i am looking at having the timing belt on my 2002 Kia replaced. i was told while I was having the belt replaced I should have the pully and tensioner replaced. So is what I need;
1. one timing belt
2. one Timing Belt Tensioner
3. one T-Belt Tensioner Pulley
From looking at an online parts dealer the belt runs about $75. The Tensioner at $22 and pully at $15. Yet Autozone has a part called a COMP Cams/Hi-Tech Belt Drive System Standard Belt Tensioner - 50-State Legal for $123. So do I need it also, or do the 3 items I have listed cover what I need to order?
get the water pump done at the same time, and save a lot of grief later.
You do not need the $123 assemblage. The three parts you listed are fine. Since the vehicle is 8 years young, the water pump is a good idea too, as Ignoramus suggested.
But I’m puzzled. You said “having the timing belt replaced”. If you’re having it done, why would you not let the shop get the parts?
My local mechanic will do the labor and i can buy the parts at a much reduced cost over what it costs him to get them. Not sure if I can afford adding the water pump in, it’s going to be tight just replacing the belt.
What does the $123 part do that the other two I listed don’t do?
There is very little extra labor involved in replacing the water pump. If it fails, your labor basically goes up to the same as to replace the timing belt again, so an extra $100 or less today could grow later to $300 or more in the future if you don’t do it now.
You are correct, but if you don’t have the $100 right now, it’s really a moot point. coming up with the monies just to change out the belt without even doing the other items i listed is going to be tough, so the waterpump may have to wait, or I push the entire project back 3-4 months.
I believe that part is the same thing as the $22 part, it’s just a more durable performance version for if you were hot rodding your engine. As most drivers of Kia minivans do.
I also vote for water pump or you ma be sorry!
Water pump is prudent but not essential.
If it is visibly leaking definitely scrape, beg, borrow or steal and put one in.
However in my 22 years of owning timing belt equipped cars mostly with two timings belts changed in my ownership I have never done a water pump. Maybe sheer luck but no issues with water pump. This is with Subaru(s), Honda, Toyota, and VW.
Not replacing the water pump may be something that will come back and bite you; as a number of people have found out over the years.
Much depends on if you’re a high stakes gambler or not.
Comp cams is a high performance aftermarket company. Their tensioner does the same thing as the regular one you mentioned before, but is much more durable than the original. It is not required, and you probably don’t need one that bulletproof.
I know you stated that money’s tight right now, but along the same lines as the whole ‘gambling’ topic, one benefit of having the shop doing the work secure the parts for you is that if something goes wrong with the parts (which certainly does happen from time to time), the shop that bought and installed the parts is responsible for fixing your car. When you carry in your own parts, there is no warranty on the work done unless you can prove the workmanship was at fault, which is usually impossible or close to it to prove. It’s not that your mechanic has to pay more for the parts (the opposite is true), it’s that your mechanic marks up the parts for a couple of reasons: 1. mechanics have to eat and support their families like everyone else, and 2. in case something goes wrong with the parts he bought and installed and he has to deal with the headache of dealing with the parts jobber and doing the job over again for free. Carrying in your own parts can save you some money, unless something goes wrong with the parts. Then it ends up costing you twice as much.
My local mechanic had once told me (for a difficult to find part) that if I could find the part he would install it.
Is this becoming more common now, with the internet discount purchasing, for owners to buy their own parts? I kinda like the idea because then I know exactly what I am getting. The only negative would be if you make a mistake and get the wrong part.
Don’t mechanics mark-up the price of the part? They would miss out on that profit?
On my 2002 Sienna, the book says INSPECT the water pump when replacing the timing belt. I told them to replace the water pump if it needed it. They told me it did not.
However, next time, I will have it replaced, even if they think it’s good. Not only is nine years plenty, but I will have a new water pump which should then last as long as the car does.
I am assuming water pump life is connected with keeping the cooling system well cleaned and protected.