tomstep2

Hello everyone,

Hope everyone has a Great Thanksgiving! I just wanted to share my experience with my timing belt change on my 1993 ES300. I had my timing belt, water pump, thermostat, radiator and power steering & alternator belts changed. I went the cheap route and chose to NOT replace my tensioners as they both appeared to not need to be changed. All of this was done back in July. Last week, my car suddenly started to run rough and would not go over 1500 RPM's. I had it towed and it turned out that the tensioners had gone bad. One completely exploded and ball bearings were all in the timing belt compartment. One bearing got stuck in the water pump pulley.

Long story short, in order to save $70 and go cheap, it has cost me an additional $450 in the long run as I have had to now pay for the labor again, the new tensioners and a new water pump.

If you are having your timing belt changed, HAVE THE TENSIONERS replaced! The added cost is very little in comparison to having the entire job done again a few months later.

Thanks for reading!

GEORGE_JET

I would have to agree that changing the tensioners is a good idea. The bearings may have been fine when you replaced the belt, but they obviously did not last. It is far too much work to have to go back and do it twice. I know how you feel, I have been there, done that. I will not do it again.

jem1660

How much did the initial Timing Belt work run you (minus having to take it back). Also, how much more would the tensioners be on that initial total? Thanks!

llcoolpass

this is a great piece of advice. so now you people konw why I always say to replace those things, including the hydraulic tensioner [not just the tensioner pulley like tomstep2 is talking of].

wait, you did have them replace the hydraulic tensioner too, right???

tomstep2

The entire job cost me a little over $500 the first time, that was for water pump, thermostat, radiator, timing belt, power steering & alternatore belts and a 75 mile tow. My mechanic checked the both the idler & hydraulic tensioner and both seemed fine.

The second time, they hydraulic tensioner had locked up and shifted, allowing the ball bearings to float freely around the timing housing and then my idler tensioner locked up. On of the bearings found it's way into the pulley on the new water pump and didn't lock it up, but it had some reisistance when turning by hand. Luckily, the timing belt only skipped 2 teeth and the belt looked fine, but I went ahead and had a new belt installed.

So now, just 6 months after the initial repair, I have had to re-replace the water pump and timing belt and also replace both tensioners. If I would have had them done initially as a precaution, it would have cost me an extra $75 bucks. Now it has cost me over $300 in parts & labor. I would love to have the $225 that I would have saved if I had them done to begin with.

llcoolpass

"wait, you did have them replace the hydraulic tensioner too, right???"

??

tomstep2

Yes, both were replaced. I am not paying to have it all done again.