be changed and a new filter included so I think you can assume the necessary work has been done.

Garry

Thanks,

I was told buy the guys I got the car from that they would be able to tell if it had been done buy pulling the front cover off, and that they would only charge me fro parts to do so I.e. new gaskets, and not labour, though I assume they would likely them tell me it hadnt been done in any case so they could get me to pay for new belts and an i can only assume very very high price. . .

ill check the service book and call the mechanics that the services around 168K were done at to see if they have record of doing so.

Thanks
Leroy.

Most timing belts have a date stamp on them. That stamp was still clearly visible on my OEM belt when I replaced it - same story with the two idler pulleys. If yours is the same age as your car, it obviously hasn't been done. Can't remember the format exactly but it's usually some week of some year, ie 24-08 is week 24 of 2008. As Garry said unless your car has done some serious off-roading, chances are it'll all still look new.

It's not a huge job to get the front cover off the engine. The most tricky part is getting the visco fan off - if you can manage that, the rest of the job is easy. About 2 hours worth of work. You need a set of e-torx sockets to get the pulleys off.

So I guess If the Mechanics can not tell me when I call, the only way is to pull the cover.
chances are the Mechanic wont be able to tell me, as while the service book is full, its rarely seen the same Mechanic twice.

looks like it will more likely than not be cover off, assume all i need to replace if it has been done is the Gasket for the Cover after inspecting?

Leroy.