Hi all,
Just had a leak in the radiator of my 1995 GS300. Since it has been six years ago that the timing belt was changed (and 90.000 km) it makes sense to me to have my independent mechanic do both in one fell swoop. It should save on labor, since removing the radiator makes the timing belt replacement easier. Now, I was wondering whether to do the water pump at the same time or not? I kind of assume that both timing belt and water pump were replaced together the last time, but it does not show as such in my maintenance records. The last replacement was done by the Lexus dealer. So, is a water pump ready for (preventive) replacement after 90.000 km/60k miles or should it last longer? Does it make sense to replace both items at the same time, because labor is a major part of the cost of this maintenance? I know that for many cars this holds true, since basically the same parts need to be disassembled to get to both timing belt and water pump, but I don't know if this holds true for the 2JZ engine.
Any insight is appreciated.