20 years old and first major repair

Called my favorite local dealer for a quote. They've been good to me with parts and what not and know I work on my own stuff mostly so they know I'm familiar with what it takes for the work.

I was quoted $1100 OTD to do the timing belt, water pump, all belts, cam and crank seals, coolant system flush/fill. I plan to provide a replacement Napa 170° T-Stat (I'm supercharged). It was 4.7 hrs from Alldata for labor and $375ish for parts. 3 hours labor without the seals. This price had labor discounted. This price was also quite a bit less than a non dealer shop I called to compare.

I asked if this included idler/tensioner pulleys and tensioner and he said they don't normally see those go bad even with the age mine has on it. He said happy to replace them if I want them to though. I'm guessing another $300 or so for those give or take.

Said they'd replace the radiator as well if I wanted but suggested I buy one and bring it in as his prices for one were "ridiculous" his words. I'll grab one from Camelback.

I think I'll go this route. Saves me a weekend of busted knuckles and the documentation that it was done at the dealer would probably help resale in the unlikely event I ever do.
 
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I figured I could use some screws and a good hard yank on the seals to get those out, but wasn't sure about seating new ones. At 20 years I figured I might as well change them.

How did you hold the harmonic balancer in place to torque the crank bolt? I'm not sure I'd wanna just hit it with my impact to re-install.

The camshaft and crankshaft seals are two things that are sometimes best left alone. I've only seen them leak after an attempted change during a timing belt. I've never seen or heard of them leak under any other circumstance. The only way to do the camshaft seals to ensure there's no damage to the seal when seating it is to remove the camshaft itself, then it's really easy. That's how I did mine but I did the timing belt and camshaft swap at the same time. I did not do the crankshaft seal.

I'm not saying it's the right way but I've used my impact on the crankshaft bolt each time. Done it 3x times now. My max torque on mine is around 300 lb ft so it's a little tight but that bolt is seriously strong and can take it.

EDIT: I have seen the idler pulley go bad but that doesn't mean it's normal. It was on an engine I had apart with 320K miles that had also cracked a piston.
 
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I would replace the idler and tensioner while they are in there. If you’re going to have them replace the radiator I’d recommend doing a few drain and fills with distilled water before you bring it in for repairs. This will guarantee you get all the old coolant out of the system without having to pay them for a flush. I’d also request they refill with Toyota red coolant but that’s just my preference.
 
The drain/flush isn't a problem but getting rid of the used fluid is. Lots of trips back and forth to the local lube shop to dump it. Been there done that. I think they're almost throwing in the flush based on the price quoted.

Looking at the idlers they're super pricey even from Camelback but I found some that are OEM from YotaShop that I believe are the OEM brands (KOYO and NSK) for a reasonable price. I'll snag those and provide them for the job.
 
If you're rig isn't from the rust belt, there's a good chance your pulley/balancer will come off by hand. Mine did at 190k. If you do use a puller, remember that the outer ring is just pressed onto the balancer, so pull from the inner ring. Should be some bolt holes there.
 
That's a 3rd gen for you. I've had mine for 17 years and it's BY FAR been the best vehicle I have ever owned.

Not sure if you'll find this helpful but I have all the parts listed for the timing belt and valve cover jobs here: Kit
I did them at the same time as well as changing the supercharger oil while I was in there. The job was totally straight-forward, sharing my experience here: https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3364333-post118.html
But you may want to take note of some things I mentioned here: https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3365010-post119.html

Good luck.
 
Almost all my Toyotas in the past rotted away and were non inspectable way before they died. One of the reasons I learned to weld. Had them around for over 30 years now. I only own Toyotas [ well besides 2 classic cars] very few bad engine / transmission designs over the years. Very dependable and reliable. Their engineers mostly do quite well. :)



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Thanks for the info. Yeah mine has very little rust. I treated the front bumper last year for the surface rust it had and plan to drop the spare, hitch, and rear bumper this year to treat them as well.

I've worked out a pretty decent deal with the dealer to do the timing belt service and gonna swap the radiator, upper and lower radiator hoses, and coolant flush at the same time. With the way the values of these are going I think it's money well spent having it documented as done by Toyota and I don't have to spend my weekend fooling with it, or doing it twice as some have called out with an issue here or there.

Valve cover gaskets will be next and I plan to do those myself a long with a supercharger oil change.

Finally, it's gonna need new tires and a complete fluids change this year which I'll get done and then hopefully it's another 20 years of faithful service.
 
Well, getting a radiator is a real chore LOL. Everywhere I've found them even for sale online it's either local pickup only or $100 for shipping. I'll just snag one from the local dealer, I think they have me setup as a shop in their system so should be around $150.
 
Rock Auto has an array, but not a Denso, which is what I bought several years
back. They also have an all aluminum unit for ~$270. Shipping to me was
$27.
 
I'm gonna stick with stock. It lasted 20 years and my coolant temps have never gone over 183ish F with the 170 t-stat.

It's possible it's fine and the dealer didn't even recommend replacing it but I don't wanna take a chance on the trans cooler part failing and killing the trans.
 
Well, getting a radiator is a real chore LOL. Everywhere I've found them even for sale online it's either local pickup only or $100 for shipping. I'll just snag one from the local dealer, I think they have me setup as a shop in their system so should be around $150.
I got mine from a local Toyota dealer for $117

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That's a great deal, retail is showing $163.15. I'm hoping they'll knock some bucks off.
Camelback had the radiator listed for $120 with free shipping but they were backordered and canceled my order... That was a while ago, maybe try them

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I bought from Camelback and they cancelled the order said they no longer ship radiators due to damage claims. Most others I found are local pick up only as well so it must be a thing.
 
I bought from Camelback and they cancelled the order said they no longer ship radiators due to damage claims. Most others I found are local pick up only as well so it must be a thing.
The packaging on the radiator is terrible, they shift inside the box. When the few pieces of foam move.

My first one (local pickup) had the relief nipple broken off. The dealer replaced it for me and I opened the replacement box at the dealership to inspect the rad ans ensure it was good

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I bought from Camelback and they cancelled the order said they no longer ship radiators due to damage claims. Most others I found are local pick up only as well so it must be a thing.

The packaging on the radiator is terrible, they shift inside the box. When the few pieces of foam move.

My first one (local pickup) had the relief nipple broken off. The dealer replaced it for me and I opened the replacement box at the dealership to inspect the rad ans ensure it was good

I got mines from ToyotaPartsDeal. Ship packing was terrible. It was the radiator was in it's own box with moulded styro on the top and bottom tanks of the rad. Then the rad, in it's own Denso box, was packed into a slightly larger box with a single sheet 20" X 12" bubble wrap.

Box arrived in terrible shape with the rad slightly damaged cosmetically. Never again. I would do will call only so I can inspect it before taking possession.
 

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