When my wife drove that car it suddenly stopped working by exuding yellow
water (I guess it was coolant). Towed to dealer and dealer said the water
pump was broken and also damaged the timing belt. In our normal drive there
is no any symptom that water pump is dying or finding leaking under it.

1. Why did water pump stop working suddenly? Does it happen to other Camrys
for the same model year?
2. How can water pump cause problem in timing belt? Timing belt is separated
from water pump and is supposed to be replaced at 90k miles based on manual
..
3. Dealer changed with a new water pump, new timing belt, and other
maintenance work which I am not sure if it is necessasary as below (my car
is 64k miles), are these charges reasonable?

- timing belt $200 including parts & labor
- water pump, thermostat, related gasket and coolant $260 including parts &
labor
- front engine seal & oil pump seal & o-ring $220 including parts & labor
- drive belt $49 without labor

I haven't performed 60k recommended service yet but went to dealer for
regular oil change and is never told the potential water pump problem.
Please guide if there is anything wrong in this process. Thanks!

Your prices were to high for what was done a pump and belt should not
have been 730 as to why he did the oil pump gasket who knows. But to
have the motor stop working, you may have alot more serious damage from
overheating. I dont know how it would affect the belt but changing it
while he is replacing the pump at those miles was a good idea. A regular
mechanic might have been 400

Water pump probably seized and broke the timing belt.

A Camry should be letting out red or pink coolant, not
yellow/gold/green. Somebody refilled with the wrong coolant (possibly
with silicates that grind the water pump seal), and that's probably the
reason for the failure. Who changed the coolant?

The parts used look reasonable for a complete job. The oil pump seals
is like a camshaft seal. It's good to do with the things apart. Oils
seals were a bit expensive at $220, water pump could use "incremental
cost" instead of full cost as if you are doing it separately. But
that's how they make money. T-belt at $200 is reasonable for a dealer,
which means already over-priced. They put on the drive belt for no
labor? What a deal ;)

But it's done and you already paid. If you stopped immediately (or the
engine did), there should be no harm done.

I changed the coolant around 30k by myself with genuine coolant from dealer.
I mixed it with distilled water as instructed.

<johngdole@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1141352194.227118.308490@j33g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...

johngdole@hotmail.com wrote:
When my radiator and water pump needed replacing, the Stealership
mechanic told me there was a special on timing belt replacement, and to
just have the water pump installed along with the timing belt, to save
some money. Not sure if it really saved me money, since I remember
paying about $400 for labor, water pump and timing belt.


Jiyang, if there's an AutoZone near you, ask them who they recommend as
a mechanic, who knows how to work on Toyotas. Give them a try - you
might like them more than the Stealership.

"Jiyang Hu" <jiyang_hu@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eJtNf.26242$_S7.12363@newssvr14.news.prodigy. com...
Sometimes they just fail early,..its a fact of life.



As the pump bearing starts to disintegrate due water ingress, the pump
pulley starts to run off centre or even sieze causing the timing belt (which
is driving the pump) to become damaged,..mostly teeth torn off it.

This is the "factory red" coolant I assume. The new factory "pink" is
pre-mixed and should not have any more water added. Neither are
"yellow", gold, or green.