Dealership Suggested Maintenance ?'s

[GX4SEVEND]

I went in for an oil change today and when I was paying the cashier she said a service tech wanted to talk to me. He said the both the timing belt and drive belts needed to be changed as well as a few other things. Here is the list.......

Brake fliud contaminated = $78.45
Timing Belt Replacement = $358.55
Fuel Injection Service = $199.95
Drive Belt = $58.93
Air Filter = $22.00

TOTAL = $637.88

When I bought this from the original owner he said the belt was changed around 80K miles, its got 184,600 on it now. I had a master tech at my old work(toyota dealership) look at it and he also said the brake fluid needed changed.

So obviously these things needed to be done so I guess my question would be is this a decent price?

 

[Avarice]

First off, the air filter is probably the easiest filter to replace on any car I've ever seen so you could do that on your own in a minute.

Second, if your motivated at all to do things on your own, flushing the brakes isn't really all that hard or time consuming, especially if you get a specialized flush pump to do it with, which would run you about $20, and then you've got that tool for good.

As for the other stuff, injectors aren't that hard to do either, but the belts, I'd stay away from unless you're fairly mechanically inclined(also requires special tools/fabbing em up), or have boatloads of patience and time.

The price for the belt change is about what I'd pay up in Canada, but the hourly rate for most service is $80 an hour here if that makes a difference.

 

[GX4SEVEND]

air filter is an easy change. I just copied what was off the list of stuff they recommended. Just wanted to see if it was a good price. My main concern is whatever the issue may be, my mpg's suck. I understand that i'm running bigger tires but if I do all in town driving, i'm lucky to get 200 miles to a tank. And thats filling up when the gas light has been on half the day and getting 15 gallons.

 

[kball]

The price for the timing belt seems pretty low. I'm sure they are not including the water pump which should be done at the same time. You should find out exactly what that $350 covers and then how much to do the whole job.

$199 for injector cleaning? What is that, dumping a bottle of cleaner into the gas tank? $199 is not enough for a real injector cleaning (taking them out and cleaning them) so I'd find out what they actually do.

 

[Satter]

I went in for an oil change today and when I was paying the cashier she said a service tech wanted to talk to me. He said the both the timing belt and drive belts needed to be changed as well as a few other things. Here is the list.......

Brake fliud contaminated = $78.45
Timing Belt Replacement = $358.55
Fuel Injection Service = $199.95
Drive Belt = $58.93
Air Filter = $22.00

TOTAL = $637.88

When I bought this from the original owner he said the belt was changed around 80K miles, its got 184,600 on it now. I had a master tech at my old work(toyota dealership) look at it and he also said the brake fluid needed changed.

So obviously these things needed to be done so I guess my question would be is this a decent price?

Did he have proof that he did it?

Like everyone else has said, change the Air Filter out yourself. Very very easy to do. Fuel Injection service, you can do that yourself by using SeaFoam. There are a ton of threads here on how to clean injectors with SeaFoam.

I would definately have your mechanic do the brake fluid flush, drive belt, and timing belt change ASAP. And, yes, those are pretty good prices.

 

[fightman80]

The price for the timing belt seems pretty low. I'm sure they are not including the water pump which should be done at the same time. You should find out exactly what that $350 covers and then how much to do the whole job.

Why does the water pump have to be changed while doing the Timing belt??? My truck has about 180 000km's on it, I don't think it's ever had the timing belt changed either.

Why is this such an issue?? Every mechanic I've talked with, has told me "don't fix what ain't broke". If these engines are "non interference" engines, and the truck is running good, why change the timing belt?

I'm simply asking the question, because so many of you recommend it, but I haven't really had any real clarification on why it's so important to do........

If the timing belt was going, wouldn't the truck be acting up?

 

[Satter]

Why does the water pump have to be changed while doing the Timing belt??? My truck has about 180 000km's on it, I don't think it's ever had the timing belt changed either.

Why is this such an issue?? Every mechanic I've talked with, has told me "don't fix what ain't broke". If these engines are "non interference" engines, and the truck is running good, why change the timing belt?

I'm simply asking the question, because so many of you recommend it, but I haven't really had any real clarification on why it's so important to do........

