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Thread ID: 146328	2018-07-04 06:08:00	Car- cambelt servicing.	Nomad (952)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1451182	2018-07-04 22:54:00	Are the prices set prices or estimates? Dunno. But I guess given they do them fairly regularly it would be quite accurate. The genuine parts for $450 for my mum's car I rang the dealer so that's what the price is when you walk in and for those (not me) who can DIY it. Edit. I suppose it's not that bad right. Some might say get parts from eBay but the quality might be questionable. I was watching a video on Youtube and one said a customer bought a cambelt kit on eBay and it broke after a few years. If genuine parts are gonna be $450 + OK labour of $450 again. This is something that is done perhaps officially every 5yrs, maybe pushed to 8yrs. It also includes a coolant drain and fill right in most cases? Then again these days with newer cars, even Toyota's have gone away from the transmission dipstick so that might need to be sourced out also. Do new Japanese cars still have a engine oil dipstick? I know that some Euro cars have gone away from that.	Nomad (952)
1451183	2018-07-05 05:05:00	The Cam belt kit will include jockey pulleys/bearings, tensioner (if fitted), water pump (if driven by the cambelt) and the belt itself. Some cars ,Honda Accord, Mitsubishi are examples, have two belts. One for the camshaft, and another to drive a balance shaft. As for DIY, unless you are a competent mechanic with the right tools leave it to the professionals. If you get anything wrong it could ruin the engine. About $600 should cover it. Get several quotes and beware of ripoffs. A timing (cam) belt should be changed at 100,000 K, or every 5 years whichever comes first for a 4 cylinder. You do not give the year & model. The tendency now is to revert to a timing chain instead of a belt, usually lasts the life of the motor. Does your car have a cam belt? I don't buy into the 5 year thing. I do low ks - typically 4-6000 km a year and have only ever worried about the odometer reading for cambelts. My previous car was a 14 year old camry with 100,00 km on the clock and the original cam belt in it. Admittedly that's a V6 not a 4 and toyota recommend changing those particular engine belts at 160,000km My new car has a chain so I don't have to worry. But we live in the age of google so I suggest to do what I did and google your particular car and find out what the manufacturer recommends.	dugimodo (138)
1451184	2018-07-05 05:23:00	i would find a manual on how to do it, especially if you can get your hands on an oem service manual. sometimes there is certain methods or particular order you must do things in, or certain traps or tools required. (eg some require jigs to hold the timing gears in place) diy is easy enough if you have the info on it and know what to expect. many cars now require you to remove a lot of things to get access to certain parts. i finished replacing a head the other day. had to take almost everything off the engine. normally would also have to take the starter motor off, just to get a one bolt which holds one bracket, which holds a pipe thats in the way.	tweak'e (69)
1451185	2018-07-05 07:06:00	Fitter at work done the belt on a Toyota 1800 for me, set the timing a tooth out, cost me another $150 to get it reset.	Whenu (9358)
1451186	2018-07-05 22:30:00	Cost me $800 to get my old Ford Laser done. Incl seals, pulleys/tensioner, water pump etc etc. Sure, there are places that do it much cheaper, but they only replace the $60 belt . I used to DIY , many years back. I could do it in about an hour way back then , was much easier than cars today. Modern small cars are crammed into the engine bay, with not alot of room to work in. Pipes, cables & covers all over the place . :-) The garage will be adding a markup to the cost of parts. Just because you can get parts for $450 doesnt mean thats what the garage will charge for the same parts .	1101 (13337)
1451187	2018-07-06 01:27:00	The garage will be adding a markup to the cost of parts. Just because you can get parts for $450 doesnt mean thats what the garage will charge for the same parts . He did tell me the prices for the parts and then labour. Probably gets parts thru trade prices and then charge me RRP. Dad's Toyota Camry had a drive belt service done in the past and more general garage their labour was $70/hr.	Nomad (952)
1451188	2018-07-07 05:13:00	The funny thing is that no auto manufacturer actually makes any or most of the parts that go into the cam belts . idlers and water pumps, tensioners, etc . etc . These parts are 'jobbed out' to - what else? Job Shops and secondary manufacturers . IOW: GM or FORD do not own nor operate rubber making facilities that make tires, belts, weather stripping, window guides, insulation - the list goes on and on . Bearings and seals too are totally bought from outside, 3rd party manufacturers . Light bulbs, Tires, Wire, Wire connections (Weatherhead comes to mind), Electric motors, Oils, Coolant, Thermostats, Get the idea? So-o-o ---> Where's all this going? Chapter One - YOU DO NOT NEED GENUINE MANUFACTURER'S PARTS FOR YOUR VEHICLE . They may yell that you need their parts and if they had their way, you'd only be able to purchase them if you were also "Dealer Certified" as a mechanic they trained . Heck - they don't even train their own 'mechanics' at dealerships . Most times, dealer mechanics are parts-changers in that they THINK they have an IDEA of what is wrong, so they go to the shelves and install a new part to see if that might fix the problem . If the first part installation did not fix the car ----> they make another calculated guess - CALCULATED by the idea of how much they can charge for performing the labor to keep on installing parts after more parts that MAY fix the problem in the end . Sorry to say - that all the parts they installed while they were whacking at the problem ARE INSTALLED NOW and the owner/customer will pay for them whether they did any good or not . Too Bad 'cause this is very sad in that they don't train their own people since the factory/manufacturer offers schools, seminars, classes and special traveling advisors to visit the shops to teach the dealer's people new skills . The TOO BAD part is that this training costs the dealer $$ - and you can see that he is in business to make money, not pay the help to go to seminars and schooling on his pfennig . Chapter Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Admonishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Get Ye to a private mechanic, have him buy a good name in parts (belts and hoses with the name GATES is a good one as is DAYTON) and remember that GATES or DAYTON ARE companies that make the rubber parts in the first place - why pay a dealer to charge 40% more for them if they put their logo on the same identical parts and stab you in the pocket? FWIW: I think your prices are very high - but I've been outta the shop-owner's club for a few years now and I don't get to estimate prices for Upsidedown Land-ers anyway . Chapter Three . . . . . . The Charges For Labor & Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Most shops (dealers included) will pay a mechanic a couple of different ways . 