96 LHS problem

JWald wrote:

> It's fixed. Timing belt was bad and it jumped out of time. Only problem is
> that I think she got screwed on the repair bill. As she was out of town at
> the time of the breakdown, I think the guy took advantage of her and
> replaced a bunch of stuff that didn't seem to be needed. In addition to the
> belt, she got a water pump, thermostat/gasket, a couple of pulleys, plugs,
> oil change, and something else. With labor.... $790.


On the 3.5, it makes sense to change the water pump and timing belt
tensioner pulley while you're in there, and "getting in there" is most
of the labor cost. Since you have to drain the cooling system, a
thermostat makes sense too. A tensioner and water pump might add around
$150 to the total parts cost, almost nothing to the labor cost. OTOH, if
you put it all back together and the water pump were to fail in 5000
miles, you'd be paying several hundred in labor (again) PLUS the ~150
for the parts.

The oil change and any other pulleys besides the timing-belt tensioner
would be a rip off unless they were visibly damaged for some reason.

I think you did great. The water pump is a must have. I can't tell what
pulleys were replaced, but that might have been warranted as well. There are
several idlers on that engine and they don't last forever, not by a long
shot. The thermostat, well, that was probably just gold plating, but of
course they're very cheap.

"JWald" > wrote in message
...
> It's fixed. Timing belt was bad and it jumped out of time. Only problem is
> that I think she got screwed on the repair bill. As she was out of town at
> the time of the breakdown, I think the guy took advantage of her and
> replaced a bunch of stuff that didn't seem to be needed. In addition to
> the belt, she got a water pump, thermostat/gasket, a couple of pulleys,
> plugs, oil change, and something else. With labor.... $790.
> --
> jwald
> "Steve" > wrote in message
> ...
>> JWald wrote:
>>
>>> Mic,
>>> I don't know. We do not have a code reader. Sorry.
>>
>> Cycle the ignition key 3 times (without starting) and leave in the "on"
>> position, then count flashes on the "check engine" light. Those are your
>> codes. The procedure is detailed on allpar.com.
>
>

I think you did great. The water pump is a must have. I can't tell what
pulleys were replaced, but that might have been warranted as well. There are
several idlers on that engine and they don't last forever, not by a long
shot. The thermostat, well, that was probably just gold plating, but of
course they're very cheap.

"JWald" > wrote in message
...
> It's fixed. Timing belt was bad and it jumped out of time. Only problem is
> that I think she got screwed on the repair bill. As she was out of town at
> the time of the breakdown, I think the guy took advantage of her and
> replaced a bunch of stuff that didn't seem to be needed. In addition to
> the belt, she got a water pump, thermostat/gasket, a couple of pulleys,
> plugs, oil change, and something else. With labor.... $790.
> --
> jwald
> "Steve" > wrote in message
> ...
>> JWald wrote:
>>
>>> Mic,
>>> I don't know. We do not have a code reader. Sorry.
>>
>> Cycle the ignition key 3 times (without starting) and leave in the "on"
>> position, then count flashes on the "check engine" light. Those are your
>> codes. The procedure is detailed on allpar.com.
>
>

Thanks for all the help guys. Upon further reflection, I suppose the bill
was in the ball park after all. I/We were just reacting to the shock of the
repair costs. She's happy to have her car, I'm happy to not have her car. It
all works out.

--
jwald
"aarcuda69062" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "JWald" > wrote:
>
>> It's fixed. Timing belt was bad and it jumped out of time. Only problem
>> is
>> that I think she got screwed on the repair bill. As she was out of town
>> at
>> the time of the breakdown, I think the guy took advantage of her and
>> replaced a bunch of stuff that didn't seem to be needed. In addition to
>> the
>> belt, she got a water pump, thermostat/gasket, a couple of pulleys,
>> plugs,
>> oil change, and something else. With labor.... $790.
>
> Just like I said...
>
> As for your suspicions that she was taken advantage of;
> the water pump is normally replaced when the T-belt is replaced,
> and it is very likely the cause of the failure to begin with,
> Spark plugs were a good call also since 3 of the cylinders were
> not creating compression, they were probably fuel fouled.
> T-stat, probably needed it, besides, you or we have no way of
> knowing if it was working correctly, and since the coolant is
> already drained to do the water pump, it's cheap preventative
> maintenance.
> Oil change, good call again, probably loaded with gasoline from
> the dead cylinders.
> Pulleys, probably the timing belt tensioner assembly, another
> good call.
> Hopefully, they replaced the O-rings behind the right side timing
> belt cover also.
>
> Sounds to me like your sister got a good thorough job done with
> all the bases covered.
>
> At 133K miles, you should ask her when the timing belt was last
> changed, and explain to her that this is a maintenance item that
> needs doing at periodic intervals.

Thanks for all the help guys. Upon further reflection, I suppose the bill
was in the ball park after all. I/We were just reacting to the shock of the
repair costs. She's happy to have her car, I'm happy to not have her car. It
all works out.

--
jwald
"aarcuda69062" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "JWald" > wrote:
>
>> It's fixed. Timing belt was bad and it jumped out of time. Only problem
>> is
>> that I think she got screwed on the repair bill. As she was out of town
>> at
>> the time of the breakdown, I think the guy took advantage of her and
>> replaced a bunch of stuff that didn't seem to be needed. In addition to
>> the
>> belt, she got a water pump, thermostat/gasket, a couple of pulleys,
>> plugs,
>> oil change, and something else. With labor.... $790.
>
> Just like I said...
>
> As for your suspicions that she was taken advantage of;
> the water pump is normally replaced when the T-belt is replaced,
> and it is very likely the cause of the failure to begin with,
> Spark plugs were a good call also since 3 of the cylinders were
> not creating compression, they were probably fuel fouled.
> T-stat, probably needed it, besides, you or we have no way of
> knowing if it was working correctly, and since the coolant is
> already drained to do the water pump, it's cheap preventative
> maintenance.
> Oil change, good call again, probably loaded with gasoline from
> the dead cylinders.
> Pulleys, probably the timing belt tensioner assembly, another
> good call.
> Hopefully, they replaced the O-rings behind the right side timing
> belt cover also.
>
> Sounds to me like your sister got a good thorough job done with
> all the bases covered.
>
> At 133K miles, you should ask her when the timing belt was last
> changed, and explain to her that this is a maintenance item that
> needs doing at periodic intervals.