If the timing belt was going, wouldn't the truck be acting up?

Forgive me in advance if you already know about the things I've typed below.

I don't think there's so much of an issue as it is recommended by Toyota. Timing belts, like other belts, get worn out, and the manufacture is saying nip in the bud before it becomes an issue. However, 3.4L engine is a non interference engine, so when the timing belt does snap there's no issue until you turn off the engine and try to restart it again.

 

[GX4SEVEND]

The timing belt price doesn't include the water pump because they said it didn't need to be fixed. Also, is there a point in doing the fuel inj. service without changing the inline filter? I know its "life time" but i've seen people change theirs out and take pics of it and it looks horrible. Any thoughts?

And no the original owner didn't have proof of the timing belt change. Going outside now to see if there's a sticker still there with the date and mileage it was done.

 

[Jon]

Timing belt... Yes, I'd ge them to do that. Reason for the water pump change is that you have 184K on it and the water pump is bound to go soon and the only way to do that is by removing the timing belt, so while they are replacing that it is way more cost effective to have that all done in one go. Never do a timing belt without water pump, same goes for transmission change and clutch/torque converter or oil change an oil filter or tires and valve stems.

As for the injectors, do not go the $200 route unless you have major performance loss. Only time I had to have them hook up a pressurised fuel system cleaner (not the bottled stuff) was for 96 Dodge that had noticeabley clogged fuel injectors (was only running on 3 cylinders out of 8).

Do you have any breaking issues? Try just gravity bleading first. Take cap off resivoir and crack all bleeders loose. Refill before it hits low mark, close bleaders and refill to high mark. Cost about $1 and 1 min of your time.

 

[GX4SEVEND]

No braking issues at the moment. Went to another toyota dealer today to get a part quote.....all 3 belts, timing belt and water pump was $303.33. Figured if i'm going to do it might as well change it all.

Got a quote from a friend of a friend type deal that owns a toyota shop for $475 for labor. IDK but that sounds high to me. But what do I know.

 

[brian2sun]

No braking issues at the moment. Went to another toyota dealer today to get a part quote.....all 3 belts, timing belt and water pump was $303.33. Figured if i'm going to do it might as well change it all.

That's cheap for a TB/WP at the dealership so jump on that! If the injector service is a machine based cleaning, I would recommend having that done to restore your mpgs. I did a MotorVac service ~9 months ago and I was getting ~10 mpgs avg. before and it shot me up to 16 avg. after the cleaning. I'm still getting 16+ avg. (more like 17-18 since my speedo/odo read slow).

Here's the thread I did about the MotorVac:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...ning-horrible-but-not-any-more-hopefully.html
Seafoam is fine too, but I tried it twice with no results before the MotorVac. The machine-based cleaning is alot more thorough and effective. It cleans your combustion chamber to almost new condition.

 

[GX4SEVEND]

Well the $303.33 is just for the parts.

 

[brian2sun]

Oh, that's about average then. Still not a bad price for OEM parts. I was wondering if a service writer screwed up and totalled it wrong, haha. I would do the thermo as well.

 

[GX4SEVEND]

The shop said $475 labor if I supply the parts and $600 if they do. Not sure what parts they're using and not sure how they can get 3 belts, and a TB/WP for the $125 difference. This is why I wish I could do my own work.

 

[02SE]

However, 3.4L engine is a non interference engine, so when the timing belt does snap there's no issue until you turn off the engine and try to restart it again.

The 5vzfe is a non-interference engine, which means that the valves won't make contact with the pistons if the timing belt breaks. However, if the timing belt does break while driving, the engine will quit running right then. The engine will not continue to run without an intact timing belt.

 

[Satter]

The 5vzfe is a non-interference engine, which means that the valves won't make contact with the pistons if the timing belt breaks. However, if the timing belt does break while driving, the engine will quit running right then. The engine will not continue to run without an intact timing belt.

Ahh, Okay. So the engine turns off. Thanks for the correction.

 

[GX4SEVEND]

Just thought i'd let anyone know who is planning on doing this maintenance that I did a google search for "toyota 4runner OEM timing belt" and found a toyota dealership in Indiana with an ebay listing for all 3 drive belts, timing belt and water pump for $190.