Monday, September 19, 2011

I have a 1998 Camary 145k 4 cyl my water pump just went out. My timing belt was changed about 25k ago.?

do I need to replace it again ? How hard is it to change the water pump? Any Idea where on the internet I can download a free maintenance manual or replacement instructions ?I have a 1998 Camary 145k 4 cyl my water pump just went out. My timing belt was changed about 25k ago.?Here%26#039;s the bad news. Probably. But depending on how you%26#039;re handling the water pump, it might be worth taking a chance on. And I%26#039;d probably change mechanics.



Timing belts will typically last a lot longer than Toyota dealers admit. I don%26#039;t know exactly how long, because my OEM failed at 162,000 miles. What caused mine to fail was the water pump went bad, got on the belt , etc.



I didn%26#039;t post the parts bin link as a reference to buying things from them, but I used to buy things from them as the BenzBin. It%26#039;s been several years, but a couple of times, I had to sort some things out with them by telephone and they were not just helpful, but knowledgeable.



I can%26#039;t guess at whether you%26#039;ve hit the magic combination of pump leak on belt or not. The belt itself isn%26#039;t all that expensive. It%26#039;s the labor. I can%26#039;t remember the engine layout, so I don%26#039;t know how involved removing and replacing the pump is. If the labor for the pump R%26amp;R is intrinsic or mostly so to the R%26amp;R of the timing belt, the additional cost may be warranted. The belt will cost something like $100 and I%26#039;m not sure where the bleeding point is.



On the other hand, they%26#039;ll want to replace it anyway at 60,000 on the belt. the standard belt has been a neopreme composite and new engines use what%26#039;s caused a high nitrile material. The newer belts have a recommended interval of 90,000 miles. You%26#039;ve probably got the Neopre



The good news of sorts is that having a belt failure in a toyota 4 cylinder isn%26#039;t quite the same big deal as a belt or chain failure on some engines. You want to check this to be sure, but the Toyota 4 is what%26#039;s known as a non-interferring belt. If it breaks, it won%26#039;t normally destroy your engine by shoving a valve through a piston. It can, but it%26#039;s a lot less likely. With some engine replacement is a virtual certainty. typically, the non-interference engine will simply stop running. Mine dropped dead at 70 mph. I pulled over, had it towed (through AAA) and had it back the next day.



Why would I suggest changing mechanics? Maybe the mechanic told you this, but it is absolutely insane to R%26amp;R a camshaft belt without replacing the waterpump , especially on a high mileage engine. Depending on age the water pump will usually go 140,000, but there%26#039;s no guarantee and after that you%26#039;ll living on borrowed time. If you%26#039;re planning to drive this thing until it drops, might as well make sure.



FWIW, inteference engines are usually junked if the belt or chain breaks. I did the water pump on a Benz 5 cylinder Diesel -- and it%26#039;s way too complicated, but it%26#039;s like a cartoon show of Bugs Bunny tossing parts out into a pile as big as the car and working through allen headed bolts that someone has buggered. When I finally got the water pump, I rebuilt the vacuum pump which you can%26#039;t get too without pulling the pump. The vacuum pump is a critical part of the Diesel setup (for most Benzes of that type). There were a few other things. You don%26#039;t do this without replacing all the belts and hoses unless they are new or very close to it. I gave the Diesel to a friend%26#039;s son and he%26#039;s put another 100k on it. Can%26#039;t kill it. It%26#039;s up to about 400K, running strong after 26 years without any major engine work and uniform compression typical of a new diesel of the period.



FWIW, if the Camry is in otherwise good shape, I%26#039;d hang on to it. I put 215,000 miles on one and it was perfect mechanically when a family member banged it up and it wasn%26#039;t worth the bodywork. I drove it hard and still got 30mpg on the road and well above 20 in urban driving. We put 175K on a Corolla that%26#039;s still running (family member has it). We had a problem with one at 96,000. Someone in a shop changed the oil and used it for a trip to the store, rearending a truck and totaling it..



Here%26#039;s information you didn%26#039;t ask for. Most of the things that will go bad are reasonably predictable, i.e. timing belts and water pumps.



