Toyota Celica Timing Belt

Stephencuthbert

I have to get my timing belt changed as I just got it from Japan and I think it would be a good idea to change it not knowing its service history. My mechanic (Mechanic 1) said he wouldn't do the T/belt, too much involved for him, that's fine. The sticker on the engine says 100,000kms but a mechanic I know (another mechanic (Mechanic 2), friend of a friend) recommends 100,000 or 6 years, which ever comes first. The car is a 1998 model.

I started off with just the belt @ €78 + VAT & labour = €220ish

Then I was advised by mechanic 2 (Toyota recommended to him) to change the idler and tensioner aswell. That was fine too.

So that made it:
T/Belt - €78
Idler - €69
Tensioner - €45
VAT - €40
Labour - €120

Total -€350ish

Now...............I call another garage recommended by mechanic 1 who does engine tuning etc etc. and he gave me a price of €700ish.

He said when changing the belt, he recommends changing the idler, tensioner, water pump and the air-conditioning belt. He says the T/Belt linkage or whatever is involved, dirves the water pump and the air-con is connected to this too. If the water pump locks up, the T/Belt snaps and bye bye engine, don't come crying to me.

Is there anymore surprises I need to know about before I make a fool of myself by not knowing the mechanics of my engine?

I intend to hold on to the car long term so I don't mind the money side. It's the surprises that are bugging me.

Anyone have any similar experiences????

I would just love another surprise!!!!:rolleyes:

Lex Luthor

Stephencuthbert wrote:

I have to get my timing belt changed as I just got it from Japan and I think it would be a good idea to change it not knowing its service history. My mechanic (Mechanic 1) said he wouldn't do the T/belt, too much involved for him, that's fine. The sticker on the engine says 100,000kms but a mechanic I know (another mechanic (Mechanic 2), friend of a friend) recommends 100,000 or 6 years, which ever comes first. The car is a 1998 model.

I started off with just the belt @ €78 + VAT & labour = €220ish

Then I was advised by mechanic 2 (Toyota recommended to him) to change the idler and tensioner aswell. That was fine too.

So that made it:
T/Belt - €78
Idler - €69
Tensioner - €45
VAT - €40
Labour - €120

Total -€350ish

Now...............I call another garage recommended by mechanic 1 who does engine tuning etc etc. and he gave me a price of €700ish.

He said when changing the belt, he recommends changing the idler, tensioner, water pump and the air-conditioning belt. He says the T/Belt linkage or whatever is involved, dirves the water pump and the air-con is connected to this too. If the water pump locks up, the T/Belt snaps and bye bye engine, don't come crying to me.

Is there anymore surprises I need to know about before I make a fool of myself by not knowing the mechanics of my engine?

I intend to hold on to the car long term so I don't mind the money side. It's the surprises that are bugging me.

Anyone have any similar experiences????

I would just love another surprise!!!!:rolleyes:

Stephen, just as well you don't have an Alfa then.

I got the timing belt changed on the Alfa 2yrs ago and also had to do the variator & tensioner aswell which pushed the price up.

The mechanic said that sometimes the water pump gets replaced when the belt, etc is being done but he said it was very rare on the mileage I had at the time (42k miles). He said he'd check it and if it needed then he'd replace it, but he didn't need to. However, when the car reaches the next timing belt change interval I'll be changing the water pump as a precautionary measure. The car will be about 80-85k miles at that stage.

I also replaced the fan belt at 42k.

He may be right about the water pump if it seizes. What kind of mileage have you now? What about mechanic 2? Did you ask him about the extra cost of replacing the water pump and a/c belt? Can't see it costing you another €350.

AMurphy

What engine is in this vehicle and what mileage on it?.

While you could replace all those other parts, idlers, tensioners, etc.
I might be inclined to not do it unless you have something like 150Kmls on it or you hear worn bearing sounds coming from them.
Does it have a spring or hydraulic tensioner.

The items I have had problems with are seals.
the hardest one to get at being the crankshaft pulley oil seal and the waterpump shaft seal.
So if the waterpump is behind the timing belt, I might be more concerned about that than the idlers, etc.

Teh parts sould reasonable enough, I'd expect to pay for 3 hours of labor for the major repair and maybe 1~1.5 just for the T-belt.

Replacing the AC and alternator belts is not an issue, just do it.

Stephencuthbert

AMurphy wrote:

What engine is in this vehicle and what mileage on it?.

While you could replace all those other parts, idlers, tensioners, etc.
I might be inclined to not do it unless you have something like 150Kmls on it or you hear worn bearing sounds coming from them.
Does it have a spring or hydraulic tensioner.

The items I have had problems with are seals.
the hardest one to get at being the crankshaft pulley oil seal and the waterpump shaft seal.
So if the waterpump is behind the timing belt, I might be more concerned about that than the idlers, etc.

Teh parts sould reasonable enough, I'd expect to pay for 3 hours of labor for the major repair and maybe 1~1.5 just for the T-belt.

Replacing the AC and alternator belts is not an issue, just do it.

It has 76000kms on it. I don't know what kind of tensioner is on it. I wouldn't know it unless I was shown it.

Thinkin about it though.........€700 ain't that bad if I get another 100,000 out of it or 6 years. A stitch in time saves nine Any idea how much it costs to get an engine re-conditioned if the T/belt goes:) (It's a Yamaha BEAMS engine too so probably wouldn't be that cheap.

Mechanic 2 is a friend of a friend so if the pump & belt go I have no come back (It's a foxer/nixer). But the guy who quoted €700 was a garage so I'd have come back. For peace of mind an extra few hundred isn't bad.

I think I'll just do it.

Thanks for the help guys

colm_mcm

yeah do it, the belt snapping doesn't bear thinking about especially if it's BEAMS

AMurphy

Hmmmmm; ~50Kmls I'd still probably not bother with the tensioner and idler at that mileage. but probably makes little difference other than the price of the parts in the garage.
btw, I think the ~$850 a tad high. Would be thinking more like $500 myself, but your tax component is higher, so...

Idler failure will give you plenty warning, they don't just break like belt teeth, never seen a failed T-belt tensioner either. I have a friend with an old Maxima, the tensioner pulley on that thing has been growling for the last year or two with no ill effect, and my old VW was that way for a long while also before I got "a-roundtuit".

But go ahead, like you say it's cheaper than an engine... especially a rare one.

De Bong

I got my t/belt done(102K kms...now has 122K kms) on my Beams ceilca for about €250...nothing else required.......The only problem you might have is getting the correct belt...

I have had lots of jap cars over the past 10 years and have never had any problems just replacing the belt....

1 thing to note when I got my car back from the mechanic with the new T/belt the car was rev'n/idle'n all over the place....Brought it back to the mechanic and he rang his contact in Toyota and it seems that the device that controls the ilde rev's needed to be cleaned and reseated...Mr Toyota said this was a common problem after doing the belt. Once this was done(10mins job) the car was perfect.

Hope this helps