2005 Elanta owner, 67K miles. Looking to have the belt replaced proactively (well, sort of, past time and mileage recommendations already). Trusted neighborhood mechanic is recommending the full meal deal, timing belt, water pump, coolant flush (which I had done last year), but as part of the timing belt replacement doing the whole timing belt kit with 2 pulleys rather than just the belt.

I understand the benefits of doing the water pump while he's in there, but is it really necessary to install the whole timing belt kit? ALso, why do the coolant so soon?

If I take his advice, I'm out 720 plus tax, whereas if I just do the timing belt at box store it's $300 p.t.


Thanks for your insights.

 

Are you the original owner?

Well, replacing the water pump will require replacing half or more of the coolant so flushing the system is just part of the deal. You wouldn't want to save and reuse the coolant in there now.

And yes, I would go wit the full kit because the tensioner could fail if you reuse the original.