Timing Chain Diagnosis Cost

Jippo

2006 Honda Accord 2.2 cdti.

This is a rather long story for such a short question but would appreciate your advice.

I have a regular garage who I am quite happy with all in all. However I had an issue with irregular tyre wear. I wanted to bring it to my regular garage but they were away. I brought it to a friend of a friend's garage and the issue was quickly identified as the bushels. The garage there did a good job but when the mechanic was coming back from the tracking he said he had bad news, that the timing chain was loose. When I asked him he said he knew by ear.

My friend is a trained mechanic no longer working in the trade and says this guy is a bit of a genius and his instincts are ordinarily spot on.

I asked him what are we talking about here and he said in the region of €1,200+.

I told him I didn't have it and he said well if it does go it will cause damage in the multiples of €1,200. I said is there anything I can do while I get this cash together and he said not to race the thing.

Therefore I have been driving around under 2000 RPM and hoping that everything will be OK... well deep down I am hoping that he is wrong.

I knew within the month that I would be near enough to my service interval so I booked a service at the end of the month. I made my job list (including my insistence on ow-30 --- the previous time they used 5w-30 to my annoyance) and asked them to have a look at/diagnose the Timing Chain issue.

I can hear a noise often --- a kind of tin, thin, gentle thrash but usually can't make it happen on demand. I came back at the end of the day to collect and get the bad news/miracle good news but the guy at the garage said that basically they have three mechanics at the garage... more or less him that did the services, another guy who does a lot of routine work and repair and then their top guy for the tricky jobs and diagnosis... well anyway the top guy was away so they said to come back the week after.

Now the nuts of the bolts of it is that I am running a tight ship and am wondering how much I might expect them to charge me to diagnose the problem? I suppose... if the chain is loose how much might that cost for them to figure that out?

If they find no problem with the chain I am happy out because there are other symptoms other than this very subtle noise.

Just while I type this I realise that calling them might be the best idea.

biko

Chain issue is common enough. Get a few quotes from various places, incl dealer.

Jippo

biko wrote: »

Chain issue is common enough. Get a few quotes from various places, incl dealer.

Thank you I will look at that down the line but the issue has not even been diagnosed yet as far as I am concerned.

My question is how much will a positive/negative diagnosis on the timing chain cost?

biko

You can take it a a few places and let them listen to it.
If you google honda 2.2 cdti timing chain you'll find a lot of info, incl from Honda forums.

I don't know any Honda mechs around Kerry but someone else probably do.

Jippo

biko wrote: »

You can take it a a few places and let them listen to it.
If you google honda 2.2 cdti timing chain you'll find a lot of info, incl from Honda forums.

I don't know any Honda mechs around Kerry but someone else probably do.

I am actually in Cork City.

Cheers.

biko

Tbh, start with taking it to Honda dealer and let a mech there listen to it, there may be a diagnosis cost.
Then decide on where you want it fixed, with them or some local indy.

bear1

Hard luck there OP, I was in the same boat last year.
It's a horrible job as more than likely the injectors will break when they are being removed which is what usually drives the cost of the repair up.
If the chain was going you would hear a constant sshh noise, especially on idle.
the chains themselves aren't overly expensive but you will need 2, one for the oil pump and camshaft one.
I would also advise you to go to a few people and get their opinion.
I believe though that by 2006 Honda changed the chain system to stop it failing but this would need to be checked out.

Jippo

The plot thickens...

I brought it back to my mechanic today and asked how much would it cost to ascertain if the timing chain needs to be changed. They said that they would have to "test" it --- both hot and cold. This meant I would have to leave the car on Friday (for hot) and collect it on Saturday (so they could test it cold). I asked how much would this cost and they were very non-committal. I asked would they have to disassemble parts of the engine and they said not necessarily... so I said basically I am looking at labour costs and they said yes. When pressed they couldn't tell me how much.

Then with the bonnet up and the car running they asked why I thought there might be a problem with the timing chain? I explained that the other mechanic suggested it by ear... and they were a little skeptical about this kind of modus operandi... furthermore they said with the bonnet open they couldn't discern any weird noise and that if the timing chain was in trouble there would definitely be a very obvious noise.

