I can't speak to the quality of aftermarket water pumps for Toyotas...but in my days of working on VWs we always insisted on either OEM pumps (not official VW marked parts, but same manufacturer / quality), or high quality aftermarket parts (Airtex, or similar). Compared to a "genuine" part, they might be 20-40% less cost...but trying to squeeze out more savings and dropping to the lower tier parts is a bad idea in my opinion. Often the impellers were stamped steel vs cast (and what appeared to be much less effective pumping geometry)...The more concerning deficiency was the longevity of the seals and bearings...a year or two compared to 6-10 years for a quality part...

SO...if your $40 kit includes a water pump, there is almost no way I would use it. And if it's $40 for just the belt, it may be ok...but if it contains a tensioner or idler pulley, I'd be suspicious of it. $200 doesn't sound like an excessive price to me for a quality belt, tensioner and water pump...and whatever gaskets and hardware. I also wouldn't be surprised if you could get a quality kit for less than $200...but $40? I'm suspicious.

Do you have links to the $40 kit and the $200 kit?

 

For example, this kit for $120 looks pretty good. Gates makes good belts...not sure where they get their water pumps, but they have good brand reputation so I would expect them to have quality parts.


Gates timing belt water pump kit

 

This is the kit I used. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aisin-TKT-...-Highlander-Sienna-ES300-/123445852326?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c1#viTabs_0

 

The kits don't all have the same amount of replacement parts. A lot of times it's not the belts that fail but the other components like rollers and guides. For $40 I doubt you get much more than the belt.

 

Just an example, not buying it. Wrong year, the tensioner's mount differs.


(listing in link was removed)

 

As far as I know Aisin is the OEM for the pump, so I think their other parts would be good.

As for $40 for the complete kit including water pump, IMHO I would not use it. It too much labor for a bad part in that area.

 

When I did my timing belt, I used the AISIN kit, this was 3 years ago (about 60000KM). the AISIN water pump looked identical to the Toyota part. The only difference I remember was the Toyota symbol wasn't on the replacement pump but where "Toyota" was stamped on the original pump, the replacement pump had just a blank spot exactly where the original pump had Toyota stamped on it. The gasket for the pump was very high quality metal/rubber. (I bought a gates kit for an elantra I used to have, came with a paper gasket. I took great care cleaning the mating surfaces, was pretty much a mirror finish, leaked from day 1, having to do the whole job again because of this paper gasket was a complete PITA, I ended up buying a rubber gasket and it never leaked again)
The belt that came with it (Mitsuboshi) also had 3 lines on it making it almost foolproof to line up the belt with the dots on the crankshaft and camshafts pulleys. I also recommend spending a few extra bucks and using the Toyota coolant (it comes concentrated, just mix with distilled water), after looking at the surfaces exposed to coolant on the original pump it looked brand new, I am sure the previous owner never changed the coolant. The idler and tensioner also looked identical to the original.
When I replaced the belt / pump / idler / tensioner on a Audi A4 I used a continental kit, this also seemed to be very good quality. I will NEVER buy another gates kit again. Out of the 3 vehicles I have done the gates is the only one that gave me trouble, terrible experience. For the amount of time it takes to do the job I Highly recommend the AISIN kit.

 

There are two prices you can pay for oats: they are much cheaper after the horse eats them.

 

What is it with girls and horses anyway?

I will NEVER buy another gates kit again. Out of the 3 vehicles I have done the gates is the only one that gave me trouble, terrible experience.

Finally, a testimonial of failure. The cheap kits can't be too bad, couldn't find any complaints.

Even if nobody buys them they still serve to lower the price of the good stuff. GM use to charge $1000sh for a fender unless there were a after market fender available. Then GM charged $150sh.

 

Hey Circus,

We need an update lol. It's been 6 years. so what did you end up buying, results?

 

Hey Circus,

We need an update lol. It's been 6 years. so what did you end up buying, results?

Seeing that my 99 engine is non-interference I figured "what do I have to lose?. Bought a $60 complete kit with valve cover gaskets. Only drawback was the the belt had no white markings so I marked the old belt before removing then transferred the marks onto the new belt. Good so far.
I believe the 01 has an interference engine. A broke belt might destroy an interference engine. Think I'd buy the best I could find if it was mine.

 

Hiya Circus,

Yep, 01 has the interference VVT-I (awe crap if one screws up) engine. I went in for a complete Aisin kit, they said it looks like it had just been done (Toyota stuff), not even a bit of dust on it.

I was thinking, just in case of a perfect Looking belt, but not knowing if it was real, a fake, or the old 45k/15year one looked good from the second change at the dealer, to do it all at 100k, Aisin style with t/c seals for a baseline, and then knowing what I Really have to work with.

Thanks for your reply, understanding why you went that way too.