Did a search on this product and didn’t come up with much on Contitech timing belts, so thought I’d post this up!
I just had the timing belt, water pump, and pulleys replaced on my '02 Tacoma 3.4L. I asked for a quote to have the job done solely with Toyota parts. They gave me an estimate to replace the timing belt and quoted me on a TKT-025 kit which looks to be made by AISIN- the supplier for the Toyota OE, and also very popular with the Tacoma DIY timing belt crowd. In the past, I’ve had some major failures with non-OE aftermarket parts. The timing belt and water pump is critical, so it isn’t where I’d ever want to skimp especially since I use this vehicle primarily for long, remote trips on and off road…
So I dropped off the truck, and short of writing it down I stressed again that I wanted everything to be original equipment- best of the best. Told them I’d be more than happy to let them keep it for a week and a half to two weeks if they needed extra time to get the right parts. The next day, the tech who did the job called me to tell me he replaced the timing belt, with a Contitech kit (PP271LK1 made by Continental). This includes the water pump, pulleys, belt, and tensioner. I was initially puzzled since it didn’t sound 100% OE as far as I could tell but figured it probably had OE parts like the pump and pulleys, but with the Continental belt. Picked up the truck and finally had some time to do some research. The Contitech kit looks like the European counterpart to Aisin (which was what the tech told me). Pricewise it’s about the same, however, I’m also unable to find any feedback from those who have used these kits and how good they actually are. Comparing the estimate to the receipt, the shop also charged me more for this kit than the AISIN (OE) what was originally quoted. I called to ask why they didn’t use Aisin and their response was that the Aisin would have taken longer to arrive- which was the reason why I was fine with leaving it for an extended time…
So my two-pronged question is since I’m probably stuck with it, has anyone around here has had good experiences with Contitech timing belt kits? From what I read, their belts are great, but what about the water pump, pulleys, etc?? Also, I’m probably going to ask the shop to provide an extended warranty since it wasn’t the part I requested and needs to last 90K miles before being replaced again. A little disappointing…
Either way, I’d love to hear other people’s input on this. I do a majority of the maintenance myself and haven’t had to deal with a shop in some time. Overall, I liked the work they did and their honesty, but wish they had followed my request.
Thanks!