300000 miles

Definitely do that thermostat as well. I guess mine was on its way out from what my mechanic told me. One of those consumable parts that you just do while you’re in there.

 

I looked it up to refresh my memory

 

how dare you!

Its a sleepy town on the edge of Thousand Oaks. Pretty much surrounded by farm land and plant nurseries. Safest city I have ever lived in. Just close enough to the beach to smell ocean on the right mornings.

 

Goodyear said they can't fix it because of timing belt and two long rods.

Having it towed to Toyota dealer to fix it. High est there is $2000. Could be less. $900 for labor.

 

I have to assume you're in no position to attempt this yourself?
Make sure they discuss replacing the belt, tensioner, idler pulleys, the whole shabang. I would ask for parts to be returned, so you can see the age of the worn items.

 

I wish we knew someone who could fix our vehicles, but no, neither I nor husband are mechanically inclined when it comes to autos. The $2000 quoted by dealer is the "high" quote. I'll see what that will include, hopefully the above mentioned parts will be included. If not, we'll see!

 

OP, that is unreasonably excessive and gouging dishonest pricing. Tow it somewhere honest.

I have THREE 4.7L Toyotas (1 4Runner, 2 Tundras). I literally just had my local auto repair shop do big jobs on all 3. The jobs were basically timing belt, water pump, thermostat, coolant flush, idler pully arm, serpentine, and related gaskets and seals, PCV... maybe other odds and ends. I bought the parts directly from Toyota and gave them to the mechanic. Parts were about $500 and labor around $700-900 or so for each, plus or minus. Each job ended up being somewhere in the $1200-1400 range for all of that parts and labor. (I also did fuel pump and filter on the 4Runner which is very expensive in the gas tank so that was noteworthy and unrelated.)

If the engine is opened for any of these items, timing belt, water pump, etc., you may as well start gutting and replacing. The labor is the expensive part here, so replace anything in reach that is a wear item. That's the smart choice b/c each time you have to open the front it's hundreds of dollars. Belts and parts are comparatively cheap.

Edited: I amended this after just looking at my receipts. Here's what I paid directly from Toyota online for key parts:
Water pump: ~$120
Timing Belt: ~$60
Other parts in this region range from $5 to $60 each, +/-.

Smart money is to just figure what you need for that area, buy it all, while finding a trusty shop to install it all at a reasonable rate. It's a ~5-8 hour job, so any shop billing at $100 hr. is a $800 bill. And plan for ~$500 in all parts.

Spending $1300 this way is far smarter than the quote you were given.

Also, PRO TIP: Always ask for your used parts back. In most states it's the law. This is good to keep the shop honest, but also inspect your used parts for abnormal wear and to keep any serviceable parts (like a good belt or thermostat) on hand for any supply shortage emergencies in case the installed one fails and leaves you stranded in some small town. A small box of old useful parts in your truck for extended journey is a smart play.

 

You may want to get some other quotes. Here's my receipt from the dealer two years ago. Serp belt, timing belt, water pump and Tstat. 1097 dollars out the door.

 

Thanks for posting this. I’ll note your job was a labor quickie where only one gallon of Coolant was replaced/charged (total system holds 3.1 gallon). They hammered you on the V-Belt at $116 which a better Gates HD could be had for $35ish. Another parts hammer was the Water Pump charge seperate from Timing Belt which to Toyotas credit doesn’t sell the kit like Aisin puts together.

Total labor was about $150 an hour based on 5 hour quickie job some mechanic pros have posted that do it for a living. I’m guessing the radiator wasn’t removed. Stealer made out on some parts upcharge, too.

 

I felt the price fair given the amount of work. I got a 700 dollar quote from a private Japanese shop but given that the timing belt is a critical service and it's only performed once every 100k, I chose piece of mind over 300 bucks.

 

Mine a couple years ago was about 1K for timing belt and water pump.

Maybe be interesting to call a few shops and ask how much to replace the timing belt. And whatever else they take off like the water pump.