1996 Avalon 6CYL Timing Belt

[abhimanyu]

Hello,
I just purchased a 1996 Avalon 6 Cylinder with 145k from the original owner.
He never did a timing belt.

What is the dealer cost of this maintenance work, As opposed to an independent shop?

What is to be included, I read the water pump the idler pulleys seals and valve cover gasket is best.
Is all that necessary considering the millage/ also is this an interference engine or non- interference.

Best regards

[WetOne]

Go to air cabin man on ebay motors. He has any individual parts to complete kits depending on what you need. I purchased the 11 piece kit for my wife's 97 xl at 125k miles. I would suggest the same for you. I think it was around 250.00 with free shipping. These are OEM parts the same as what the dealer sells. My mechanic installed for 300.00. The dealer wanted around 800.00 just for the parts. The motor is non-interference. The valve covers are a seperate job, although with your miles, yours are surely leaking and now would be a good time to do them with every thing else apart. Still to do the valve covers, the plenum,throttle body,egr,and other hoses and harnesses must be disconnected. The plugs, plug wires,pcv valve and grommet,valvecover gaskets,and sparkplug tube seals should all be replaced at the same time.

[techtalk]

Originally Posted by abhimanyu

Hello,
I just purchased a 1996 Avalon 6 Cylinder with 145k from the original owner.
He never did a timing belt.

What is the dealer cost of this maintenance work, As opposed to an independent shop?

What is to be included, I read the water pump the idler pulleys seals and valve cover gasket is best.
Is all that necessary considering the millage/ also is this an interference engine or non- interference.

Best regards

abhimanyu,

The dealership technicians typically charge about $85 an hour for labour, compared to the $50-$70 that an independent mechanic would charge. The timing belt and water pump replacement job takes anywhere from 5 to 8 hours, depending on what other parts you replace during this procedure. Therefore, you can expect to pay about $400-$700 for labour. (dealership price)

I would advise buying the water pump, gasket, idler pulley seals and timing belt from toyotapartszone.com (they are WAY cheaper than the dealership and the parts are OEM) and taking your Avalon to an independent shop to perform the work. You can easily walk away paying $ 600-700 for the entire job (parts included) if you go down this route

[skynet1988]

Just two words of wisdom when when buying your timing parts.

- Don't cheap out on the water pump, I had a auto zone one seize on me and almost destroy my engine!

- Make sure that the gasket you get for the water pump is the OE rubber and steel style. Many of the gaskets that come with water pump kits include a crappy paper one that leaks.