Timing Belt?

[camryboy01]

So I was at the mechanic the other day and he said I would need to get a new timing belt replaced very soon on my 01 Camry. I asked how much and he quoted me as much as 500! I looked online and timing belts are only 30-40 bucks. So if I buy it online, I should just be able to bring it in and have them only charge for labor, correct? Also, what is the max I should be paying to have it installed?

[Pimpinda93camry]

if he quoted you 500 he also said water pump drive belts. water pump is 150 from toyota, belt is 50 from toyota drives are like 40 50 fro both so he is chargein half of you bill for labor. so in a sense no you will not save any.

but check your quote to see exactly what he is doing.

[Blackhawk3D]

My local dealer charges like $250.

[Eye8Pussies]

^ should be around there just for labor

and the belt should be around 50bucks, but a shop may charge more

and it's not guaranteed that a shop would use anything but an oem belt since they have to warrantee their work

[timebuilder]

Originally Posted by camryboy01

So I was at the mechanic the other day and he said I would need to get a new timing belt replaced very soon on my 01 Camry. I asked how much and he quoted me as much as 500! I looked online and timing belts are only 30-40 bucks. So if I buy it online, I should just be able to bring it in and have them only charge for labor, correct? Also, what is the max I should be paying to have it installed?

The last thing you want to do is to appear to be a smart *ss by bringing a professional your discount part for installation. Either decide to have the work done there, or not. If not, choose another provider. You will generally "get what you pay for."

I have something like 130k miles on my timing belt. The normal service life is 60-90 k miles. On a Toyota, which has a "non-interference" engine, your biggest downside to waiting to replace the belt is inconvenience. When the belt breaks, your Toyota coasts to the side of the road to wait for the tow truck, and unless you have towing coverage, that's an added expense.

I would only install a Toyota timing belt. The japanese are obsessive about the quality of parts like this, and I doubt you could find better.

[Blackhawk3D]

Well, I can see a disadvantage in that you'd have to retime it. Not that that's too hard, but still, when I changed the belt on the Volvo I did an engine swap on, I just pulled the old one off, made sure the notches lined up, and slipped the new one on.

[geoff5093]

As another poster said, that also includes the waterpump. Since its pretty stupid to replace the timing belt and not the water pump.

It cost be about $520 for the new timing belt, new water pump, and new exterior casing, and all labor. (My plastic cover was all chewed up).

[timebuilder]

Belt timing is something one should do on EVERY belt replacement. It only take s a few seconds, and you have confirmed the relationships of cam and crank. In the shop, one of the techs shipped a car, an Eclipse with the twin cam motor after a belt change he did, and the cust was complaining of a tapping noise from the engine.

I re-did the belt timing. One of the cams was off a tooth and the balance shaft was nowhere near the proper spot. The timing was off just enough for a valve to be lightly tapping on the carbon on top of a piston. Yikes. Those engines are interference designs.

The decision on the water pump depends mostly on mileage. If you are looking at the initial belt replacement, you might not need the pump. On the second belt, I'd definitely replace the pump AND the tensioner.

Use only Toyota parts, and save yourself a lot of grief. Get two estimates from garages recommended by people you trust, and have the job done right with quality parts.

[camryboy01]

Thanks for the help guys..

[Blackhawk3D]

I just meant that sometimes when it's way off it's harder to get things back in place. Yeah, mitsus are interference engines, one of the staff at my school had one and the belt slipped on the highway, bam, dead engine.

[marc780]

There are couple of good posts on changing timing belts. You didnt say if you are a 4 or V6. So Im assuming yours is a 4.
You can do it and save a lot of money on labor, but you probably should have more than passing knowledge of what's under the hood. If so, why not have at it, i say. Heres my post on doing the V6. And somebody else's on the 4

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t149232.html

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t160972.html

[GrkBallaG]

Dont bring steak to the steak house man...