How much should it cost

[Sandspider]

My 944 Lux is nearly due a belt change. If anyone would be kind enough to show me the ropes I'd like to be able to give it a go myself? I can change a spark plug! (I also have a reasonable range of tools, though no torque wrench, and no garage...) I don't think it would be a massive job, as the water pump was done last time, and the rollers were done the time before...

I'm in Bristol. Worth a try!

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: Sandspider

My 944 Lux is nearly due a belt change. If anyone would be kind enough to show me the ropes I'd like to be able to give it a go myself? I can change a spark plug! (I also have a reasonable range of tools, though no torque wrench, and no garage...) I don't think it would be a massive job, as the water pump was done last time, and the rollers were done the time before...

I'm in Bristol. Worth a try!

Giles,

From your post, are you saying that the rollers weren't changed with the last belt change? If not then I suggest you do them this time; they are usually done with every belt change.

If you want to make your way to London then I'll happily work through it with you. My S2 needs the belts (and rollers) doing as well, and I have the parts on my shelf waiting to be fitted. I'd happily spend a day with you drinking tea and tinkering with a couple of 944's.


Oli.

 

[Sandspider]

Hi Oli

Thanks for the offer, that sounds good, and a nice offer. Whereabouts in London are you? I'll be up that way the weekend after next, but it's for a wedding so I doubt my fiancée would be too happy if I was to rush off and get oily. (Not my wedding I should point out, but even so!). When were you thinking of doing yours? I suspect a Saturday would work best for me, and I'd need to get the car into a driveable state by the evening so I could get it home again. Where did you get your parts from? And would the job differ much between a Lux and an S2?

I thought the rollers were usually done once every 2 - 3 belt changes / when necessary, as they wear more slowly than the belt? They certainly looked fine last time the belt was done, but I suppose that was nearly 4 years ago now, and it wouldn't hurt to change them when I'm in there.

 

[zcacogp]

Giles,

The snag is that I am on the other side of London to you; I'm in Bow, and it will hence mean a trip across town for you. Sundays are OK but we wouldn't be able to manage the morning, it would have to start around lunchtime as we will be in church. It should be possible to do at least one car within an afternoon (presuming the weather is OK and nothing much goes wrong.) I bought the parts from Promax, although any supplier will be able to take your money for them. The job will be pretty much identical on a Lux and an S2 as the layout of the front of the engine is very similar; the S2 has a second camshaft, but this is driven by a chain from the first one and hence the belt setup is identical. The S2 has slightly wider belts to accommodate the greater load of the second cam, but this is pretty much the only difference.

I understand that the rollers are done at every belt change as a precaution against them failing. It is unlikely to happen, but if one of them was to seize (or let go entirely) then the belt would wear out very quickly indeed as it would be dragging on the back of it. Changing them frequently is cheap insurance against this happening.


Oli.

 

[Sandspider]

Hmm.

That would add a good hour or so to the journey, more if it's trafficy. (Some 3 hours total at the moment according to Google). Would a Saturday be any good to you? That would be better for me than a Sunday, but obviously might not work for you, and would probably be more trafficy than a Sunday. Good to know that the job is very similar on an S2 and a Lux, and I take your point about the rollers. The promax kit seems to include them for the £180 odd, so not too pricey. Going to check exactly which kit I'd need - one of the idiosyncrasies of having a 1986 car is that it doesn't fit neatly into the pre-86 or post-86 brackets!

As it's very weather dependent, I wonder if it might be better to do the job next year. How much of a hurry are you in to do yours?

Thank you.

 

[Monkeythree]

A little extra info which I hope is useful.

The 86 lux has an eccentric roller to tension the cambelt. The S2 has a spring tensioner. To change the spring tensioner roller on the S2 you have to first remove the tensioner and then change the roller on the bench. On the lux, Clarks garage recommends changing the tensioner stud that the tensioner roller sits on. So slightly different tasks but probably about the same time (if the stud comes out OK!)

The S2 (and other 16v) have an extra cam belt idler roller. This is partially obscured by the balance belt drive pulley which must be removed in order to change this idler. I have heard several people say that you can change the belts without removing the balance pulley i.e. there is sufficient space between the pulley and the covers to slide the belts out. This would mean you wouldn't have to remove the crank pulley bolt and therefore wouldn't need to lock the flywheel so an easier job all round. HOWEVER, i personally would prefer to be able to visibly see the belt sitting correctly on the cam belt pulley when installing the new belt so for me, it would be worth the little extra effort to remove the balance belt drive pulley to facilitate this.

 

[Sandspider]

Thanks Tom, duly noted. Will come back to this post when the time comes...

