bout to buy a 99 PreRunner

The owner said the idler pulley went out. What is the potential damage? Terminal? The motor only has 125k on it so i am hoping the damage is minimal.
for $600, i have some room to work though.

 

Anyone?

 

Common problem. I'd buy the truck still. Replace timing belt, water pump and pulleys.

 

Im buying it anyway but is the damage going to be terminal if the idler fails?

I guess i need to pull the heads and inspect for Piston/valve damage.

 

You didn't mention what motor .

There are 2 idler pulleys on a 3RZ 4-cyl, one for PS and one for A/C.

When one goes out (bearing freezes up, say) it squeals loudly, and
smokes a bit due the belt overheating. The only damage would be
to the belt and the idler bearing. If ignored that belt would eventually
break and potentially take out the other 2 belts.

If it is a V6, then I think its a serpentine belt with a tensioner pulley
and one or 2 idlers. If you are used to working on cars, its an easy
job to replace. No harder than replacing an alternater or water pump.

 

I wonder if he means the idler for the fan belt, timing belt or A/C belt. Not really expensive parts, but can be a lot of labor involved. At that point, you might as well change the timing belt, water pump and idler pulleys anyhow. Unless it has a 4 cylinder that has no timing belt.

 

I am talking about the tensioner on the timing belt i guess. this is an 5vzfe engine.
Seems like i read if the tensioner fails that you could have valve/piston damage due to the timing being messed up. Even though it is a non interference engine.

 

Ok, I know the one you're talking about.

Does the truck still run?

If not, it probably didn't damage the valves or pistons if the timing belt slipped or broke. You should be able to just replace the timing belt, water pump and pulleys. Its a big job that takes a few hours. Toyota charges like $700 for it.

I guess you could get one of those inspection cameras to look at the piston tops and see if they hit the valves.

 

pictures????

 

Not yet.
Im hoping that i can replace the timing belt/waterpump/fluids/gas and drive on down the road.

Has been sitting for about 4-5 years maybe.