Timing Belt

Turbidine

Hi,

My car is 10 years old and short before 60 000 miles. I've been advised that I should be changing its timing belt soon enough before anything happens.
Now I've heard two different things - someone telling me it'd cost me 350€ to get it changed, and someone else telling me "what? the damn thing is a 10€ rubber belt, there's no way it'd cost you 350€". So can someone advise? What's the usual price for getting it replaced, and if I don't replace it then what risks do I run?

Thanks!
Turbidine

Turbidine

Hi,

My car is 10 years old and short before 60 000 miles. I've been advised that I should be changing its timing belt soon enough before anything happens.
Now I've heard two different things - someone telling me it'd cost me 350€ to get it changed, and someone else telling me "what? the damn thing is a 10€ rubber belt, there's no way it'd cost you 350€". So can someone advise? What's the usual price for getting it replaced, and if I don't replace it then what risks do I run?

Thanks!
Turbidine

bo-bo

the majority of the cost may be labour - your engine may have to come out, ancilleries disconnected etc

what type of car do you have?

Darragh29

Turbidine wrote:

Hi,

My car is 10 years old and short before 60 000 miles. I've been advised that I should be changing its timing belt soon enough before anything happens.
Now I've heard two different things - someone telling me it'd cost me 350€ to get it changed, and someone else telling me "what? the damn thing is a 10€ rubber belt, there's no way it'd cost you 350€". So can someone advise? What's the usual price for getting it replaced, and if I don't replace it then what risks do I run?

Thanks!
Turbidine

Give us the make & model of your car. The timing belt is just a rubber toothed belt but you also have to change the tensioner bearing and its best practice now to change the water pump while you're in there. Also, there is a bit of labour involved in getting at the timing belt, and reassembly, its not just like a fan belt that you can take off in 2 minutes.

Turbidine

It's a 97 Volkswagen Polo
I'm just really worried about the cost...I mean 350€ is a lot, but then again if it breaks then will the damage be huge? And the costs as well then?

Turbidine

It's a 97 Volkswagen Polo.
Is changing all of that really necessary?!

ZV Yoda

Yip - labour is the main cost. I had a belt replaced recently & it cost €650 at a Nissan main dealer. €30 for the belt (or chain in my case) and €620 for labour.

FWIW, I was reliably informed that you can ruin your engine if the belt/chain goes, so better to replace it - you should shop around for a better quote.

A tip I was given is to mark your existing belt (if you can access it) with permanent ink. That way, you'll be 100% sure it was replaced - if the belt still has the mark when you get it back, then it's still the same belt.

Also, friend of mine works at a main dealer & says that the guidelines for changing belts are usually very conservative - i.e. if they say replace at 60k, they are actually OK till 120k. The manufacturers are just covering themselves.

I would fancy taking the chance though...

OKenora

i.e. if they say replace at 60k, they are actually OK till 120k.

Like Alfa belts then ? recommended change at 72k but safer to do it at 36k. Manafacturers do not conservatively rate they actually quote the maximum they expect to get away with and anyone that runs longer than the recommended is a fool. A manafactuer rating is nowhere near conservative and usually optimistic.

Turbidine

Thanks for the advice! Wow, 620€! I couldn't afford this this month...
Well, while I'm at it, the reason why I am thinking that I may need to change it, is that my car is making a sound that I don't like when I start it up, and when I am stopped for a while at red lights or in traffic. I can hear something like a clock doing tic-tic-tic and I always feel like my car's just going to die but then again I don't know anything about cars!
The sound is quite obvious when I start the car, and comes back gradually when I am stopped in 1st gear (or in no gear) for more than 1 minute or so. I can also see the pointer moving a little up and down. Any thoughts on this? Could it be the timing belt??

ZV Yoda

That may be true of Alfas..

...but my mate is a service manager for an Opel main dealer. I'm no mechanic, but seems strange that he would turn down the chance of a belt change job by telling somebody it wasn't needed. It's not as if he'll come out smelling of roses if the belt snapped & the engine blew. I'd suggest he's unlikely to get the engine swap job.

layke

The belt is cheap, but the labour involves lifting your engine out and changing the belt at the bottom, that stuff isn't necessary but is advisable to get done as your engine will already be out of the car. Moving it again if another part goes will cost you €350 again rather the the tenner it costs to sort it while doing the other job.

BTW €350 is expensive imo. You must be getting quoted from a dealership?

Turbidine

No, not at all, from a garage! And apparently it can cost you way more!

Actually, I posted this same thread in Classic Cars - my mistake, discussions on this have been going on there as well, if someone could merge the two that'd be great.
Cheers!

bazz26

Turbidine wrote:

It's a 97 Volkswagen Polo.
Is changing all of that really necessary?!

Yes, if the timing belt snaps, serious damage could be done to the engine which could result in needing a new engine. To be honest €350 is not a bad price considering some prices being quoted about the place.

A hell of alot cheaper than the cost a new engine too.

bazz26

layke wrote:

BTW €350 is expensive imo. You must be getting quoted from a dealership?

A main VW dealer could charge anything up to €1,000 for the job.

The OP should ring a second garage for a quote to compare though.

alias no.9

Do you know when it was last replaced? If not you have two options
1. Bite the bullet and replace it now
2. Take your chances and keep the €350 to put towards your next car when it snaps. (shop around, you may get it changed for less than €350)

Turbidine

Well it was never replaced, it'd be its first replacement - which leads me to think that maybe I shouldn't wait too long, or I might regret it?! The car is only 60,000 miles though, but it's 10 years old...

Also if anyone had a clue about what I mention re the noise that I hear (posted in same thread under Classic car), I'd be very grateful!

bazz26

The general rule of thump I have always gone by is to have the timing belt changed every 50k miles or 5 years, whichever comes first. This is of course unless the manufacturer's manual recommends otherwise.

unkel

Turbidine wrote:

I posted this same thread in Classic Cars - my mistake, discussions on this have been going on there as well, if someone could merge the two that'd be great.
Cheers!

At your service!

alias no.9

ZV Yoda wrote:

...but my mate is a service manager for an Opel main dealer. I'm no mechanic, but seems strange that he would turn down the chance of a belt change job by telling somebody it wasn't needed. It's not as if he'll come out smelling of roses if the belt snapped & the engine blew. I'd suggest he's unlikely to get the engine swap job.

He's a very brave man, depending on what opel he's talking about. The Ecotec range of engines originally had an 80k interval specified for cambelt changes, this was revised down to 40k following failures in the field. Perhaps he's suggesting that the 40k interval is conservative and maybe it is, but with good reason.

Mr.Diagnostic

ZV Yoda wrote:

That may be true of Alfas..

...but my mate is a service manager for an Opel main dealer. I'm no mechanic, but seems strange that he would turn down the chance of a belt change job by telling somebody it wasn't needed. It's not as if he'll come out smelling of roses if the belt snapped & the engine blew. I'd suggest he's unlikely to get the engine swap job.

Either you picked him up wrong or your mate is talking pure rubbish