Recommended 160k service items?

looks good, how high does the maint. manual go?

 

Serpentine belt?
Work some anti-seize lube in around the HCAC valve shaft (front exhaust pipe, ahead of the catalytic converter)?
Spark plugs (correct product #s in manual)?

Alignment check?
Tire rotation?

-Chap

 

I would add :

• Check bake pads/shoes wear
• Lube the disk brake slide pins
• replace PCV valve

JeffD

 

On that note, when does the water pump or timing belt get done (does it have a water pump on the engine side or a timing belt)? I have searched for this info and I think I found out it does have a water pump. Sorry for the ignorance, but I am a DIYer (I love to learn) and all I have is the glove compartment manual and have not owned it very long.
TomK

 

Toyota uses Timing chains, not belts in these engines. They make a lot of noise before they fail. The engine water pumps do fail (as do all of them) so a replacement at an appropriate coolant change is a good idea (at 100k or 150k mile intervals).

JeffD

 

Thanks Jeff! I will now look for a thread where someone did the water pump change for some tips as I am at 153,000 miles and no known history. Should one wait until the pump starts leaking (that is usually what I do) or just change the thing out when changing the coolant?
TomK

 

plugs should have been changed at 120k. if not, use the oem, they are the best and cheap money.

 

If you put your car on jackstands and slide behind the front wheels to look at the exhaust pipe, just in front of the catalytic converter you'll see a roughly tuna-can-sized vacuum actuator that swings a notorious little valve that's built into the exhaust pipe right at the front of the converter. It is the key to a clever arrangement that stores some of the substances in your exhaust right after engine starting before the converter is hot enough to react them, and then sucks them back through once it is.

As you can guess, any rotating valve shaft that runs right through a $%#* exhaust pipe is prone to corrosion and sticking. What makes it notorious is that the entire front pipe, HCAC valve, and catalytic converter are sold as a single assembly, for a price nobody wants to pay just because a valve got stuck. That's why it's worthwhile to slide under there and get some anti-seize around that shaft where it passes through the pipe, and work the valve back and forth a bunch so it moves smoothly. I think I did it once when I got the car six years ago, and once again a few years later, and checked to make sure it still moved easily.

The front pipe/valve/cat converter assembly is expensive but very well made - the pipe is all stainless and the whole thing seems to be pretty much a lifetime part if treated well and the valve isn't allowed to get stuck. I'm at 13 years and 218000 miles and it still seems solid, and I can put the front and back O2 sensors on a 2-channel scope and watch the converter doing exactly what it's supposed to....

Well, the stuff I use is silver-colored, out of a pint-sized jug from Permatex that I bought a couple decades ago and it says "ANTI-SEIZE".

Not on your life. Iridium, baby.

I changed mine last year just because it didn't cost much and I was going to be messing around that end of the valve cover anyway. The old one I took out didn't show any sign of a problem.

-Chap