[stasis79]

Hi there,

I got my car serviced yesterday, and the mech said I should have had the timing belt changed at 90,000ks (55,800 miles). My car is now at 94,000kms so he says to get it done ASAP and quoted AUD$450. I called around for a better price and got a quote of $380, and booked it in.

Once the guy was here he told me i needed the whole kit which would be an extra $350... I said no because the 1st mech had said it just needed the belt.

So Ive just got my timing belt changed at 94,000kms (nearly 60,000miles) but not the kit.

Is my car going to die? How long till I should get the kit?

Help appreciated, thanks!

Val.

 

[jsinton]

Some people like to change the water pump, pulleys, and seals, etc when they replace the timing belt. It's not a bad idea, but as you see it's expensive. $350 sounds high for this car, probably it should be no more than $150 for you for the kit.

I personally believe that if you change you antifreeze and you motor oil as specified, you shouldn't need seals or a water pump. Pulleys I'd only change if they were leaking grease or making funny noises. All these things I'll probably change at the 180k mile mark if there was no problems before.

I just changed my timing belt the other day. I got the belt for $10 on eBay. It was the first time I did this particular car, so it took me 4 hours. I had to also change my accessory belts since I found them to be bad, which was an extra $40 or so. Now I'm good till 180K miles, then I'll buy the kit and change everything (unless I'm sick of the car and just go buy another car).

Here's the kit I'd buy:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Timing-Belt...s#ht_1757wt_732

 

[sbr711]

Fella came in today, wanted timing belt and water pump (2006 Elantra),, pics coming at lunch..

 

[MS Fowler]

I just did this to my 2003 Elantra.

Very HOT day. I took about 5 hours to do the entire job, including idler and tensioner. I also replaced the 3 regular drive belts.
Nothing was difficult. Just go step-by-step. The used the starter to loosen the crankshaft nut. I also chose to loosen the A/C lines for better access for my (larger than Korean) hands.
I'd encourage anyone to go ahead and do this.

My original belt looked good at 69,000 miles--probably could have gone 100,000 miles---"probably". The risk/reward favors replacement. Don't risk blowing an engine.