Water Pump

[Horton]

My 2001 Epic needs a new timing belt and water pump.  Is the pump marinized or is it the same as the auto?  Anyone in Texas willing to do the work?  Auto mechanics cut me off as soon as they find it is a boat.

[Sammamish Skier]

When I did mine we used a standard ls400 waterpump. From everything that I have read the waterpump is not marinized

[Horton]

Thanks for the reply.  Your posts always seem to be very helpful.  I have since found a Honda mechanic with 20 years of experience that is willing to do the timing belt.  I know that somewhere on this site are instructions with photos that I am going to send him.  He thinks that it will be no problem.  The car folks have no interest in trying and the boat people are afraid of it. Is that your experience?

[Sammamish Skier]

I had a shop do mine. They ended up having to open the engine twice as they had trouble finding the alignment marks due to corrosion and one bank was off 10 degrees. Luckily no damage occured from running the engine.  The shop I used does boats and cars, the toyota dealership wouldn't touch it.

[formerathlete]

Here’s the link to the post I made after doing mine on my 2000. It wasn’t bad if you go slow.

http://www.epicmarine.com/forum/index.php?topic=2751.msg20557#msg20557

[ryan.n]

After 3 years of owning my boat and sweating it out I had my Timing Belt and Waterpump replaced at the beginning of this season. The Waterpump is not marinized and the entire kit was ordered with OEM parts for a Lexus LS400, GS400, or SC400 right from the dealership.

My good friend is the GM at the local Lexus dealership and he linked me up with one of their Lexus mechanics. He has done 150+ car timing belts in his career. He was a bit hesitant, but did some research on this site and tackled it with absolutely no issues. He did it in the dealership's parking lot on a Saturday. His feedback was that it was no different than a car, with the added bonus of more room to work. He didn't even take the ski pylon off.

$260 in parts and $250 in labor and I can breathe easy for the next 10 years. I have a 1999 with 420 hours and the belt was never replaced, and honestly showed little to no signs of wear or Waterpump leakage. But $510 was well worth the peace of mind.   

Best of luck, call the Lexus dealerships in your area and see if you can get a mechanic to moonlight it.