I'm confident it was never replaced. Was still running good (being an interference engine, it's good or not ever again, I guess). Good to know they can go 50+% over the replacement period.

Seeing as I can't find a kit available, what's the list of things to replace while I'm in there, and what the best sources/suppliers?

Timing belt
Tensioner
Idler
Water pump
Crank nut (if remover more than 3 times?)

Anything else?

 

power steering belt and a.c. belt.
correct coolant fluid....zerex Asian or peak global lifetime

 

When I did mine last summer, I did the timing cover gaskets because they were all dried out and cracked, I suppose one could just use silicone to seal up the edges.

Boy oh boy, that's a lot of play for a belt that looks pretty good, is the tensioner that is bad? It may have been replaced by someone who didn't follow the bleeding procedure for the tensioner, which is a very long and odd. You are not supposed to lay the tensioner down after or during bleeding, the top needs to stay upright to avoid any air bubbles (if I remember correctly). I read a number of articles about the water pump being very well built, so I didn't replace mine, but - knock on wood - I guess time will tell if that was the right decision. Since all my hoses were original at 110,000 miles, I replaced the major cooling hoses (2 top, 1 bottom) and the filler neck, which was showing signs of deterioration (was only $35 from dealer with a new cap included).

If I may throw in a bit of advice, seeing as I massively screwed mine up, the best way to get the marks and belt aligned for me was to start at the crank and work counter clock wise. I stuck a socket between the belt and casing down there, then keeping really tight, went up and over the water pump and around the front cam, then under the idler pulley, and had someone else hold the rear cam in place with a long handled breaker bar (that one really likes to smash thumbs). After that, back down around the tensioner and released the tensioner while having them hold that rear cam in place till I was ready to put tension on the belt. The socket and extra person are really essential - I let the back cam slip and the missed the front cam by two teeth due to leaving slack from not wedging the belt at the crank. You also need some really good lighting and excellent eyesight to set the crank mark. After screwing mine up royally, I went and got some glasses. The second time worked much better.

 

Thanks for the advice! The whole tensioner bleeding thing is pretty strange to me but seems important, so I'll do it, even though I bought a new one. I hope I can do it with a big C clamp, because I haven't got a shop press.

I had the drive the truck for a short distance the other day, and the belt is tight now. It's weird, and I don't know what happened. Still getting changed.