Timing Belt Change

[anchor man]

I'm shopping around for a timing belt change and was curious if there's anything I should be aware of when requesting this service. One place started talking about water pumps and coolant flushes. Are those just add ons, or things to consider while their working on the car?

Also, is this just a foregn car thing? I don't ever recall hearing about spending $700 for maintenance on a Chevy or Ford in the past. Why would it be any different?

Thanks

[Jeremy airjer W]

Year, make, and model?

The water pump is relavant if it is driven by the timing belt. Is it necessary, no, but I have personal experience with them failing after a timing belt replacement which means you get charged more labor to do the job twice. Usually the cost of the water pump and maybe a half hours worth of labor is the extra charge to do the water pump with the timing belt.

I know one toyota dealer that does not change out the water pumps unlesss they show signs of wear/leaking.

If its a volkswagen with a 1.8 turbo we replace everything. Idler pulleys, water pump, tensioner, etc. If the t-belt fails its about $3k in repairs Vs about $1200 to replace everythinig and not worry about it.

Same with the ford 2.0 DOHC engines. The idlers wear out and cause the belt to rub on the covers, which causes premature wear/failure of the belt. Once again its more cost effective to replace all the parts than have to do it twice.

[anchor man]

airjer, It's a 2000 Honda Accord just near 105,000 miles.

[Jeremy airjer W]

2.3 liter?

I wouldn't have any problem just replacing the belt on that one. Granted there is no visible signs that the water pump is failing. As long as you understand that if the pump does fail you will be paying twice as much than if you would have just replaced it with the belt.

Its not just foreign cars. Chrysler has 4 and 6 cylinders with timing belts, Ford has four cylinders with timing belts, GM got away from timing belts but they use to. Many manufactures have started to drop the timing belts in favor of chains. It was a lot cheaper and quieter to engineer a motor with a belt but IMO consumers are starting to get turned off by the maintenance. A lot of manufactures including Honda are switching to chains.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Airjer, what about an '04 Accord V6? Time for a new belt (no pun intended), should I do the pump as well?

Quote:

I know one toyota dealer that does not change out the water pumps unlesss they show signs of wear/leaking.

Just had the belt on my Sequoia changed at Toyota City in Brooklyn Park. That was their practice, but I requested the pump be changed no matter what.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I should have mentioned that most Hondas are interference engines meaning if the belt breaks you can expect bent valves but sometimes you can get lucky.

Most Toyota engines are not.

With that being said I could count the number of Hondas I have seen that actually had bad water pumps on one hand. Whether or not that is due to them being replaced when the belts are done or they have just lasted that long I couldn't say.