What are Toyota dealers charging to do timing belt?

I paid $685 for timing belt, water pump, thermostats, belts and of course I did it when my radiator fluid needed to be changed so got new fluids cause it was drained and filled when the timing belt was done at the dealership.

 

So I've never gone to a dealer for maintenance. I need to get this stuff done. Do they just figure in what needs replaced as they go or do they quite you upon diagnosis of parts needed? Because I would like to go in assuming all I need is the water pump, timing belt, other belts and maybe the timing belt pulleys, but last thing I want is to come in to a huge bill with a ton of extra shit they tacked on saying it needed done. I haven't gotten an inspection on my truck or anything and I'm kinda a newb when it cones to this stuff. I do know this stuff needs done, and can probly do it myself if I commit fully to it, but will probly take me forever to do it. So I would rather take it in. But like I said I don't want to take her in and have them charge me up the ass for a bunch of shit that might not even need done. So any suggestions I'd appreciate it.

Looked into these kits you can buy on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/180729034728
This is what I'm wanting done. Can I just go to the dealer and say I want all this replaced? And nothing else (except maybe the other belts and hoses). Because it doesn't make sense to me to only replace one or two things if that's what they suggest. I would rather have it all done once and for all.
Or... Is this something easy enough to do yourself? As in, will there need to be timing adjustments or anything else more technical? Because I'm inclined enough to be able to replace this stuff, but when it comes to the really technical shit I ain't got a clue...

 

$675, for belts and water pump at dealer.

 

Wow, not been on here in ages! Just got the sub email and reminded me. Hello to all!

toendanger - Here is just my take on it. Actually finally did this job a month or so ago as water pump started leaking and I could smell the antifreeze.

With the dealer, most likely they will not want to do the job without their supplying the parts. Either that or give you some line about not being able to warranty the work because it isn't their parts. This will add to the cost of the job for you, parts wise, over the price on eBay.

You can call the dealer and give them the exact run down of the parts you want replaced and ask them to quote how much. Simple for them to do. They will quote you parts and labour. That way you know up front and should not be any surprises unless they find you need a radiator or some such. All dealers can do this for you. You have to be specific though. If you call for timing belt and water pump then that is what they are going to quote on. If they take everything apart to do the job and find you need cam seals, pulleys, hydraulic tensioner etc. then they will come talk to you or call you and let you know what they found, quote how much to replace and get your permission to do so (unless you have an incredibly shady dealer which I would doubt).

I'd make a list of everything you want replaced so you don't forget anything. Then give the local dealers a call and talk to their service people to get a quote. As always, be sure to get their name, ask them to verify everything they are quoting being replaced, make sure the price is the out-the-door price and write everything down. That way, if you go in, you can talk to the same person or at least have all the info in front of you to verify again before they start the work.

 

Okay, here is part two.

If you are thinking about doing the job yourself, but are hesitant due to doubting your abilities maybe. Let me just say, I'm pretty mechanically inclined, worked for a dealer (not Toyota YIKES!) ages ago, built various race cars, rebuilt engines etc. etc. I still have the same feeling when it comes to a job I've not done before.

I'd never changed a timing belt on a Tacoma before so had that same feeling. I just did this job and is was really pretty easy to do and fool proof as long as you take your time and pay attention to what you are doing. Nothing really complicated about it.

The most important thing is to have a good, accurate torque wrench. I'm one of those that if it lists a torque setting for something in the service manual then I'm going to torque it to that setting. You also need some way to hold the crank from turning while you undo the bolt and torque it to spec when putting back together. People have made tools and posted on this board. Myself, I bought one of the tools to do the job off of eBay. The tool I bought the company is Schley and the part number is 64400. All you need to use the tool is a breaker bar to hold it. I sold the tool afterwards to another Toyota owner who was doing the same job. Other than that it is pretty straight forward. Oh, guess it does help to have a compressor and impact as that makes it easier to get the bolt out of the crank.

As far as the job, I printed off the service manual pages for it and made sure I had everything printed for each piece I was changing. I then went through the pages and marked everywhere that had a torque value so it was easier to find the numbers when putting everything back together and to remind me that a certain part did have a torque number. Other than that, I looked at some of the online how-to posts and watched a few videos on Youtube just so I knew what to expect. If I remember right, the only thing the manual told me to do that I did not, was remove the cam pulleys. Just had a good look to see if I could see any signs the seals were leaking and did not find any so I left them in place. Also, I saw some that left the radiator in place. I didn't. I felt it was better to take the radiator out and not take the chance of damaging it. Guess that was the only thing in the whole job that was goofy to me in that my radiator is bolted from behind the grille through the support and into the radiator instead of simply bolted from the engine compartment side.

