Ok I got 135k and I think its time for me to do my timing belt this summer. Beside the timing belt, what else should I change? I got a RS model & auto. Should I get OEM parts or just from any autopart store?

 

water pump.

let me put it this way... if you care about your car, get oem parts. if you dont care, then get the cheapest stuff available. both work, you just dont know about the reliability/quality of the later.

 

Most people say to change the water pump at the same time. Once the timing belt is off, the water pump is right there. Same story with the timing belt tensioner pulley. If you do this yourself, ask yourself if you'd really be upset if you had to dismantle it all over again within a year to change either one of those things...

As long as you have to take stuff off, how about a valve cover gasket. Don't forget the round seals for the spark plug tubes & those 8 rubber grommets on the VC hold-down studs.

Autoparts stores have good & bad stuff; you have to know which brands are good & which aren't. Since you're 'planning' to do this, you've got time to order genuine parts from someplace like ahmotor.com or some other places like that. If your belt broke & you have to fix it TODAY then you're stuck...

 

For things that can destroy my engine if they go bad or break, I like to use OEM (timing belt for example). Other things like axles I just use auto parts stores remanufactured axles w/ lifetime warranty, since it has all new parts anyway except for the axle shaft itself, and it can replaced for free in the future if it ever goes bad.

I also like to use OEM stuff if it's not too expensive, like distributor cap, rotor, gaskets, seals, etc.

 

I am getting all OEM stuff for when I do mine. I already ordered a VC gasket kit from Marcus at Heeltoe, or Mr Heeltoe on this board, hes got good prices on OEM stuff, contact him.