Usually, at about 160K-175K, the probability is that if you drive at a steady speed, usually 60 mph or over on a smooth road you%26#039;ll start to feel a bit of vibration from one of the front wheels. The other wheel may or may not follow. It is hard to put your finger on it, but at that mileage, it%26#039;s likely a wheel thrust bearing is failing.



I did most of the work on two Toyotas and had shop manuals for them because it saved me time. I was commuting long distance every day than doing a 500 mile round trip every weekend, usually by car.



I%26#039;ve never been fond of Toyota dealers, but they couldn%26#039;t get it. Four trip to three dealers in three different states. There was a shop that recognized the problem (I told them what it was). One of the dealer mechanics after laying off some completely unnecessary work, was demonstrating that I was wrong by jacking the wheel off the ground. I had to show him how to find it and I made it a point to tell him it was in his shop manual.



For all that, I got good service from Toyotas especially after I mostly dumped the dealers. The final straw early on was having an oxygen sensor replaced on my Supra. After killing the entire day and adding unwanted additives, the dealer told me they%26#039;d discovered an exhaust leak and would need another day to find it and fix it. I drove it home, found that the mechanic left the bolts loose. it returned them to factory specs and rove it another 120K miles without an exhaust leak.



This isn%26#039;t putting mechanics down.They%26#039;re reflecting their management for the most part. Your car is reaching an age mechanically where what goes wrong is beyond the average mechanic%26#039;s actual experience. The average high mileage car ends up geting shade tree work.



If you%26#039;ve kept the oil changed and checked, you should be good for another 100K and it%26#039;s hard to beat the mileage or cost of operation. I usually did the brake work myself (time initially, then fewer problems). I found the build quality of the Toyotas better than any American car I%26#039;ve owned and in many cases were engineered better than the over-engineered German cars.



FWIW, I%26#039;d check carefully on a German car on the interference question. MB is a little notorious for this. They built an engine in the 70s in which the single chain was inclined to early failure without noticeable slap. If you%26#039;re dealing with interference engine out of waranty, you don%26#039;t want to take chances.

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Updated. Some of the people answering have a mistaken view of the timing belt%26#039;s location . It is housed. I%26#039;ve added some links including a list of Toyota inteferers and non-interference engines. Assume you know that the belt is not accessible without removal of the cover and the parts to get at it.



Do not follow any of the advice here on how to replace a timing belt. It may be simple, but I don%26#039;t have the shop manuals now -- you might get the sequence from a Chilton for your specific engine. It might be simple, but getting to TDC doesn%26#039;t get you where you need to be. If you read some of the material about belts, you%26#039;ll see what I%26#039;m talking about. Don%26#039;t start this as a project unless you have considerable understanding for what you know -- and don%26#039;t know. If I find the material you need I%26#039;ll post it here with a source.I have a 1998 Camary 145k 4 cyl my water pump just went out. My timing belt was changed about 25k ago.?depends on the car really most are not that hard but sometimes you have to remove a lot of things to get to where they are..... if you know anything about working on motors would be a can do it at home thing... would take any where from a few hours to a whole weekendI have a 1998 Camary 145k 4 cyl my water pump just went out. My timing belt was changed about 25k ago.?Since the labor is the same to get to the timing belt and the water pump, you might as well replace the belt too; you%26#039;d just have to go back in in another 30K miles or so for the belt anyways.



To be honest, the water pump should have been replaced back when the belt was changed out 25K miles ago to avoid this very problem.



For a repair guide, go to www.autozone.com, click on Repair Info on the left, select Vehicle Repair Guides, and then input your car model. All the instructions you need are in there.I have a 1998 Camary 145k 4 cyl my water pump just went out. My timing belt was changed about 25k ago.?If it were mine, I%26#039;d replace the belt again anyway, coolant can accelerate the wear or advance rotting of the belt. The waterpump is driven off of the timing belt so you%26#039;d need to make sure you have it all set up to TDC and all marks aligned before removing the belt. Then just remove the bolts to the water pump, scrape away all old gasket material and install new pump, torque bolts to specs w/ micrometer (in lbs) but before you can do all that, you have to remove all components on the front of the motor. Long story short...let a shop do it for you!!!I have a 1998 Camary 145k 4 cyl my water pump just went out. My timing belt was changed about 25k ago.?buy a book for 20.00

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