I have a friend that has a 2001 Camry 4 cyl. Been leaking antifreeze. Took it to the Toyota dealership and they said she had a bad freeze plug. It is behind the timing belt and water pump and quoted her $1,300 for the repair. Can someone attest to this price? Also, I am a pretty handy guy and wondering how involved/tough of a job this is?

 

Never done this particular job however:

The cost is in needing to remove a lot of parts to get to the freeze plug. Twenty years ago a Toyota dealer timing belt change was quoted at $500 so adjust for inflation. Add a new water pump and the price increased by $250. Toyota dealer prices are typically much higher then an independent shop so get quotes here also.

Is the dealer going to replace the timing belt and other parts which added to the quotes cost? If you are going to take the engine apart might as well change the belt as you have already done most of the work to get at the belt.

Its not a hard job to get to the the plug but if doing it the first time it can be time consuming and frustrating. One issue is lack of clearance between the engine and chassis for hands and tools.

This engine is a 5SFE which is extremely common. Search the internet for videos and articles on changing this engines timing belt as you will be going through many of the same steps to get to the plug. Some include what tools are required.

The main concern may be installing the new plug. Again there is not a lot of clearance to use a tool to force it into place. Here you may need to be creative to get the job done..