Is this timing/water pump kit the highest quality? (1 Viewer)

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MrTorgue

Grizzly Clint
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Lookin at doing this a bit early and was wondering if this is the highest quality kit?

What’s the labor cost to have a shop do it? Also while they have this tore down what else can I replace now to avoid replacing later?

Amazon product ASIN B008EEYWKI
 
Yes! The next best thing would be Toyota but you would pay a bit more since the same part would have a stamped "Toyota" on the part. Toyota owns 51% of Aisin which was also founded by one of the Toyota family member (Toyoda).

Depending on where you are labor would be around $800-$1200, other things you would consider replacing is the fan bracket, thermostat, hoses, fan clutch and belts.
 
Yes! The next best thing would be Toyota but you would pay a bit more since the same part would have a stamped "Toyota" on the part. Toyota owns 51% of Aisin which was also founded by one of the Toyota family member (Toyoda).

Depending on where you are labor would be around $800-$1200, other things you would consider replacing is the fan bracket, thermostat, hoses, fan clutch and belts.

Exactly what I needed thanks!
 
There’s absolutely nothing on the WP indicating it’s Aisin. Maybe I don’t know where to look but that’s the only piece that I’m slightly worried about. I think Onur said it was good though and I trust him. There a bunch of tools to buy to do this job too. I’ll list them or at least what I bought or thought about buying

Here’s some of my mishmash notes:
Fan bracket with bearing fairly common to go bad - added to amazon cart
Torque wrench that goes to 181 ftlb

Find out which Anti freeze it takes. The 2004 might take a newer style of red anti freeze and then the seal pack fipg has to be the special kind (in the green tube). Otherwise, the fipg I have can be used.

Trying to find part numbers for cam seals and crankshaft seals, will need spanner wrench. People say only replace if they are leaking. Seems like a good thing to replace
 
And I bought these tools and parts to go with that Timing belt kit: I have a 2004GX

Fan Bracket:

Toyota FIPG:

Toyota Thermostat:

Toyota Thermostat seal: no longer a link to amazon
Part number 16436-50010

Tools:
Camshaft pulley holding tool:

Seal puller:

Harmonic Pulley holding tool:
 
A couple things about this job...

You absolutely need the fan mount, and you MUST buy Aisin. Even if it feels OK, remember, that part has to go 90K farther...and it's hard to get to if you need to replace it standalone. DO NOT buy any other brand. When I did mine, I tried the Gates because it was half the price, but the shroud that needs to fit over it won't fit...I messed with it for hours before realizing it was the Gates part...

Also, many people recommend a new fan clutch as part of this process. Mine felt really good, so I reused the original. That one is easy to replace later.

Here's what I did:

Mitsuboshi Timing belt, tensioner, idler pulleys, fan bracket.
Aisin water pump
Toyota factory thermostat with new gasket.
Pink coolant
New upper and lower radiator hoses
New serpentine belt, idler, tensioner. all Toyota parts. They just fit better.

I had this same work quoted from the local Lexus/Toyota non-dealer shop, and they wanted $2550. I did it for around $600 in parts, total time was about 4 hours, not including dealing with the lame Gates bracket. It's simple, but it's not easy.

Final parting thought - inspect your alternator while you're in there. You practically have to remove it to get the timing belt job done, so if it's old or worn, or making noise, it's about 10 minutes extra work to replace or rebuild. Strongly recommend Toyota part here or high end Japanese component rebuild by a pro.

My two bits!
 
There’s absolutely nothing on the WP indicating it’s Aisin. Maybe I don’t know where to look but that’s the only piece that I’m slightly worried about. I think Onur said it was good though and I trust him. There a bunch of tools to buy to do this job too. I’ll list them or at least what I bought or thought about buying

Here’s some of my mishmash notes:
Fan bracket with bearing fairly common to go bad - added to amazon cart
Torque wrench that goes to 181 ftlb

Find out which Anti freeze it takes. The 2004 might take a newer style of red anti freeze and then the seal pack fipg has to be the special kind (in the green tube). Otherwise, the fipg I have can be used.

Trying to find part numbers for cam seals and crankshaft seals, will need spanner wrench. People say only replace if they are leaking. Seems like a good thing to replace

I just received my Aisin TKT-021 (packaged 2/17/20) kit from Amazon and the water pump has an Aisin sticker on it and Aisin is stamped into the casting. Good to go there. It came with Koyo idlers, NTN tensioner, and Mitsuboshi timing belt. I also added a Bando serpentine belt and am still deciding on the fan bracket.

IMG_20200712_135724.jpg
 
I've actually used 4 of those kits in 3 2UZ based vehicles I own and they were all top notch.
 
Awesome! That’s great to hear thank you all.
 
Apologies if this has been discussed before. Can’t find the answer I’m looking for.

Can the special tools listed in the service manual for timing belt change be substituted by tool rentals at an auto parts store? Or are they so specialized that they must be factory tools?
Thanks for any advice/knowledge
 
In case anyone else is searching for an answer to specialty tools. The only one I absolutely needed was the tool for the harmonic balancer. I purchased the one linked above on Amazon. One issue I had with it was the bolts that came with it were incorrect thread. I purchased correct bolts at Ace. And I used a 14” long piece of 1.5” square tubing to hold the tool from rotating by resting tubing against frame rail.
I simply used a ratchet and socket or wrench to rotate cams what little I needed.
The job was fairly easy for me. I also have a factory service manual which I followed. I did it over a week after work. I also replaced water pump, thermostat, alternator, fan bracket, and a/c compressor. All were Denso or Aisin parts. I also replaced the a/c condenser using aftermarket based on advice from my A/C guy. Toyota was three times as much. We’ll see if that was a mistake. Oh…also replaced all pulleys, idlers, tensioners, etc. I should be good for another 90k without issue!

ED8B666D-02BC-4AA0-9302-8CD7D8155970.jpeg
 
Recently did this job and have a few tips

1. Order a new fan clutch. The nuts attaching my clutch to the bracket were half rounded and only rounding off more. Maybe my 12mm wrench is really out of spec but I ended up sawzalling the clutch in half to get an extractor on the nuts. Can always return it if you don't want to replace it
2. Replacing the radiator at the same time opens up a lot of room
3. As mentioned above, just order Aisin where you can. I used Gates 90K38488 kit for the serpentine belt stuff, and a Denso rad
4. Keep everything well organized as you take it off

Pretty easy job once everything was off and setting the timing with the Mitsuboshi belt felt like cheating
 

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