After about 4K miles on borrowed time, I had the dealer replace the timing belt today. I was tempted to tackle the job myself until it became clear (but only by removing the timing belt cover and looking for and finding coolant smegma) that it also needed a water pump. And, from past constant exposure to overmaintainers and worriers online, I kinda wanted fresh ATF; it'd been changed after 61K kinda hard miles and so it had well over 80K mi on this Dexron. But all this meant making a mess of someone's garage, and I decided better theirs than mine...

By the way, when I switched from the mushy/flimsy Toyo Proxes T1-Ss to real tires (Goodyear F1 GS-D3s) 2 months ago, I noticed the transmission adapted once it was again fully able to feel the difference between a too-firm and a too-mushy upshift. It happened at least as well as when the car was brand new, so I knew the AT/ATF was still doing well, even though it had been unable to self-adjust properly/fully with the Toyos on.

This dealer marks parts up from list price, so I felt free to haggle over the service bill (beforehand) much as I would if buying a new car. Turns out they had quite a bit of, er, room (to move their price downward) in some regards, but it was still a fairly stiff tab, with ~ $180 for the water pump installed plus a new drive (costs more than the timing!) belt. I'd done some price-checking before taking the car in; some places said there were 2 different pumps; one about $20 more than the other. Another said it was different if the car was turbo'd or not. The local dealer had one pump, so that was it. I guess. I snapped a pic of the 2 (see below); different impeller vanes and slightly different housing. Actually, it appears the new pump might, at low speeds anyway, do more pumping/work (ie, greater parasitic power drain).

The tech noticed that the engine mount under the crankshaft pulley had begun to "sink" (compress?) and was headed for need of replacement.

The tech wasn't going to, but I persuaded him to reset the AT's ECU so it would re-calibrate/re-learn from the harsh side rather than the slippy side. This denied me the chance to feel how much slipperier the new Dexron felt to the AT than the old ATF, but learning required was so slight and subtle (again, better than when brand new) that I'm satisfied the tranny is happy now, though I cannot tell how/if it is any happier than it was 2 months ago with 83K mi on the Dexron. The tech's ECU scan tool said something about lack of rear wheels turning (no ABS signal), but I've experienced no braking anomalies; could the ECU be remembering some handbrake turns from last winter??

By the way2, I put on about 300 miles one day earlier this week (half interstate, half of that 75 mph zone, half of the rest congested but no dead stops; the rest was 2-lane of varying rural/urban mix) round trip and saw 27.7 mpg. There's less air resistance/drag at altitude, but this is still pretty good, considering... (I doubt the new S60R can match this.)

FYI, the tech says the little silver timing belt maint date underhood stickers no longer stay put as they used to, so rather than removing the old one I just marked it.

Finally, one of the suits up front said he thought the S60R would become a regular (not limited) production model by 2Q04. Can anyone confirm this?

Roll on,

- Dave; '95 854T, 145K mi