 

[DavidL]

ORIGINAL: Monkeythree

I think we need to be careful not to associate all outsourcing to "getting fleeced". There are plenty of jobs on 944's which as Paul pointed out, owners either don't want to do, can't do for one reason or another etc etc. and taking the car to have it done is the right thing for that owner at that time.

My point on the belts was that I believe 944 belts hold a "fear factor" for many owners and therefore many get done by garages. I just wanted to raise awareness that there is no hoodoo or witchcraft involved with this job and i firmly believe that with a bit of confidence boosting, many owners could manage this task themselves. If you can change a spark plug, you can change the belts on a 944!

I think M3 makes a very good point here. Do we consider that anyone who gets anything done by a business is being fleeced?
There are lots of things we could all do but choose not to for lots of reasons - wanting it done by someone with more experience than themselves, no time, no facilities etc etc.
I think we have established the going rate for this job done at a garage so that's what it costs. Its not being fleeced its making an informed decision.
Lots of people have no interest in the mechanicals but like to drive ergo someone else does the work.

If we are looking at it purely from a cost point of view I dare say there are a good few on here who, should they choose to, could spend the time a garage would take to do a job doing locum, sessional, contract type work in their own field and earn more than the garage would charge. Who wouldn't want to be "fleeced" in that case?

 

[Elliot]

for a full belt change / service I charge £330

 

[Sandspider]

ORIGINAL: Elliot

for a full belt change / service I charge £330

Shame you're a way away from me. Mind you, at that price I could come and have a holiday in Lincolnshire, get my car done, and still probably pay less than to an indie around here!

 

[charlesm17x]

How much would you charge for everything I talked about elliot.

Many thanks for all the replies and advice guys does anyone have any recommendations for garages in the south east?

 

[zcacogp]

Giles,

Saturdays would work for me - possibly better. My work situation is such that I could do mid-week as well (and would mildly prefer it) but I appreciate that that may not work for you as well.

Yes, Bristol to Bow is not much fun as you would be crossing town. Sorry!

I'd be keen to do the work on mine this year, if possible. The interval is meant to be four years or 40,000 miles, and mine is pretty much there at the moment.


Oli.

 

[Elliot]

call me in the morning to discuss

cheers Elliot 07514 944964

 

[Sandspider]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp

Giles,

Saturdays would work for me - possibly better. My work situation is such that I could do mid-week as well (and would mildly prefer it) but I appreciate that that may not work for you as well.

Yes, Bristol to Bow is not much fun as you would be crossing town. Sorry!

I'd be keen to do the work on mine this year, if possible. The interval is meant to be four years or 40,000 miles, and mine is pretty much there at the moment.


Oli.

I'll drop you an e-mail Oli.

Cheers.

 

[924nutter]

Maybe it is because due to previously being a garage queen my turbo had already had a water pump at 22,000 miles so the bottom belt cover might have had a wider gap, but I didn't even remove the crank pulley I just carefully eased the belt past, into the gap and around the pulley. The job is made all the more easy with the belt auto belt tensioner (fit belt wind back so many degrees or something and tighten tensioner). Balance belt use the 1/4 turn tension method and scuttle down to your indie to check the tensions. One of mine was just too tight and the other just a bit on the loose side. Bottom line don't be scared of 944 cambelts; a cam belt is a cam belt and the engine will run without the balance belt so worst possible case you could do the cam belt and water pump, and gingerly take it too your indie to fit the balance shaft belt, not ideal or remotely recommended but could save a wad of cash.

 

[os951]

ORIGINAL: Craigybaby

Just for reference this is what jct600 quoted me a couple of weeks ago

· Cambelt + balance Belt £736.20inc vat fitted.
· Cam chain £360.84inc vat fitted.
· Water pump £1,122.43inc vat fitted.

It's odd how change of cam chain is cheaper than belts change. After all chain cannot be changed without removing camshafts. That would also require removing belts..... If that cam chain price is just for replacing chain pads, then it is over priced.

 

[George Elliott]

Perhaps they don't bother ?

Pal of mine had a New Evo 8, sold 4 years later with 99,000 miles to another pal. FSH Company car, no expense spared.

Lancer specialist gave him the Original Cam Belt back at the first service.

Recorded as changed twice in the Service Records.

Happened me, my Uncle with an Audi, a major proportion of Main dealers are a shower of crooks whose career depends on pure lies.

And their Warranty....wish you heard the guff from Audi on corrosion on an Approved used car - not covered. They coughed up in the end but the goodwill has long gone as you may notice. []

DIY or an Indi you can Trust.

George
944t

 

[charlesm17x]

Tried to put this off for a while but water pump has just gone driving home on the m40 will be going to an indie tomorrow for the job lot

 

[Sandspider]

What did they charge in the end?

 

[charlesm17x]

Luckily it was just a 5 quid pipe that went but ive been quoted £988 so far waiting to hear back from two other indies