im quite ticked off atm. i've just had to leave my car at midas in midland coz one of my "timing belt tensioners" has broken. i heard a bang this morning then this arvo after work the belt was squeaking and looked at it and a "tensioner" was loose :-s its gonna be expensive to fix apparently. not happy at all. anyone else ever had this happen? it looks like its the one near the water pump. it was going for a service soon too. why couldnt it wait till then to die. i could at least keep all the labour costs together then. as you can tell im just having a bit of a vent. im done now.

Your timing belt or your alt belt mate, if your timing belt tensioner was gone a/ you can not see it with the covers on and b/ that bang would be valves going bang against pistons and your engine would have just stopped

A new alt belt tensioner will cost about 90 bucks tops after market and the belt about 40 at the most

hmm... it might be the alternator belt then. im not sure. guess i will find out tomorrow. the engine didnt stop so that sounds promising so far :P

Did the belt come off? The bang may have been it whipping into something on it's way to the road.

If the timing belt moved, the valves will *miss* the pistons as they're not an interference design. Feel free to correct me. If your valve retainer came off however.......

the belt is still on. when i checked it half way, the tensioner was just moving when the engine revved but when i got to the mechanic it was wobbling. im guessing this isnt good?!

Did the belt come off? The bang may have been it whipping into something on it's way to the road.

If the timing belt moved, the valves will *miss* the pistons as they're not an interference design. Feel free to correct me. If your valve retainer came off however.......

I will correct you then lol, if your belt moves more than about 3 teeth then you bend valves, they are an interferance design

the belt is still on. when i checked it half way, the tensioner was just moving when the engine revved but when i got to the mechanic it was wobbling. im guessing this isnt good?!

Unless you pulled stuff apart to look at the belt then its not the timing belt.

You might wanna clear that up first.

nah i could see it from the top of the engine. i guess its not the timing belt then. its definately a belt tho. the alternator belt maybe? i think that was mentioned before.

just found out what its gonna cost. they reckon $460 for parts and labour! ouch! apparently the bolts holding the tensioner on have all snapped and the pulley has been damaged by it moving around. this really sucks. so much for having savings. they reckon it will take a couple of hours to do but parts wont arrive till lunch time

Seems expensive to me if it's only a couple of hours labour. That'd be no more than $150, say, which means $300 for the belt, a tensioner and a couple of bolts...

I have zero faith in Midas...

I have zero faith in Midas...

And add to that any franchised mechanic shop. DIY or go to someone you can trust

Or at least a RAA/RACV/NRMA etc approved service centre. No excuse for not getting approval!

yet more expensive repairs :( i had to get my rocker cover gaskets done today and then the mechanic decided to clean the injectors. $690 later i have a better running car at least. anyone know a cheap way to service the throttle body? they want another $110 to do that. i've also got to replace the flasher relay, front engine mount, a power steering rack boot, the alternator belt, flush the power steering and the auto tranny. any easy/cheap ways to do ANY of these? any ideas would be much appreciated

then the mechanic decided to clean the injectors. $690 later

Dont they have to ask you to do an extra services ?
every car i have owned the mechanic has rang to do extra work that was needed
and that has been not to many times lately cause i drive a 3rd gen magna ;)

yet more expensive repairs :( i had to get my rocker cover gaskets done today and then the mechanic decided to clean the injectors. $690 later i have a better running car at least. anyone know a cheap way to service the throttle body? they want another $110 to do that. i've also got to replace the flasher relay, front engine mount, a power steering rack boot, the alternator belt, flush the power steering and the auto tranny. any easy/cheap ways to do ANY of these? any ideas would be much appreciated

Ok, if the lights inside your head burn at no hotter than 3 watts, you should still be able to clean your throttle body yourself for about $10 worth of throttle body cleaner in a spray can and a couple of rags.

