300M timing belt replacement

Ted Mittelstaedt wrote: "Most people don't make money 24x7. They make money

40 hours a week and the rest of the hours in the week they don't make anything at all. If a person can save $250 by spending 8 of those non-paid hours doing the job themselves, vs. paying a pro for it, it's like they are getting paid an extra $250 for that week."

I look at it different way. My time off is valuable with things I have to do around the home, camp or fishing or just drinking beer. I figure how long it going to take me to tackle a job plus Mopar parts and compare it to the cost of the dealership. If it is cheaper for me to pay the dealer then to do it myself then I will pay the dealer. I do have the luxury of getting a discount on Mopar parts and labor since my wife sells cars for the dealership. If the dealers price is to high and I can get the parts I sometimes can get a friend that is a mechanic for the dealership to complete the work either at hid house or mine. Cost beside parts is cost of a good home cooked meal and some beer that I help him drink.

Bottom-line is the OP realized this job is bigger then he might be willing to take on. He asked if the price quoted is too high. If the original post does not include the hydraulic tension pulley then the price is to high. One sight I use to help make my decision is

I purchase a subscription for every vehicle I own. It has good photos and diagrams to help you understand what you need to do.

The first of those other two dealers (still an authorized dealer) has come back with a quote of $1240!!! for timing belt, tensioner pulley, hydraulic tensioner and water pump (parts + labor + 6% tax).

Drain, flush and refill cooling system (standard service item at 100K miles anyway) is another $148.

Replace thermostat and hoses is another $748! if I really want but his "technician" (not just a mechanic; that may explain why his prices are so high) says he's never seen a bad thermostat on one of these, so why bother?

Perce

This next paragraph was my quote (attribution got snipped):

That may be true. And of course it's also true that some will refuse to let you bring in parts (we've all seen the signs over the cash register that say "Would you take eggs into a restaurant and ask them to cook them for you?") :)

In my experience, typically when you take your parts to a shop that agrees to install them for you, they charge the same labor. That was the case on my 3.2. What I gained was that I got premium parts (either OEM or best aftermarket for every single part) instead of whatever the local auto parts store had available as their lowest-end part, and I got the OEM/premium parts for less money than the shop would have marked up the inferior parts to if they had supplied them.

What I lost by doing that is a guarantee on the work if a part (that I had supplied) was bad or failed). With the best parts available, I was willing to take my chances, and have had zero problems (3 or 4 years later). It was more than an even trade IMO.

Perce - Seriously - try pricing the same parts at

as a comparison. I think you'll be amazed. No sales tax, but you will pay actual shipping - typically $10 to $20 on a large order of parts of this type. They are a dealer, and the parts are OEM. With the exception of one part, they always have shipped the same day I ordered - only thing I can figure is that they are just around the corner from a warehouse. Located in OH, I live in VA - I always get the parts the next day by UPS ground.

Woah! Not including the hydraulic tensioner - OK - no big deal. But to not replace the pulley (with its bearing) is malpractice. That's the closest to "let's not replace anything, including the belt, until it breaks" philosophy as you can get (other than maybe not replacing the water pump too).

But - yeah - you're right - that does make their price ridiculous.

Thanks for reminding me why I quit going to dealers about 30 years ago. I see things have not changed. :)

Let's put it this way: From years of reading posts on 3 different LH car forums, while - yes - some aftermarket parts do happen to be the same part as the OEM, you won't find the quality going the other way, i.e., OEM switching to a clearly inferior part, or one that is clearly supposed to be the same part but doesn't fit (hits or rubs something due to a slightly different shape) - that's something you don't see on teh OEM parts (someone will probably post with an example of where they've seen that though). :)

Having said all that, companies in trouble will do some shady things, so it could be that they start buying the cheapy parts and third-party labeling them to turn them into OEM. Nothing would surprise me at this time, but so far I have not seen evidence of that on these parts.

I agree.

For the record, there are two separate parts: The tensioner pulley, and the hydraulic tensioner. While they work together to tension the belt, they are two distinct parts when purchasing and installing them.

I also get alldata subscriptions, but as time goes on, I am not so hot on them. *IF* you want complete schematics right out of the FSM specific to the year and car, and if you want access to TSB's, they are good. But I find the textual and procedural information is *so* skimpy as to be almost worth zip towards the price of the subscription. IOW - what info. they have is generally right out of the FSM, but what they have in the way of test and procedures is probably less than 5% of the information that is in the FSM - and some of that left out info. is important.

Within the last year, they revamped the format of their information, and, on the same vehicle subscription, I swear that the "new" presentation makes it harder to find stuff, and even more info. is missing than before. I very seldom recommend them to people anymore,

*unless*, again, you're mainly wanting schematics and/or TSB's - for those two things, the info. is 100% there and straight out of the FSM. But for the procedural stuff and specifications, it way too spotty for me. I'm not sure I will be renewing any of my subscriptions.

IMO...

Another reminder: My parts (t-belt, water pump, tensioner pulley, hyd. tensioner, both rad. hoses, both accessory belts, t-stat) were around $360 - all OEM or Gates, then $300 labor, which I admit could/should have been $400-450. I did supply my own coolant - because I wanted to make sure G-05 went in it.

That's another thing you want to insist on - G-05 coolant (Chrysler dealer - called Mopaar 150,000 Mile Long Life, Zerex G-05, or Ford dealer - they have several types of coolant - ask for "Premium Gold").

Forgot to emphasize my point there, which was: My parts price may not have looked that great compared to yours, *UNTIL* you look at what parts I got for that money - and not inferior parts either - compared to what the dealers are (not) including in their price. Timing belt and water pump for - what - around $300!! And the one place wants an adder of $748 for a t-stat and two hoses!! You've got to be kidding. I would RUN!

Now I have the quote from the second (still-authorized) dealer:

$1000 for belt, tensioner pulley, hydraulic tensioner and water pump.

$80 to drain, flush and refill cooling system.

$175 for thermostat and hoses -- don't think I'll bother, even at that price.

And their labor rate is up to $90/hr. already.

I'll ask at one or two independent shops as well.

Perce

Then I agree, their price is a bit out of line, but then again, they aren't paying me to run their business and I'm not paying them to run mine.

Yes.

Not in this case. Take my word for it, side by side, there is no mistaking the two brands of parts.

Realistically, there is no guarantee that you'll take a breath tomorrow.

If you choose an independent shop, I can see no reason why they wouldn't use OEM parts if you request them.

Many do though I can't speak for anyone other than myself.

Working the parts quote using NAPA first line parts; Water pump is $7 cheaper Timing belt is $5 cheaper Tensioner pulley is $41-$45 dollars more expensive depending on which product line. They don't offer the hydraulic tensioner but if they did, odds are it would be priced higher.

You know for a fact that the OEM stuff will last for at least 95K miles based on your own experience. The Autozone and NAPA stuff, ????

I can say, based on experience that the aftermarket stuff can and does fail much sooner.

They are doing essentially that now, Mopar calls it the "value line" or some such.

AC Delco has their "all makes, all models."

Both are very equal to the dimestore Autozone crap.