My TL doesn't get driven much, except for long trips, hence the low miles. I do all my own work and plan to do the following due to age:

- TB and tensioner
- Accessory belts
- 3x3 auto trans fluid change
- PS fluid flush and replace
- coolant flush and replace
- brake fluid change

I'm thinking I don't need to change the water pump and idlers, because of the low miles. Car runs like new, no codes or fluid leaks and everything works. Car doesn't see winter and has only been rained on a few times.

I'm open to comments on preventative maintenance.

 

Doctor; if you are OPENING her up to perform timing belt surgery, it would be silly not to do the water pump and idlers.
wouldn't want to open her back up again.

in addition; they sell timing belt kits that include the water pump and idlers.

 

If it is open, replace as much as you can if you can afford it. No point in spending the time to change one thing later that you should have when in there already. Just buy the kit, will give you the piece of mind knowing its new parts in there. They are mechanical parts, which mean they will fail eventually. 10k or 100k down the road. Do you want to take that gamble?

 

Thanks for the replies. FWIW - I am buying the entire kit just to have the parts on hand. I'll make my decision on what to replace once I start the TB replacement.

Keep in mind that by 2025 - time for another TB due to age - this car will maybe have 50k on it. That's only half the life of WP and tensioners.

 

it only makes sense to replace all wear and tear items,once in there.
plastic deforms over time(water pump)
hydraulic tensioners can fail without warning

at least, it's common sense to Breezy and myself.

 

If you like tinkering be my guest and save the parts for when you need them. They call it preventative maintenance for a reason... They may be at half the life but they aren't being run at optimal usage. Doesn't mean they will last longer because they are only at 50%. They say do the job 105k or 7-8 years.

Why do you think some car manufactures only put 5 year or 100k miles. They dont want people coming back saying this failed at 50k miles but its 15 years old.

 

I'd definitely do the water pump while doing the TB. The water pump seal can let go and start leaking

 

Thanks for the reply. In my OP I specified timing belt and tensioner. I could have been more clear by specifying hydraulic tensioner initially. I view this component just as critical as the timing belt due to the fact that either can fail, catastrophically, with zero warning.

I will carefully inspect the actual tensioner pulley and idler/tensioner/pulley to see if they need replacement.

 

I really appreciate all the replies and comments. FWIW - I have 4 other older vehicles. Two of them (99 & 02) have their original water pumps, tensioners/idlers/pulleys and 4 times the miles than my TL. The other 2 (98 & 03) have had their water pumps and tensioners/idlers/pullyes replaced, but they have 7 - 8 times more miles than my TL.

Maybe I'm just lucky, or maybe it's the detailed PM's and fluid flushes/changes working to my advantage. Time will tell?

 

actually, I skipped that...ya know selective reading and all.

 

UPDATE: Completed the timing belt replacement (i.e., belt, hydraulic tensioner and both pulleys). I purchase the complete AISIN kit, which included the water pump. I did not replace the water pump, because it functioned just like the new one - zero shaft play. I see no reason it won't go another 50k or more. In my case, that's many years.

Truth be told all the original parts, except the TB, looked and functioned liked the new replacements. So much so, that I had to be careful not to confuse them. The timing belt was in fantastic shape. I inspected it under a 6X loupe and could not find any cracks or appreciable wear. The only obvious differences I could find was the flat side of the belt was slightly burnished from use and it was slightly less supple as the new TB. I'm keeping all the old parts, except TB, because they are in such good condition.

I'm now doing the 3x trans fluid change. FWIW - the old Z1 fluid didn't look to bad.

 

I don't know why you would not have changed the water pump esp since you had a new one..but to each his own. Glad though you reported on the timing belt condition. I've seen the same with low mileage. My two older Acuras were the same- around 13 years on original low mileage belt and hey still were in great shape. Both cars were garage kept however, and also never really used in bad weather.