Hey Everyone

I have searched the high heavens and have found just about everything i need to know so far however i have a few q's that im hoping you all can assist me with

1: What is the difference/advantage in buying the Dayco timing belt kit with the Hyd Tensioner (range from $350+) compared with buying the kit without this (i can get this for $250) Do i need the Hyd Tensioner at 100,000??

2: Water pump, going by what i have seen people make/get their mechanics to make a judgement call when doing the timing belt, what is the norm? are they normally rooted at 100,000 or will they last another 100,000. They are damn expensive thats all.

3: What experiences good and bad please have people had with ACDelco Platinum Spark plugs or what type would you all recommend NGK seems to be the norm from my searches.

Other than that im going to be doing the following at this service, feel free to comment or suggest anything else i should do please

02 VRX
Manual
100,400km's

Timing belt Kit
Brakes - new rotors or machined and pads and brake bleed
Oil and filter
Coolant flush
6x spark plugs
Transmission Oil Change
Fuel Filter
New battery - it's rooted can barely hold charge thought may as well do it at the same time

Thats about all i had on my list, If anyone has any suggestions of other things to check or do please post.

Thanks all

Heath

EDIT: spelling

1. Wont comment too much, mine im not 100% certain it was done at 100000km, just recently had the timing belt done at 140K and mechanic left it as it is.

2. Mechanic went with genuine mitsi water pump. To me, its preventative maintenance. Was definately not done at 100K on my car, at 140K the bearing was showing signs of wear (there was a degree of play), would have held maybe another 20-30K. Expensive, but a lot less expensive as your mechanic is in the area.

3. I only use NGK items, others may be good. NGK iridium tips all round.

General little things (that you can do yourself)

Air filter, clean out the throttle body (with a can of throttle body cleaner).

Check for any oil leaks (rocker cover gaskets, plug tube seals, sump etc)

Check power steering fluid level/leaks.

Wheel alignment (depending on your when your last one was done).

Rotate tyres.

The rest you already have covered, though checking things like shock absorbers, engine mounts, bushes etc while the car is on the hoist is a good idea. Not meaning you need a complete overhaul, but start looking at anything rubber as it does deteriorate.

Hey Ers

Wheel alignment will happen shortly indeed, Engine mounts should be all fine especially the top drivers this has been replaced with one from megatron :)

Air filter was done at 90,000 will give that a clean (K&N panel)

Throttle body hmm thats a good one will have a look into that

Thanks mate

Heath

Will try and answer as best I can

Just get the kit with the Belt, Seals, tensioner pulley and idler pulley. No need to change the hydraulic tensioner unless it is leaking and I am yet to see one leak.

Plugs, I have used the AC Delco a couple of times when customers have provided them but I have not heard many good reports on them long term though

Water pump, get a GMB one which is Japanese made, not Chinese one. I usually check them when I take off the belt, any dryness in the bearing or play, they come off., They generally fail when the fitter of the belt does not tension it correctly

The price you quoted for the belt kit is WAY too much for the one less the tensioner, try Sparco in Brisbane street, they used to be a good place. I avoid Bursons as much as I can as you can call them 3 times in the same day and ask for a price and get 4 different prices.

The 100k service is pretty much the hamburger with the lot, so not skimp on it

Hey Mal

Thanks mate so $250 way too much. What do you think i should be paying max??

Ok water pump will be done no questions then :)

Thanks for the help so far guys

Cheers

Heath

Water pump, get a GMB one which is Japanese made, not Chinese one.

Its good to keep hearing the same info about certain parts from different mechanics.

I could have gone for the chinese one (repco version basically) for $80 less, mechanic said they tend to fail sooner due to the quality/type of metal used.

IIRC I paid $290 odd for mine.

Its good to keep hearing the same info about certain parts from different mechanics.

I could have gone for the chinese one (repco version basically) for $80 less, mechanic said they tend to fail sooner due to the quality/type of metal used.

IIRC I paid $290 odd for mine.

Hell, 290 for a GMB hope that was a fitted price.....

Hey All!

I recently had Mal do my Timing Belt, and he's top of my list to do two more cars when they fall due.

At Dubbo recently, I was amazed to be quoted $143-00 at Burson's for the Dayco kit without Hyd Tensioner (KTBA-099) - I promptly bought two at that price (dad's car will be visiting Mal in about 5000kms, my Rada in 20,000). The first kit I got from E-bay for about $180- plus a bit of postage, and thought I was doing well then. From memory, the Burson's invoice showed an RRP of about $280- for the KTBA-099 kit - BTW I didn't ask for trade price or anything.

Water-pump, was quoted $90- approx, so bought one for dad's car - its made in Japan, but not the brand favoured by Mal. The impeller is cast-iron, not steel-pressing (this put me off a bit, so rang dad for his opinion - since Model T Fords had cast-iron impellers dad is happy to have that one). Hope this won't compromise your better-judgement when I turn up with it, Mal!! (My OWN car will be getting one of yours).

On slight tangent, my TJ Sports that Mal did Timing belt and other work on (including a new water pump), I was AMAZED how well-preserved the internals of water-pump were - like brand new. In lots of ways my car has had a hard-life (was bought at repo auction, say no more), but obviously coolant had been kept-up to it - teh internals were flawless. There was tiny bit of slop in bearing and maybe just the begining of seal weep - at quite a way over 200K it was a no-brainer to have Mal replace it. Use COOLANT folks, it obviously works!

Hey all

So i have been quoted the following from Bursons and Sparco - thanks Mal

Timing belt kit - Bursons $185 - Sparco $220
Water pump - Sparco $145 - Jap made
Plugs $17 each iridium NGK
Fuel Filter - $17 bux
Oil Filter - $8 bux

Labour hell knows anyone have any idea of time in hours to do the following?