Parts wise, I actually went with a kit off of Rock Auto. The kit was by Aisin and was part no.

$205 TKT025 AISIN TKT-025 Engine Timing Belt Kit with Water Pump - Compatible with Select Toyota 4Runner, T100, Tacoma, Tundra

TKT025 Came with the belt, pulleys, hydraulic tensioner and water pump. All factory parts from the research I did. Cost me $189.65 delivered after plugging in a 5 percent discount code from online.

So, long story short, if you are mechanically inclined then I believe you can do the job yourself if you have the tools needed.

Give the dealer a call, get your price quotes and then weigh that against what the parts/tools you need to do the job cost. At least that way you can see what is most cost effective for you in money and time and make a decision from there.

Hope that helps.

Cheers

 

Wow. Thanks a lot man. This is making me confident to do it myself then. I've got a lot of tools and nice compressor at hand except the crank tool. And I've just recently replaced my radiator so I can get that done really easily now that I've already done it once. So I suppose I'll try it myself. I did take my truck in once to diagnose a steering issue which turned out to be a bad steering console yoke. They quoted me a shit ton of money to replace it. So I found a cheaper price online through another dealer, told them that and they nearly matched the price and I ended up installing it myself. Was pretty easy and saved me a ton for a simple job. So my faith in dealers is good in the sense they'll get the job done and right, but not in the sense that if it's a simple simple job they won't tell you, and charge you rediculous prices when in fact they can get the parts cheaper or even price match them. At least they were good enough to not charge me for the diagnosis.. So based on that I've learned to do my research first before considering a dealer. And I wouldn't take it to any other shops unless I knew first hand they can be trusted, or are trusted by others..
Again there isn't any timing adjustments needed or anything? Just simply pull and replace huh? How long did it take you?

EDIT: I've talked to my bro and he's done timing and explained it to me. Seems fairly simple if any adjustments are needed. And he's got a puller for the crankshaft pulleys if I need to do that. Might as well since the kit cones with new seals.

 

If you follow the instructions from the service manual it is a simple pull and replace. You turn the crank and get all the marks lined up from the start. Then pull everything and replace. Everything will be in time already. Just take your time, double check everything and you should be good to go.
Do a search on YouTube for 3.4 timing belt replacement. There are at least two videos on it that will help you understand some of the stuff involved.

See if this works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xv11NRc5Xg

Not too bad a vid on it. Does some goofy stuff to line up tdc. I just used a socket and the crank bolt. Easy enough. Also the BIGGIE for me, as I remember, he uses his torque wrench for general wrenching duties. Otherwise, think it is a decent vid to show you some of the stuff involved.

I did not change the seals on the crank and camshafts. Ordered a kit without as thought I'd check them, if they were leaking then I'd just get local at the dealer as they are cheap (seem to remember a cam seal was around $10-15 or something). Otherwise I'd leave them alone. Just me, but have seen perfectly good seals changed by people only to leak afterwards when they had no leak before. With my luck that would be me so thought I'd leave well enough alone if not leaking.

On the Crank tool, I think I said, I just bought the one off eBay. Worked really well. Holds the engine/crank from turning (so you don't loose your timing set) while you take off the VERY tight bolt and then again when you torque it back up. Think it cost me $68 and I sold it on to someone local for $60 so was an $8 well spent to me and the new owner was happy to save $8 that probably went to the refreshment fund lol.

Job took me probably 6 hours if I had to guess. I spent a lot of extra effort cleaning things under there, painting some bits and doing other little bits so not all of that was actual straight job related.

Anyway, hope that helps. Here is another that I found that might help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD0LNkFYPGQ

I used to have the link where you could download the factory service manual. Probably listed on this site somewhere. If you don't have then I'd get that too. PDF and you just print the pages you need.
Cheers

 

Yep, link for factory service manuals was at the top of the posts. Here it is for you. Save whichever you need and then print off the pages for the timing job and water pump etc. etc.
http://web.archive.org/web/20080731033603/http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/