Sorry, I didn't finish my thought. It was just a really good deal. Other shops here in town were going to charge 700-900 just for the starter replacement, so 1200 for starter, timing belt and water pump was a good deal. Way better than I expected from a dealer.

Also for background, the starter on these motors are located in the V of the engine below the intake manifold.

Starter replacement in the UZ engine is a nightmare. Would do 5 timing belts before doing the starter again.

10andBOUNCE said:

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If you haven't already, double check it is in fact a timing belt. I just took in my mid-2000s Toyota thinking I needed to have it done, but they told me I had a timing chain, which is supposed to last forever.

But I'm sure you know what you're doing, unlike me.

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Was told on a couple of occasions by a stealership that my 06 Tundra had a chain and don't worry about it. Did some research on my own and changed the first timing belt at 220,000 miles. Won't wait that long the next time.

Job requirements for service writer or car salesman are: GED and arrogance.

DP

Well hell, triple post!

AgOutsideAustin said:

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10andBOUNCE said:

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If you haven't already, double check it is in fact a timing belt. I just took in my mid-2000s Toyota thinking I needed to have it done, but they told me I had a timing chain, which is supposed to last forever.

But I'm sure you know what you're doing, unlike me.

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Was told on a couple of occasions by a stealership that my 06 Tundra had a chain and don't worry about it. Did some research on my own and changed the first timing belt at 220,000 miles. Won't wait that long the next time.

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So you never looked at the maintenance requirements on a vehicle with that many miles?

I asked the dealer at 100k about the belt and was told I had a chain. Asked again years later and was told a second time I had a chain. I won't leave it up to somebody else again after my mistake. Made sure to research on my own if my 04 accord and 05 civic had belts or chains.

You are a lot better at going by the manual and performing preventative maintenance than I am.

To be honest we have always owned Honda cars and Toyota trucks. They all had timing belts so it was just part of the "maintenance" schedule.

Typically we would sell a car before it needed it, but once the kids started driving old beater vehicles Mr Dubi had to do quite a few of them. Our oldest son had a Tucson that needed it every 60k miles. When it came around the 2nd time we prayed he would sell it.

The truck was delivered to the repair shop today. So I guess I "made it." Didn't have a catastrophe before timing belt replacement. 2003 to 2018. Fingers crossed this will mean things are okay for a long time.

So when do spark plugs need changing?

It is time for the plugs!

If you can remove the plugs without disconnecting too much other stuff (intake, etc) - do that job yourself. Dealer will nail you with labor charges on plug change.