I was frustrated that they were not in a position to give me a quote for this diagnostic and said I would call them back. As I said I am running a tight ship and wanted a rough estimate for how much this "testing" would cost. I do have a good relationship with them so they were never going to throw out a dishonest underestimate.

Now I am wondering should I ask the magic-ear guy how much would he charge to diagnose properly... or maybe the best idea might be to go JPHonda in Mahon... I am sure they diagnose this problem quite often so might be able to give me a rough quote for the cost of diagnosis.

I am quietly optimistic that everything is OK and this very subtle noise is nothing... love the car to drive... sick of keeping her under 2000 RPM!

trabpc

I think your priorities are a little mixed up. Your concerned with a quote for timing chain diagnosis which is usually free when you should be concerened with getting it to a good Honda or Indy mechanic for diagnosis. As said earlier, a 2006 should be OK. Is it 6speed box? If so it's the facelift 06 to 08 and should be OK. If its a 5 speed it may need looking at. A good mechanic will know by listening in 5 minutes. Most 04 to 05 had the issue with the chain but Honda covered most of these up yo 7 yr old 125000 miles. What milage is on yours BTW? pm me. My mechanic is ex Honda and done my chain 4 yrs ago when working at Honda. Diagnosed in 2 mins. Where u based? Be aware of some garages chancing their arm or misdiagnosing of some other noise as being the chain.

Jippo

trabpc wrote: »

I think your priorities are a little mixed up. Your concerned with a quote for timing chain diagnosis which is usually free when you should be concerened with getting it to a good Honda or Indy mechanic for diagnosis. As said earlier, a 2006 should be OK. Is it 6speed box? If so it's the facelift 06 to 08 and should be OK. If its a 5 speed it may need looking at. A good mechanic will know by listening in 5 minutes. Most 04 to 05 had the issue with the chain but Honda covered most of these up yo 7 yr old 125000 miles. What milage is on yours BTW? pm me. My mechanic is ex Honda and done my chain 4 yrs ago when working at Honda. Diagnosed in 2 mins. Where u based? Be aware of some garages chancing their arm or misdiagnosing of some other noise as being the chain.

I suppose this is exactly what I am concerned about.

It is 6 Speed yes. The mileage is 195,000 km.

I am based in Cork City.

It seems that my best option is to go to JPHonda here in Mahon.

You are right --- the noise is so slight (about the same level as the difference between AC on and AC off) --- I am only concerned about it being the timing chain --- if it is anything else I frankly don't care.

Nonoperational

It's a 2006 Accord with 196k on it, and you have the bonnet up with people straining to hear a noise that only one "genius" has heard intermittently.

Drive on and forget about it. If it is genuinely loosening you'll hear it at idle clearly enough.

trabpc

OP its highly unlikely your chain. Go to Honda or Indy and get it checked. I'm not aware of that 06 to 08 having any chain issues. I believe it was modified at that stage. Your milage is relatively low too.

Jippo

Thanks all.

JP Honda said to bring it Friday morning and the "foreman" will have a listen to it.

Jippo

Thank you all for your responses.

JP Honda find absolutely nothing wrong with the car.

Thank f*** for that.

EDIT: JP Honda did not charge me for this good news.

gibbon75

trabpc wrote: »

OP its highly unlikely your chain. Go to Honda or Indy and get it checked. I'm not aware of that 06 to 08 having any chain issues. I believe it was modified at that stage. Your mileage is relatively low too.

Just ordered a chain,tensoiner,guides etc. for a 2008 today...
The car has only 150k on the clock,but no service history after 90k.

If the wrong oil was used or a service or two was skipped it doesn't matter what year it is; the chain will suffer.

trabpc

gibbon75 wrote: »

Just ordered a chain,tensoiner,guides etc. for a 2008 today...
The car has only 150k on the clock,but no service history after 90k.

If the wrong oil was used or a service or two was skipped it doesn't matter what year it is; the chain will suffer.

Same is true of any car.

Glad op your sorted. They garage that told you had an issue must have read or googled issues with Honda and then incorrectly assumed yours had it as he herd some noise. Best avoid in future.

The early ones up to 06 are more prone to the issue. That's not to say any car if not serviced correctly will not have same issue.