My wife had out 2001 Avalon with 55,000 miles in for it's routine 5000 mile oil change and a BUNCH of extra service items were suggested. Please help me figure these out.
1. Timing Belt/water pump. They said it's past due because the car is over 6 years old and the rubber in the belt "ages" and might break. I thought it was 90,000 miles. which one of us is correct.
2. Air induction cleaning....never heard of it. A scam??
3. Transmission fluid. It was just flushed at 44,000 miles. It's "dirty". Another scam?
4. Power steering fluid. I can't find any info on how often it's supposed to be changed.
You're correct on all counts, but Toyota does recommend belt changes at 6 years. That info is in the Toyota Star service bulletins. Air induction is the throttle body and intake.
__________________ It worked fine until I fixed it!
All of those things are great maintenance items. I would hate to pay someone to do them as often as I do them.
I think its important to change the trans. fluid more often than even the recommended intervals, but 10K miles is way to short. Maybe the previous change wasn't done well. If the fluid is dirty, get it changed and then change it every 25K-40K miles, depending on the quality of the fluid.
Toyota doesn't give an interval of PS fluid replacment. I think you are supposed to replace the pump after the fluid breaks down and the pump fails. I change the fluid when I replace the trans. fluid.
FWIW.... Did not change belt on my 2000 until it was almost 8 years old, at 89,000 miles.
Yes, ozone will eat at the belt, so if you're concerned, swap it out.
However, cost to swap out belt by dealer is excessive, IMHO,
lots of small garages will do the job for under $350 parts included.
.
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2001 with 55000, that's around 6000 per year. If you drive 80% local that would be around 4800 miles around town and 1200 miles highway yearly. If I am close to your driving pattern, I would not worry about the Time Belt till 90K or at least 2013. I now have 155,000 changed TB at 101750 back in 2005 with water pump, and idler pulley. Belt looked good back then. Toy water pumps are very well made, I wished I had passed on changing it at 101K. Even if your belt slips a notch, your not going to crash a valve to a piston with the 1MZ-FE engine. Just might send a few codes and run rough. Never heard of a Toy belt breaking. With all that local miles, your throttle body problems looks nasty if you use 87 octane and or Tier 2 gas. I put a can of BG 44K in the tank and clean the throttle body with CVC cleaner. If not into that, then the induction cleaning could wait till 60K. Guess around $150 bucks at dealer in NC. Up here in NJ a Lexus is around $240! I like to drop the hex nut on the trans every 20-25k. Measure the AT fluid that comes out and replace with Toy Type IV AT fluid. Cost is around $12.00, 1hour, and I get the joy to see what's up under the engine. Since you got a flush, your dealership is telling me they are like the ones like up her. Crooks. I would pass on the power steering fluid change, but I would keep an eye on the color, and put some BG PS fluid conditioner in it. That's it, can you tell I am retired, not a mechanic.If you want to spend, next change go Full Synch oil changes, use a Tier 1 89 or higher gas, and add a few oz of Sea Foam every few tank fulls.
Last edited by OpticNerve; 01-28-2010 at 10:55 AM.
Reason: missed a few words
Toyota timing belt failure. The belt stretches with age and creates slack that can slip a tooth or more. The rubber develops wear patterns also. That's why they were reinforced in 99 to reduce the slop and change interval changed to 90000 miles.
__________________ It worked fine until I fixed it!
This car is in excellent condition with low mileage for a car that is about 10 years old. After searching the internet, and reading what people have to say on here I came up with the following plan. Hopefully this will help the car last for many more years.
1. Transmission fluid..every 30K
2. Power steering fluid ...same every 30K (probably too often but it couldn't hurt)
3. Timing belt..I'm going to try and hold out for 90K. I realize the belt is getting old and may not last until then but I'm willing to risk it
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It worked fine until I fixed it! 
Toyota timing belt failure. The belt stretches with age and creates slack that can slip a tooth or more. The rubber develops wear patterns also. That's why they were reinforced in 99 to reduce the slop and change interval changed to 90000 miles.
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