One repair shop on the phone says I will need new water pump, coolant flush and *850.00. On the other hand the dealer says I may need tow other drive belts (alternator +). Second dealer says I may need a water pump! I do not wish to get stuck with extra costs! any one with experience?
my question to you is .why are you going to a dealer for repairs on a 1998 car? there are plenty of good repair facilities out there you just have to ask around. and yes i would also replace the water pump at this time and have them use a timing belt kit .
You might as well - it's past its life expectancy and is likely to go soon. To do it now is a lot less expensive than tearing everything apart again later. And when you change the water pump, you have to change the coolant too.
On a 10 year-old car, if those parts have never been changed, then it's a good time to do it. The alternator and other belts have to come off to do the timing belt. The water pump is in there, too. When it fails, then the same parts you're just having replaced have to be removed to replace it. The incremental cost to replace the belts and water pump when you're replacing a timing belt is little more than the parts themselves. It's relatively cheap insurance against additional expense in the future. Finally, if the water pump is being replaced, the coolant has to be drained anyway. If the coolant is more than 3 years old, flushing/replacing it is recommended anyway. Just be sure that the shop isn't billing you the book time for each of these jobs individually. By doing it all together they have significant time (and cost) savings.
Do you NEED a new water pump? No. Is it a good idea at this mileage to do the WP with the T-belt? Yes. The reason being if the water pump were not replaced and it were to fail at some point in the future you would have to pay all of that labor again since the timing belt has to be removed to get at it. Now the pump may never fail but it could which is why this is recommended as preventive maintenance. A T-belt on this car whether 4 or 6-cylinder books for 3.0 hours of labor time. Adding the water pump while the mechanic is already in there just adds 0.4 to 0.7 hours of labor time and the cost of the pump and coolant flush. Since the coolant flush is probably due anyway that really isn't even an additional cost. Similarly, the accessory drive belts have to come off when doing the timing belt. If they are worn or still original there is no labor additional charge to replace them at this time, just the cost of the parts. In the end it is up to you. To save money now you can opt just to replace the Timing Belt and perhaps the accessory belts as well and leave the pump alone. Ideally a water pump will last the life of the engine but then my shop replaces 4-5 water pumps a week that have failed so it can and does happen. If you opt to leave it alone just keep in mind that if it does fail you will have to pay all that labor a second time. If your willing to take that risk then....
Read your manual. Chances are your camry has treated you very well. Do the same for it. Yes, get a water Pump. It is not that expensive.
