The S

So my 2005 RX330 is literally approaching 90k miles within the next 20 miles or so and I figured it's time to do the following maintenance:

Timing Belt
Water Pump

Does 90k seem appropriate to change this or should I hold out til 100k? I'm not trying to push this maintenance longer than it should be since it is a 2005 model and thus it's already an 8 year old, approaching 9 years. I've searched and some have said to take care of it now but some have mentioned to keep going.

Also, what else would you guys recommend doing at this point while the car is being serviced?

Thanks in advance!

RX330inFL

The timing belt and water pump issues have been discussed on a regular basis here at CL. For example:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...-thoughts.html

As for what to replace at that time, you should replace all the seals, etc. that are accessible along with the drive belts. The kits from Sewell give you a good idea of the parts list:

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/accesso...2005/4638.html

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/accesso...2005/3404.html

The S

Thanks for the feedback. I will go ahead and have it all changed on my next visit.

ebear695

i'M RIGHT THERE WITH YOU S! I'm taking some salt with all the people who have gone 120k and longer for the service, 90,000 recommended seems resonable, 72 months, no way! Belt failures can almost never be predicted (one that cant be inspected). It's all peice of mind and the possible worry of what might happen if the timing belt does fail. It all come down to money! Dealers make their money in the service department, not sales, Indies make their money from service! and the world goes around.

My former mechanic est $1600 for the job, that's why he's my former mechanic, can't trust him any more. Another recommended on this site indie est $1200, both are much higher than others state, but I'm in SoCal, everything costs more here.

So to answer your other question as to what else to do, I say thermostat (some thing thats over looked) and spark plugs!

The S

ebear695, that's the reason of my post with all the reading about people going 120k with this. While I like to gamble in general, I just don't think I could go that far in mileage without feeling nervous. It simply isn't worth the risk and money for me. I know I will be driving this car as my family vehicle for quite some time so it's unavoidable.

My mechanic, IIRC, is quoting me around $500 for this job which seems pretty darn good. He's worked on my prior cars in the past so I'm comfortable with him taking on the job.

RX330inFL

That low a price should be a red flag for further investigation. As you could see from URL link I provided previous the OEM price on the needed parts can quickly approach that number. So, one might assume you would be getting third-party parts or even the possibility of a remanufactured water pump. Personally, I would want to know more about what would be going into my vehicle. Also, would want to make sure all the seals were included in the price, etc.

This is also not a quick job. Not real hard for an experienced tech, however, you are normally charged by the book rate and not the actual time it takes to accomplish the job. If the book says it is a 3 hour job then that is what you are billed even if it only takes a small fraction of that.

The S

Unless I'm mistaken, he is only doing just the water pump and timing belt. He even asked me if I wanted OEM or aftermarket but of course I opted for OEM parts. I will confirm with him again when I drop off the car but this is what I remember. If the price goes up by a few hundred, I won't be terribly mad since I do realize it's a timely job and I do not want it rushed.

I will ask him to do the seals, tensioner and other items as well since that seems like the practice here in addition to this job.

cdnewton

The independent that I use only works on Toyota & Lexus. They charge $198 (when I had it done, it was $189) for the belt and if you add the water pump, it adds about $250 to the price. I also had them replace the serpentine belt and tensioner.

When I had it done a few years ago, the price for those items was right around $500 and this was using OEM Toyota parts .... I had that completed at about 93,000 miles and our RX just crossed 175,000 miles. At 93K, the belt looked to be in very good shape.

BTW, Lexus wanted in excess of $1500 for the same service.