04 4Runner Limited V8

[WarDamnEagle]

Daughter just had her 4Runner serviced (oil and filter) today at 98k. Dealer phoned me to discuss timing belt. Long story short, just under $500 for the belt of just under $1000 for belts, water pump, idlers, etc. She needed the car back today for school so I put the decision off but I guess it's something that needs to be done.

I did a bit of searching before I posted but didn't see much experience with anyone doing this themselves on this engine. Not sure I would try it anyway as she is 4 hours away. Just thought I would post and see if anyone had any opinions (e.g. do it now, next oil change, do just the belt, do everything, do nothing).

By the way, he also said she was going to need rear brake pads soon. They wanted just under $200 to do those. I would think that's something that I could do myself fairly easily but thought I would ask if there is anything unusual about changing the rear pads that I should be aware of.

Thanks.

 

[Duane]

Brakes first.... I have been comfortable with just replacing shoes without turning drums. I think any mechanic/shop would turn drums as a liability thing.

4.7L interference engine.... changing a timing belt...haven't heard of folks here doing this themselves. Unsure of what is involved and yes if labor is pricey to do it and other components could be done at the same time it makes sense to leverage the labor while you are in there.
I don't know if the water pumps are prone to leaking on 4.7L's or not. Does anybody know or have experience with these water pumps?????
The 3.4 non interference engine to my mind is best left regarding the timing belt until a leaking water pump necessitates getting in there. Then do them both along with idlers if needed and perhaps crank and cam seals too.

 

[The Jade Bean]

Brakes first.... I have been comfortable with just replacing shoes without turning drums. I think any mechanic/shop would turn drums as a liability thing.

4.7L interference engine.... changing a timing belt...haven't heard of folks here doing this themselves. Unsure of what is involved and yes if labor is pricey to do it and other components could be done at the same time it makes sense to leverage the labor while you are in there.
I don't know if the water pumps are prone to leaking on 4.7L's or not. Does anybody know or have experience with these water pumps?????
The 3.4 non interference engine to my mind is best left regarding the timing belt until a leaking water pump necessitates getting in there. Then do them both along with idlers if needed and perhaps crank and cam seals too.

Agreed with the brake pads and you can have them turned yourself too if they need it...I'd do that yourself if possible.

I had the timing belt changed in my 4.7L 06 Tundra and went ahead and did a few extras while they had it all tore down since that saved me labor. I remember it being closer to $800, but that was a different vehicle too. I'm fairly confident I wouldn't tackle this on my own unless I had too, cause my understanding is you have to break down a lot to get it done.

~Daniel

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Thanks for the replies guys. Sounds like we need to go ahead and schedule something for the timing belt and I'll probably have them do the rest while they are in there. I'll price the pads and go from there on the brakes.

 

[fsusteve]

any shop will do it for $800ish for everything, I found someone locally for around $500 complete, you can get the entire kit at Autozone for around $150 if I remember...yeah I know it's not toyota, call beno or the other guy on here for a price.

 

[Jetboy]

If you want to do it yourself, I'd take a look at rockauto.com. I ordered all the stuff to do mine, and saved a bit of $. Make sure to plan enough shipping time. Anyway I've just had good experiences ordering from them. I did a full -replace everything- timing belt on my v6 4runner and spent about $350 in parts, but I really did everything. Belt, water pump, front main bearing seal just because I was already in there, the idler pulleys for the accessory belts because they can go bad and if I was there I also did all new accessory belts, might as well, all new rubber hoses for coolant all around, and I also did a transmission flush while I was at it. Oh, and of course a water pump and new tensioner/pulley assembly.

It took a full 8-9hrs of work to get it done in my garage. I have all the right tools ready to go except an auto lift.

I'd try to find a factory brand belt. I'm not sure what brand Toyota uses for the 4.7. On my v6 it was a mitsuboshi. They should be pre-marked to line up with marks on the crank and cam gears. Makes putting them in a no-brainer.

I would avoid aftermarket belts. I helped my parents do one in their Honda accord which has two timing belts, one for the crank/cams, and one for a balancer shaft. The car started making really bad noises. The timing belt on the balancer shaft broke. Fortunately there was no internal damage, but it did break at about 40k miles after replacing. It's not worth the risk IMO to save $20 for a cheaper belt.

 

[Sam Stewart]

What is your mechanical ability on a scale of 1-10? It's not the hardest thing in the world to do but it is def on the harder end of the scale as far as timing belts go. Also, you can do some damage if you don't put it back together correctly.

How about an alternative? Buy the parts from me at 25% off retail price with free shipping and take your own parts to the dealer and just pay them for the labor. It would save you a decent amount of money and still have factory parts and dealership labor.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

What is your mechanical ability on a scale of 1-10? It's not the hardest thing in the world to do but it is def on the harder end of the scale as far as timing belts go. Also, you can do some damage if you don't put it back together correctly.

How about an alternative? Buy the parts from me at 25% off retail price with free shipping and take your own parts to the dealer and just pay them for the labor. It would save you a decent amount of money and still have factory parts and dealership labor.

My mechanical ability is fairly high but not sure that I want to risk this one as it sounds like the consequences are high (since the V8 is an interference engine). Thanks for the offer on the parts; that sounds like a possible good solution. I plan on having it done sometime in the next month or two so I've got a bit of time to talk to a couple of dealers about labor, etc.

 

[sandcruiser]

I just did the timing belt on my brother's 06 4runner v8 (2uz-fe).

I was surprised at how easy it was, frankly. I expected more difficulty.

I used the following links and the FSM to guide the process. Took lots of pictures in case I would need them to refer to how to put it back together.

http://m3pink.blogspot.com/2010/11/changing-it-up-toyota-land-cruiser-2uz.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCTGHurWA1c

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-g...ite-up-2uz-fe-v8-timing-belt-replacement.html


I spent noon-5:00 yesterday and 9am-4:30 today to do the belt, water pump, change spark plugs (that took longer than I expected, had some trouble getting the plugs out). My brother did help a little bit, but only 2-3 hours (though he did make a parts run and 2 lunch runs, which helped a lot).


I'm a reasonably competent mechanic, but fairly slow.

an extra tip: use some ziplock baggies to keep bolts organized w/ the covers and such that you remove. It'll make it a lot easier to put stuff back together.

Also: if I were to do it again, I'd plan to replace all the hose clamps with screw-type hose clamps as the little pinchy kind frustrate me.

As for risk: it's pretty easy to draw some match marks on the old belt, then line up the new one. It does require a little patience and attention, but it isn't *difficult*. I used a silver sharpie, easy to see.