Bluesman

Comments ?

Complaint - Antifreeze leak
Cause - Water Pump/Engine Block Center plate
Correction - Installed new OEM water pump, timing belt, front crank seal and drive belts.
Removed upper and lower intake, resealed center engine block cover.
Installed thermostat and O-Ring, re-intalled intake manifolds, filled w/ antifreeze, bled off and checked for leaks.

Water pump 110
timing belt 55
front crank seal 7
drive belts 33
intake gasket 30
thermostat 16
O-Ring 5
gasket 10
supplies 12
labor 545

total 855

I had an antifreeze leak. I didn't notice the antifreeze leaking on my driveway. However, while I was Christmas shopping, I saw my temp. guage go from half way to 7/8th of the way in the matter of one mile. I pulled over and saw that I was low on antifreeze. Evidently, I had a leak in two areas. I saw the dried red antifreeze in the engine. Also, the bearings in the waterpump were bad. Since I ended up changing the water pump, I decided to change the belts as well. I was planning on waiting until 110k-120k miles to change the belts and water pump, but, unfortunately, I had to do it now. I took a look at my original belt and it still looked good. My mechanic stated that the pump usually goes before the belt which contradicts what many have said on this forum. I mentioned that I have read that many suggest not changing the water pump when changing the belts because the pump rarely goes bad. He disagreed. He used to be a master mechanic at Lexus. I was just wondering what comments other may have.

Thanks.

Pheonix

He musta worked for Lexus. Almost everything on that list, including labor, is double the charge it should have been. Minus the water pump itself, which normally can be found for $75.
Not to mention there was no reason for an intake manifold gasket, gasket, or supplies.

Drive belts are the only thing on that list that are a normal charge.
Dude you shoulda just gone to the freaking dealer. They wouldn't have ripped you off any worse.

For $855 he should have changed your radiator too.


Pumps normally fail before belts. The simple fact is people don't do maintenece like changing anti-freeze which becomes extremely corrosive as soon as the rust inhibitors break down. The race isn't the pump VS the belt. It's the pump fins corroding off VS the radiator busting from geling up.



Flush your coolant every other year.

Bluesman

Thanks for the reply.

I was hoping to change the timing belt and water pump when I was "ready" to do so. I wanted to purchase the parts beforehand to avoid overpaying for parts. Unfortunately, things unfolded the way they did. My mechanic is not cheap. I know that. His labor charge is about $15 an hour less than Lexus. The thing I'm wondering is whether or not he is completely honest all the time. I don't trust the dealer. Recently, my steering fluid was deemed to be leaking by the dealer and they gave me an estimate of $900 to repair it. Rediculous. My mechanic repaired it for less than half the cost. He only needed to replace the power steering pump. Hence, if you can imagine, this scored points with me. I like the fact that he worked for Lexus. I also like the fact that he shows me what's wrong and shows me all the faulty parts he replaced and why he replaced them. I've been generally happy with his work to date. However, I'm skeptical about the last repair. That's why I posted this thread. I guess I'll have to do a little research on parts and labor and then I'll have a better idea.

sub786sub

I changed water pump and timing belt at our local lexus . He charged me $ 600 including labor and parts . I still think he over charged me . I should have gone to Toyota dealer . May be next time .
There is no need to touch intakes .
Next time go to other mechanic or atleast shop arround for better deals and opinions .