I'm getting my timing belt/drive belts replaced early next week and I talked to my guy at the dealer and he said that he doesn't think the extra $180 for the water pump is worth doing, if it starts giving me problems then do it.

What do you guys think?

EDIT: I'm right at 92k mi.

Fink

 

It's generally best to let them have at it while they're in there, if for no other reason than they're already there and to save the expense of the labor required for them to get back into there again, although you've not that many miles and from what I recall seeing here, they can last for quite awhile.

I don't know... judgement call.

 

I put in a new waterpump when I changed my timing belt, but I only paid a $100 for a new waterpump from an online Toyota dealer. I just decided to put a new pump on since I had it all torn apart anyway.

 

Yes let them do it, the water pump on my 4runner started leaking at 69K miles. You don't want it going out in the boonies!

 

The shop foreman at Toyota inspected the pump and the area around it. They called and said everything looked great (no build up) so I declined to have it done at 66K miles. I am now at 87K.

 

Why are you doing your timing belt at 92k?

 

I had them replace mine at 140K miles and a timing belt change (went a little longer than 60K for the belt replacement). It wasn't leaking or anything, I just didn't want to worry about it.

 

Since you have to take all that stuff off to do the Water pump anyway I would go ahead do it while you are there.....the dealer telling not to unless it gives you a problem is just one way of charging you twice for the same job......The FSm even states that Tbelts should not be reused, read that as if you change the WP you should also change the t belt, I do not understand why they do not have the reverse of that same statement in the FSM......IMHO if you are change the t belt you should always change the WP while you are in there.....

 

It should also be noted that I recently had a 97 4Runner 3.4 with 197K on the original water pump.

 

if you wait till later, youll have to pay them labor to take the thing apart again to put in the water pump, and thats wasted money.
spend 180 now with minimal labor charges, instead of 180 plus many hours of labor just getting to the pump later.
you could easily save 2x the cost of the pump by putting a new one in now, depending on whos doing the labor.
(Ive noticed the cleaner the mechanic stays all the time the more they charge... funny!)

 

90k is the recommended point. I'm at 142k... (finger's crossed!)

 

I don't believe the dealer would tell you NOT to change the water pump knowing they could charge you for labor again when it fails. If anything the scam is them trying to convince you to change it before it's due or before the pump is even close to failure. I think the dealer in his case is trying to save him money.

 

also change the pullys in there. learn from my mistake of a leaking water pump.

 

Although $180 sounds high for the water pump at the same time they have it torn down for the timing belt, it's cheap insurance. Why keep your fingers crossed until you're in there again for the next scheduled timing belt replacement? At least you'll have some peace-of-mind.

 

Alright, sounds like I should give them the go-ahead. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure it was $180, that was before the discount that I get there. So in the end it will probably be $100-$110, that works with me.

I'll go ahead and have them do that.

L33T35T,

What pulley's are you referring to?

Fink

 

Just do it.........piece of mind is priceless.

vmax84

 

DUDE! TRUST ME ON THIS (see my prior posts over the last few weeks) Prior owner of my '97 obviously changed the t-belt around 100k or so but didn't do the pump...well, I'm at 128k and just had to go in and replace the pump now. ANY reputable mechanic will tell you to replace both at the same time as it's all labor. It cost me almost $600 ($400+ of tht is labor) to replace somehting that would have only cost the prior owner $100-150 extra to do right the first time. DO IT!!!

 

Wow, I'm definitely doing it now! Thanks man!

Fink

 

They can go at anytime, mine just went bad at 84k, but luckily the warranty is paying for mine

 

2000 SR5 with 85k, had the timing belt changed with tune up (it actually needed to be done) and I had a slight leak in the water pump. I say go for it while they are under the hood