Last I checked (?) reconditioned injectors sell for about $50 each (exchange). Again not hard to change. My daughter had her rocker cover (TE) resealed and a puncture repaired for $40. Mind you, she was wearing her pretty clothes and no less than 5 mechanics came wandering in for a looksee and were chased out by their boss LOL.

The only real challenges here are flushing the power steering and tranny, but still not a real brain bender. All the rest is really pretty basic mechanical stuff for DIY.

Also last I checked, cheapest place to buy tranny oil was The genuine stuff from Denmac Mitsi here in Logan City.

Plenty of guys around here to tell you all about the how tos......

for tranny oil i know its about 40.00 for 4 litres when i went to super cheap they ordered a 20 litre for me cost me 105.oo was good as i have two magnas

rocker gaskets are cheap you just need to find some one to take manifold off etc can take some time if you havent done before
i did mine two weeks ago i think it was 45.oo for the two gaskets
you might want to get the spark plug seals if you need them or use a gasket seal and if you are doing the back rocker replace your spark plugs saves pulling it off again down the track to do it you should use platinium plugs

get a hi-flow throttle body off ez-boy :D
pretty much a new throttle body when received

to see if you need the spark plug seals take a lead off your spark plug and see if there is any oil on it if so the seal is stuffed they dont last long they go hard cheapest fix gasket sealent

yet more expensive repairs :( i had to get my rocker cover gaskets done today and then the mechanic decided to clean the injectors. $690 later i have a better running car at least. anyone know a cheap way to service the throttle body? they want another $110 to do that. i've also got to replace the flasher relay, front engine mount, a power steering rack boot, the alternator belt, flush the power steering and the auto tranny. any easy/cheap ways to do ANY of these? any ideas would be much appreciated

Holy crap mate, so you are telling me it cost you $690 for 90 odd bucks of gaskets, 240 tops for all 6 injectors to be cleaned.

Wow, I am friggin moving to WA, will be richer than Richard Branson in under a year

yet more expensive repairs :( i had to get my rocker cover gaskets done today and then the mechanic decided to clean the injectors. $690 later i have a better running car at least. anyone know a cheap way to service the throttle body? they want another $110 to do that. i've also got to replace the flasher relay, front engine mount, a power steering rack boot, the alternator belt, flush the power steering and the auto tranny. any easy/cheap ways to do ANY of these? any ideas would be much appreciated

I'm confused a bit. If you don't know how to replace them yourself, Then it's not gonna be cheap. If you know how to replace them it will be easy.
Replace the flasher relay...Buy relay....Find old relay....Swap relay......pretty sure you can try that one yourself?
Front engine mount is a bit harder, Will need a set of 1/2" tools and a jack....
power steering rack boot, Only done them on a 2nd gen. One side was easy, one was a PITA. Again if you dont feel confident, dont try it.
Alternator belt, Never done one on a 3rd gen but couldn't be much different to any other car.
Flush the power steering and tranny I'd leave to a professional.

Im with the majority here - you are getting ripped off.

Your alternator tentioner (its the alternator belt, definately not the timing). When mine snapped and went walk abouts, I paid $160 for a new tentioner and alternator belt (which im sure Madmagna will say is still overpriced). It takes 5 minutes to change.

Total job should be no more than $200. $490? they are having you on.

Find yourself a new mechanic, while no doubt that your car needs certain things fixed - there is no way that I would pay $490 for a belt/tentioner to be replaced, nor would I pay $110 for a throttle body 'service'. They pay $4 for a can of throttle body cleaner, take a $0.50 rag, take off your intake and spray and wipe.

10 minute job, most mechanics I know only charge around $20 for this at best.

thanks for all the advice guys. sounds like i wont be going back to auto masters then :P anyone know any good mechanics round the ellenbrook area in WA?

Well, firstly check for RAA/RACV/NRMA (or whatever it is called in WA) approval. They have to meet a certain level of service and price to get approval. That's not to say that one place won't be dearer than another with approval, but it will be at least an ok price. If they rip you off, or if they have incompetent service people they are taking a big risk as they never know which car is a 'test' car.