1990 Camry Timing belt help

[murcielago]

Hi, I have a 1990 toyota camry with about 170+++ miles and i think its time to get the timing belt changed. I checked with some of the shops here and they are quoting me around $800. I was wondering would it be cheaper if i buy the parts online (ebay hehe) and ask them to put it in for me. Also i saw on ebay someone selling 2 timing belt kits. One says its for 3SFE engines betn 1990 and 2001 for $135 and the other says for 1990-2001 3SFE and 5SFE 1990-1995 MR2 engines for $115. This includes the water pump and all the gaskets. I couldnt figure out y the second one is cheaper than the first one and whatz the diff betn a 3SFE and 5SFE engine. Any help would be appreciated as i need the car for another 3 months and i dont wanna spend loads of money on doing some routine maintanance.

[toyomoho]

The cost of parts is not that the real issue, the amount of labor involved is. The shop may or may not allow you to bring in your own parts from a warranty or parts mark up standpoint. $800 is a little steep, for this price what was included parts wise? Some TN posters have stated occasionally their Toyota dealer has some kind of timing belt install special price.

If in doubt as to what the Ebay parts fit, email the seller.

Might learn to do the job yourself. It is a little time consuming but you can save money. If the belt breaks the engine will be OK, but of course the car will need to be towed.

[Kep]

If the $800 was only for a timing belt that seems very expensive. On the other hand, if it included the water pump, idler assembly, oil seals, belts, (more?) then it looks OK. It all depends what is included.

Go online & see if your local Toyota dealers have any specials or coupons running.

Kep

[fredk]

holy crap, 8 bills? the labor time for the pump isnt even 4 hours

[Mike Gerber]

First of all, the cost of the belt itself is small (maybe $40-$50) compared to the cost of the labor involved. If you are not going to do the job yourself, let the shop doing the work supply the belt. That way, they will be responsible if anything goes wrong. You don't want to supply the belt and have a problem later on and when you take it back to the shop, they say the belt is the problem and you must pay the labor cost all over again. For a timing belt job, it's just not worth it to supply the part yourself, IMHO.

Second, for $800, they must also being replacing the water pump and all the seals behind the belt and pump.

Third, use this site to check for dealer coupons in your area. Many dealers run specials on timing belt replacement:

http://www.toyotacoupons.com/UI/Deal...lerSearch.aspx

Mike

[GTO MAN]

You can get a belt around here for $17 bucks and the water pump for $48 bucks, I am haveing that work done to my 1990 now, The guy is only charging me $100 bks, I have been watching him he had it off in 45 min and back on in 90 min, IF i knowed it was that eazy i would of done it. I think $800 is way out of hand you can have my 1990 for that. If you have a floor jack and one floor sorupt (SP) it wont take long to change. PM me if you need any help.

[fredk]

it is not a hard job, only bad part is getting the crank pulley off, marks are easy and the motor cant fall out

[GTO MAN]

Mine came off eazy the belt was replaced not long ago, BTW what should the bolt be torked at. Thanks randy