Timing Belt costs

[sunny_8]

All,

Lost about 1/8th inch of my timing belt so far.....went to find out how much it will cost to replace......and **SLAP**** $1200 for the following :

Timing belt, tensioner, water pump, powersteering pump coz its leaking, accessory belt.

This is in chicago.....now I was reading and see that its advised that the idlers are also replaced ......

what do you guys think.....is this a decent deal ? I am about ready to sell the car coz I figure once I fix this some other crap will go wrong.

thanks..

[93Oldsdroptop]

I live in PA and when the timing belt went on my Olds two years ago I paid $500 to have it done along with new idler pulleys and tensioner.

I have my eyes out for the tool set so next time I can do it myself and save a few shekels.

[sunny_8]

So what makes the timing belt start to slip off the wheel ? The mechanic said he will change the tensioner....did not mention anything about the idlers.......


do I need to do the idlers also ?

Anyone in Plainfield area wanna make a few bucks by helping me do this ?

[sunny_8]

ok so now I still have questions.....when doing a timing belt change...why do they recommend replacing the water pump ?

Also I am thinking of doing this myself.....I am a novice....the hardest thing I did on this car was the o-ring oilpump leak in the middle of the engine.......


I am scared to time this thing.....so what I was thinking is to put in the cam holddown tools......on both cams, which will stop the cam's from moving, mark all the wheels the timing belt runs over, remove the tming belt...and the actuator ( which I think is making the belt sliP) replace it and put it all back together....


What is wrong with the plan ? Do you think its ok to do this ?

thanks,

Sunny

[heza]

ok so now I still have questions.....when doing a timing belt change...why do they recommend replacing the water pump ?

timing belt does not run the water pump on the LQ1 so thats not necessary for any w-body.

[MonteMonster95]

I am scared to time this thing.....so what I was thinking is to put in the cam holddown tools......on both cams, which will stop the cam's from moving, mark all the wheels the timing belt runs over, remove the tming belt...and the actuator ( which I think is making the belt sliP) replace it and put it all back together....

If you are just changing the belt and not the cam gears, then you can do that. Just remember to go to TDC on #1, and mark the cams yourself. Don't use the yellow ones from the factory. What I did was got the engine to TDC #1 and then used a pair of vise grips to hold the cams in place while I changed the belt and one idler pulley. The tensioner was good to go, so I didn't change it. everything else was good. Just remember to remove at least 1 pulley to get the new belt back on. Take your time, and be methodical. I changed mine about 2 weeks ago, never done it before but went by manual from Autozone and it was a snap. Hope this helps

[sunny_8]

So here is where I think I am :

Mark the cam gears well....DO NOT USE THE YELLOW FACT MARKS..which dont line up right now anyway....


Put some vice grips on both sets of Cam Gears.
Remove the idlers, tensioner pully.

How do I know if the acuator is good or bad ?

Then put the back 1 dler and the tensioner pully, out the belt back on , add the other idler..and make sure the marks still line up....

What I dont understand is why I would need to line up anything TDC in the first place as the car is already timed ok..and runs great.


Did I mention pray ?

Thanks

[Zboy]

I recently picked up the timing component set from Napa. Its a 4 piece kit made by Gates for Napa. The cost on the Napa website is $184. It includes the timing belt, 2 idler pulleys and the tensioner pulley. IT DOES NOT include the actual tensioner. WHen I purchased the kit, the tensioner was not available through Napa. The part number is NBH 2521920. I am going to install this kit on my 3.4 project this weekend and hopefully I will be able to report back soon on its performance.

[MonteMonster95]

If the cam gears have not been moved, then TDC is not needed. But if the cam gears are moved then you have to put #1 in TDC. BTW removing all the spark plugs make this much easier to turn.

[ez112]

This job is not that hard at all. The main thing I recommend is before you remove the belt is loosen the cam sprocket bolts. They were very tough to loosen.

[SappySE107]

You will need at least 3 of the cam gears to spin freely when you are setting up the cam timing. I don't recommend doing any sort of marking and then using those marks. If you don't remove the locks and use some marks, you cannot be certain that when you add the tension to the belt that it is making it tight all around. This will throw your timing back off. I really can't explain the timing belt any more than the walkthroughs on the site so hopefully josh will edit his video soon so we will have text, picture, and video walkthrough.

[sunny_8]

I am thinking that I will need to retime...as I belive I dont have enough power....cannot really peel out from stop unless on a turn...

Does anyone know if anyplace in Chicagoland rents the hold down tools ?

thanks

[sunny_8]

forgot to add....everyone takes apart the top half of the engine..but no-one talks about replacing all the gaskets.....do I need to ? I think I did it about 1.5yrs back when I had an o-ring oil leak.

thx

[sunny_8]

If timing is off then would the engine idle smooth ? I think not...but my car does...so maybe somthing else..