1 . Flat Rate - that includes the average time it takes a mechanic to actually perform the task . It's done this way ----> They take a mechanic who has not seen whatever vehicle/process they need to establish a labor charge for,and have him perform the same installation or repair three times . They average the time it takes . 2 . T & M - this is Time & Materials and is charged at a rate that the shop thinks the public can bear and just uses their own labor rate to charge the time it took their 'Ace Mechanic" to perform the task in hours and/or minutes and multiply that times their shop labor rate . 3 . Bid or Contract Fee - (also called an estimate*) - this is where the whole package is 'Guessed" at by a Service Writer and then the parts plus a hefty 40-80% mark up is factored in and the Grand Total is what the customer and Service Writer agree to . * In California the original estimate cannot be added to, It stands as a legal contract for the total of the bill, whether the shop can make it work or not - they are under a legal gun to make it right for the price they quoted the first time . IF the mechanic has a helper (we call them scabbos or leeches, 'cause they suck 15% off the top of the mechanic's paycheck) and this is usually not seen on the bill - it's hidden although the mechanic knows it's there - fer sure! ! Union shops are required to have scabbos working under the mechanic in the guise as a 'mechanic in training' . Yeah - sure - they can't be found most of the time . Chapter Four . . . . . . . . . Reality Should Set In Right About Here^ I never would work for a dealership as all mechanics know that working there is a job of last resort - when you cannot make it in the private sector and need the protection of the service writer to keep angry customers off your back and outta your stall! Dealerships tend to add-on certain charges for rags, glues and sealers in the tube for holding gaskets, etc . , coffee and flowers for the Hot-N-Cold Running Secretaries on the second floor where the Executive Suites are . Last word - I promise -----> Dealerships do not make much money selling cars . The owners don't get rich that way, anyway . They have huge overhead - wages for the office people, maternity leave for the Hot-N-Cold Running Secretaries on the 2nd floor, advertising, paying for the vehicles on display (Called: "Flooring" in the US), shop insurance, attorneys for when things went really bad (because one of the Hot-N-Colds told someone's wife ---- etc . ), uniforms for the mechanics and associated service personnel, loaner cars, the car wash attendants and the car wash itself, toilet towels, lighting, bulbs, brooms, --- you name it - it costs big time~ So - ask yourself? Where does the dealership make the money? Answer ---> the repair shop ----> and that dribbles down to YOU! . :devil	SurferJoe46 (51)
1451189	2018-07-07 07:03:00	Last word - I promise -----> Dealerships do not make much money selling cars. The owners don't get rich that way, anyway. They have huge overhead - wages for the office people, maternity leave for the Hot-N-Cold Running Secretaries on the 2nd floor, advertising, paying for the vehicles on display (Called: "Flooring" in the US), shop insurance, attorneys for when things went really bad (because one of the Hot-N-Colds told someone's wife ---- etc.), uniforms for the mechanics and associated service personnel, loaner cars, the car wash attendants and the car wash itself, toilet towels, lighting, bulbs, brooms, --- you name it - it costs big time~ So - ask yourself? Where does the dealership make the money? Answer ---> the repair shop ----> and that dribbles down to YOU!. :devil I wonder then if dealers or mechanics inform of any known issues for repairs or maintenance that may cause higher prices. In some of the USA car repair forums, I see reference to technical "TSB"s often, so owners may never know of inherent faults or methods unless if they thoroughly research pending maintenance or repairs. Talking about tight spaces.... In recent years in DIY wrenching - because of tight engine bay area in Jap cars I had to invest in new tools or think creative methods to pull or support parts/components. So bought longer breaker bars, long cheater poles, the ring on open end wrench trick, reversible ratchets, longer or doubling up extension bars, 1/2" to 3/8" socket adapters/converters, crowfoot's, several deep sockets, impact driver with longer bits, torch gun, make cross supports, using chain, tie straps, etc.	kahawai chaser (3545)
1451190	2018-07-07 11:22:00	From a DIY perspective...I've only done them on FWD cars. SOHC engine I've done and would do again. Took about 2-3 hours including "refreshments". DOHC engine I don't want to repeat. Took a full Saturday and I bashed a nuckle trying to keep both cams positioned correctly. IMO if there is room to work it's not a difficult job but if it's tight and you don't have a good range of tools then save the hassle and give it to a mechanic.	hueybot3000 (3646)
1451191	2018-07-09 01:51:00	Yeah FWD small cars became a game changer in parts swaps. Removing starter sometimes meant jacking the front on stands, removing the wheel then wriggling around to pull it. Unlike years back - lean over engine bay and simply crack it off. Water pumps in smaller cars involved another jack to support the engine to drop it a little - once the mount(s) are removed then removing the fan and pesky belts and hidden pump bolt in a very tight space.- using 4 spanners at once for me - two hooked up and criss crossing kind off. then two poles upright to lever the stuck fan off. Good challenge though...creative thinking helps. Or these days search online...	kahawai chaser (3545)
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