Good afternoon I have a 1999 rav4 2.0L with 134248 miles two miles, I bought it two months ago. I am not sure if the previous owners have changed it or not. Didn't came with owners manual. Should I change the timming, water pump and the thermostat all together?
Thanks
Sometimes you can remove a cover to look at the condition of the timing belt. If it’s cracked or started to crack. Most definitely change it.
If your timing belt is a PITA to do, I recommend changing the water pump while you are at it.
But if it is relatively easy, no need to.
Changing mine on my 1999 Accord looked to be PITA, so I changed the water pump out. Labor intensive.
Same goes for the thermostat. If it’s in a hard to get to location might as well change it out while you are down there. If it’s easy access, don’t worry about it until you need to.
Thank you, so much
Here is a trick Scotty said to use in one of his responses, check if the timing belt is Toyota branded. If it is, then its the original one and you should change it. If its not, it has been changed.
Also you can easily download a PDF owners manual here: https://www.toyota.com/owners/resources/warranty-owners-manuals/rav4/1999
Good trick.
It’s good practice to change them out together to save on labour costs in case the water pump goes out later.
https://www.toyotanation.com/threads/rav-4-timing-belt-replacement.165914/
Also, if you don’t already have a PDF copy of your owner’s manual -
https://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om-s/OM42478U/pdf/OM42478U_edited.pdf