Timing belt Kit
Brakes - new rotors or machined, pads and brake bleed
Coolant flush
6x spark plugs
Transmission Oil Change
Fuel Filter
Replace Water pump

I will do the oil change at home.

Thanks everyone :)

Heath

DO ALL THE TENSIORS as they will need replacing due the belt coming off after having tension on there for so long.

Water pump can goto 200,000 but u can change it i didnt and havent had any temp probs

takes 3 hrs to do the belt and pump @ normal price of around $95 per hr Lucky me i get $50per hour lol Eurotech would be your best bet thats who does my work

get all what mate? If you mean the tensioner pully and idler pully then yep thats in the kit and im definately doing that :)

Hey all

So i have been quoted the following from Bursons and Sparco - thanks Mal

Timing belt kit - Bursons $185 - Sparco $220
Water pump - Sparco $145 - Jap made
Plugs $17 each iridium NGK
Fuel Filter - $17 bux
Oil Filter - $8 bux

Labour hell knows anyone have any idea of time in hours to do the following?

Timing belt Kit - 4 - 5 hours
Brakes - new rotors or machined, pads and brake bleed - 1 - 2 hours
Coolant flush - 0.5 hours
6x spark plugs - 1 hour
Transmission Oil Change - 1 hour
Fuel Filter 0.5 hours
Replace Water pump - 0.5 hours (?)

I will do the oil change at home.

Thanks everyone :)

Heath
Those are my estimates mate, I may be wrong by a bit on a couple. Probably looking at a bit over a days work, maybe 8-10 hours @ say $80/h = $800-$1000 labour. You could save some more coin and do the transmission, coolant flush and fuel filter yourself. The transmission especially isn't hard.

get all what mate? If you mean the tensioner pully and idler pully then yep thats in the kit and im definately doing that :)

I undrug myself as the kids now gone to bed so i edited my last post:facejump:

Hey thanks mate

i figured the mechanic may as well do the coolant flush as i will lose a fair bit when they replace the pump

i might look into doing a little myself then thanks heaps mate

Cheers

Heath

hahaha NP Brett Kids in bed now hehe thanks mate

Hey thanks mate

i figured the mechanic may as well do the coolant flush as i will lose a fair bit when they replace the pump

i might look into doing a little myself then thanks heaps mate

Cheers

Heath

hahaha NP Brett Kids in bed now hehe thanks mate


Just get them to change the belt and pump. I can help ya with the rest u dont get much change from 800 getting it all done And that was 85000kms ago when i had mine done so 3 years Prices are up so if u got it all done at the shop u will be looking around 1000 bucks:eek2:

Hi,
I just got my cambelt retensioned - (I paid someone to fit everything and it developed a noise that the mechanic said was normal - except it got to the point that i thought something was going to fall off!), tensioner tested and refitted and all pulleys taken on and off by Mitsi in Canberra, and it cost me $270, about 3 hours labour. Mitsi did everything to spec and Wala the noise is gone. Next time I relent and let a mechanic do it I will just bite the bullet and get the dealer to do it!
So basically they took everything off that the first mechanic fitted and refitted it in 3 hours.

While you're at it you may want to consider doing the plug leads considering they are a pain also to do (rear bank).

Hi,
I just got my cambelt retensioned - (I paid someone to fit everything and it developed a noise that the mechanic said was normal - except it got to the point that i thought something was going to fall off!), tensioner tested and refitted and all pulleys taken on and off by Mitsi in Canberra, and it cost me $270, about 3 hours labour. Mitsi did everything to spec and Wala the noise is gone. Next time I relent and let a mechanic do it I will just bite the bullet and get the dealer to do it!
So basically they took everything off that the first mechanic fitted and refitted it in 3 hours.

While you're at it you may want to consider doing the plug leads considering they are a pain also to do (rear bank).

This is just more towards backing up what I tell many people, if you do not know the car do not do the belt. Most cars is a matter of backing off the tensioner, rotate the engine 2 or 3 times, nip up the tensioner and wallah.

With the Magna, the tensioner needs to be pulled across to a torque and then the pulley tightened.

One thing I hate about mits dealers, they rerely replace the pulleys, it is not in the book and have in some cases argued with clients about the need!!

Well i will be ****ed!! Mechanic rings need a new hyd Tensioner aparently it's rooted more money i have to now fork out bet they will charge me a kidney, left arm and my right ball for the bloody part and i dont get my car today grrrr

End rant - ahh could be worse

Cheeriioo

Heath

Well i will be ****ed!! Mechanic rings need a new hyd Tensioner aparently it's rooted more money i have to now fork out bet they will charge me a kidney, left arm and my right ball for the bloody part and i dont get my car today grrrr

End rant - ahh could be worse

Cheeriioo

Heath

I would highly doubt it is stuffed as these rarely stuff up unless they are pushed back wrongly

thats what i figured mate - well i have asked him to keep all the parts that have been replaced as i want to see them. Time will tell

well it's all over red rover $1528 total and she is like new

So what did i get for the $1.5k

Waterpump
Timing belt Kit with the bloody hyd tensioner
Spark plugs - platinum all 6
fuel filter
Oil and Filter
Coolant Flush
Front brake rotors and pads changed (standard solid discs and Bendix Ultimate pads)
Clutch fluid full flush
Brake fluid Full flush
Serpentine Belt? - thats what they called it
and all the standard checks and adjustments etc

Overall about $500 more than i wanted to spend BUT at least shes good for another 100,000km's :):)

Cheers all and thanks to everyone for their help.

Heath