Toyota Belts and Fluids

 

A well-maintained Toyota will last for a long time. In fact, 200,000 miles or more is becoming very common these days. The operative phrase, however, is “well-maintained.” If you want to keep your older Toyota humming along, you and your mechanic should to preemptively perform maintenance items throughout its life. Here’s a list of items to maintain so your Toyota will last well into its golden years. Note that this list may vary depending on the model Toyota you have and the year.

 

 

 

There are many maintenance items that you can perform yourself on your Toyota, and on your other cars too. This list isn’t exhaustive, but consider it a “Top Five.”

 

1) Check tire pressure of all tires (including the spare) once a month. This will keep your tires wearing evenly and will deliver you maximum gas mileage.

2) Vacuum the interior and keep it free of garbage. This will keep animals out and prevent things from deteriorating under the seats. (Yuck!)

3) Needless to say, clean up spills right away.  We know no one likes to clean up messes but it’s important not let spills sit on upholstery and carpet for very long.  

5) Change wipers periodically. This will prevent possible window scratching.

6) If you have a leather interior, maintain it with a good leather conditioner twice a year. You would be amazed at how few people do this.

 

 

Your Toyota mechanic will know the factory recommended schedule for the maintenance items on your car. Here are six important maintenance items to have performed if you want to extend the life of your vehicle: 

 

1) Rotate tires as recommended by the tire manufacturer. Your Toyota mechanic may suggest a front-end alignment too if he/she sees uneven wear on the front tires. If you buy new tires, you definitely want one.

2) Change the engine oil and oil filter as per Toyota recommendations. Your Toyota mechanic will know what the intervals are and will use the right oils. 

3) Replace coolant and flush the coolant system at the appropriate mileage.

4) Replace spark plugs at the appropriate mileage.

5) Change the timing belt as per the schedule (we discuss this further below).

6) Get your vehicle a 'total checkup'. The technicaians here at Atlantic Toyota will check everything from fluids to timing belts to your battery. If we find any issues we can get them corrected, and get you back on the road. 

 

 

A very important maintenance item involves your engine’s timing belt. Timing belts are made of rubber and if they break, they can cause engine damage -maybe a lot of engine damage. It is common that car owners lose track of when their timing belt should be changed and this is a very risky thing to do.

 

 

If your old Toyota is getting a little long in the tooth, with good maintenance and TLC you should be able to get a few more years out of her. Hopefully this article covered the high points of what you should do to make this happen.