wrenchtech

Or maybe a kit's not the way to go. In any case, I was looking around and I learned that I can buy the separate components from NAPA for about $300 or a kit with a water pump, the water outlet housing idler, the tensioner/idler, the belt, cam seals, and valve cover gaskets for less than $90.00. Or this kit from Amazon.com that gives you all that and ads a thermostat and the rest of the accessory belts. I checked 1sttoyotaparts.com, they didn't have any of the V6 timing parts in their online catalog. They have a water pump for $115.00 though. At that rate I'm imagining that a full set of parts for the timing job, purchased from a Toyota dealer, probably runs in the neighborhood of $400 - $500. What's the yotatech recommended way to go? -- Matt

betelnut

I bought the kit from mizumoauto because it was so cheap. The #1 idler pulley seemed fine, but turned a bit stiffly. After I put it in and put it all back together, there was the sound of a belt squealing. Well, it was the timing belt squealing on the #1 idler pulley. Took it all apart, stuck the old idler pulley, and now used the mizumo pulley for a paperweight.

I get the sense that people routinely use non-Toyota parts, but you should definitely look on the forums here for which brands. I got a Gates timing belt kit for my other truck, based on what folks said here. You should be able to replace the timing parts + oil seals for <$200.

rattlewagon

I went to napa. quality parts that wont let you down. Your going to spend some time doing this, might as well do it right.

norcal707

check the prices on rockauto.com a lot of people buy they part from this website

wrenchtech

A lot of the stuff I've bought for my Toyotas from NAPA in the last few years has been made in Japan. The mizumoauto.com kit advertises that the idlers in their kit are made in Japan. As far as Rock Auto and most of the ebay sellers go, I'm thinking that their parts all pretty much come from the same sources as mizumo and rock.

What about water pumps and thermostats. I've had mixed results with 22R units that I sourced online at low, low prices. Toyota retail is around $150 for a pump though!! -- Matt

sb5walker

The advantage of going with the OEM Japanese-made idlers and water pump is that, in my experience (ymmv), they will last through two changes of the timing belt. The OEM pump is Aisin, and I THINK the OEM idlers are NSK and KOYO. The best prices on the for-sure OEM parts is from World Toyota/Scion of Atlanta - they're cheaper than 1sttoyotaparts. In their catalog, the water pump is under "Cooling System" and the timing parts are under "Engine" and subcat "Camshaft & timing" and are called "Timing Belt", "Idler Pulley" and "Idler".

World sells the belt for only $29, which is a great price. It's nice to get the belt from Toyota because they have timing marks on them which helps get things lined up: the marks on the #3 timing belt cover (the metal backplate) are notoriously hard to align with the marks on the cam pulleys.

You also can get the OEM Aisin pump from autohausaz.com for $67 & free ground ship. They also sell the Koyo upper idler and NSK lower idler. I'm not 100% sure they are the makers of the parts sold by Toyota, but I think they are. Anyway, they are excellent top quality Japanese made parts. autohausaz sells them for $51 and $35.

So getting the belt from World (factoring in $9.50 ship) and the pump & idlers from autohausaz, you total around $193 for belt, pump & two idlers. And the you probably can get away with using the pump and idlers (again, in my experience) for two changes of the belt (which I change at 70k). World sells the thermostat for $16, which is great since the Toyota thermostat is way better than the aftermarkets. The shipping from World makes the belt & thermostat more $$, but you might consider getting a bunch of the slightly taller 90915-YZZD3 oil filters which have 28% more filtering area than the stubby stock filter. World sells the D3 for a really cheap $3.56. You also can get Denso cap & rotor from them for very good prices - those Denso parts are hard to find nowadays. That way the $9.50 shipping goes further. The stock Denso K16R-U plugs are cheapest from autohausaz.

If you want to try for cheaper timing parts, you will need to replace the pump & idlers the next time you change the belt. Most good quality pumps and idlers will make it 70k miles, but of course you want to avoid poor quality parts.

I'd be wary of the water pump in the Mizumo kit - it looks like a Chinese knock-off of the Aisin. From betelnut's experience, sounds like one of their idlers is no good either. The Amazon kit looks of decent quality; if the picture is to be believed, they include a GMB pump, which is a Japanese-made part - good quality, no problem for 70k miles, but a step below the Aisin and I wouldn't trust it for 140k miles.

One thing to watch out for: be sure the water pump does NOT come with a water outlet if your motor does not have the oil cooler (can on the driver side of motor, toward the back from the oil filter). Many of the 91 and earler 3VZEs do not come with oil coolers, so you have to be sure to get a pump without the outlet.

Rockauto is a good vendor, but they don't carry most Denso and Aisin parts anymore like they used to. I'm not thrilled with most of the parts they carry for our trucks nowadays. Autohausaz carries much better parts, and at great prices.

Be sure to follow this procedure for tensioning the belt on 88-91 3VZEs: you attach the lower idler and spring, but don't fully tighten the idler mounting bolt so the idler can still move and the spring can tension the belt as you turn the engine through two revolutions. Then assuming the timing marks on the cam pulleys and metal backplate still appear to be lined up (the marks on the belt will have travelled) you torque the lower idler in place and the spring no longer does anything but sit there stretched for the next 70k miles. This procedure is not given in the 93 online manual because the 92 and later engines have a different timing idler arrangement that includes a tensioner.

wrenchtech

sb5walker, Thanks that was like hitting the mother-lode of good (really good!) info. If I can pay those kind of prices for good OEM pieces I'll definitely go that route. I've followed the same plan in the past for stuff like wheel bearings, axle bearings, u-joints, clutches and brake and clutch hydraulics, buying from Marlin Crawler and J T Outfitters.

I had the upper timing cover off today and I can say with good confidence that the idler and tensioner/idler haven't been changed any time recently (if ever in 180k miles). Thanks again. -- Matt