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I have broken down this afternoon, with a broken Cam Belt, and I need a trust worthy mechanic in my new area where ive only been for 3 months now to work on my baby of 7 years.

nessyz wrote:I have broken down this afternoon, with a broken Cam Belt, and I need a trust worthy mechanic in my new area where ive only been for 3 months now to work on my baby of 7 years.

So you will need you to tell us what areas you live in so we can help you.

My apologies... reservoir/preston.

Ultra Tune Thomastown
9465 3933

They do all my mechanical work and did my timing belt about 12 months ago.

They are not MX5 specialists but are recommended mechanics.

de Bounce wrote:Ultra Tune Thomastown
9465 3933

They do all my mechanical work and did my timing belt about 12 months ago.

They are not MX5 specialists but are recommended mechanics.

Do you mind if I ask how much the timing belt change cost.

nessyz wrote:I have broken down this afternoon, with a broken Cam Belt, and I need a trust worthy mechanic in my new area where ive only been for 3 months now to work on my baby of 7 years.

Hi how many Kms does your car have?

snshami wrote:

de Bounce wrote:Ultra Tune Thomastown
9465 3933
They do all my mechanical work and did my timing belt about 12 months ago.
They are not MX5 specialists but are recommended mechanics.

Do you mind if I ask how much the timing belt change cost.

I can't remember the price for the timing belt alone as I had just bought the car and had a lot more work done at the time.
Best to ring them and ask for a quote.

I have found that if you do the water pump at the same time, various places will quote anywhere between $900 -> $1200.

snshami wrote:

nessyz wrote:I have broken down this afternoon, with a broken Cam Belt, and I need a trust worthy mechanic in my new area where ive only been for 3 months now to work on my baby of 7 years.

Hi how many Kms does your car have?

The car has done over 216000kms... been a good car to me, had for 7 years now.

CheyneX5 wrote:I have found that if you do the water pump at the same time, various places will quote anywhere between $900 -> $1200.

Shoot, that seems high.

$200 tops for parts with the water pump, and $400 tops for labour. I'm not a qualified mechanic and I can do this in 4 hours, including beer breaks!

I have done a Capri turbo in 6 hours and they are a nightmare from he'll compared to an mx5 ;)

zossy1 wrote:

CheyneX5 wrote:I have found that if you do the water pump at the same time, various places will quote anywhere between $900 -> $1200.

Shoot, that seems high.

$200 tops for parts with the water pump, and $400 tops for labour. I'm not a qualified mechanic and I can do this in 4 hours, including beer breaks!

I have done a Capri turbo in 6 hours and they are a nightmare from he'll compared to an mx5 ;)

Actually, its about right....

See the mania website Link

zossy1 wrote:

CheyneX5 wrote:I have found that if you do the water pump at the same time, various places will quote anywhere between $900 -> $1200.

Shoot, that seems high.

$200 tops for parts with the water pump, and $400 tops for labour. I'm not a qualified mechanic and I can do this in 4 hours, including beer breaks!

I have done a Capri turbo in 6 hours and they are a nightmare from he'll compared to an mx5 ;)

The unfortunate part to that is that you are in NSW and I in victoria, that does sound about right for the quote, as thats the exact figure I was told from the RACV mechanic.

RawSouth wrote:
Actually, its about right....

See the mania website Link

Hmm... I am in the wrong business.

Granted it is not a fun job, and if you encounter a problem (like say a leaking heater core return pipe or gasket at the end), it could take 5, maybe even 6 hours...

Crikey, it is stuff like this that makes me SO glad I have a couple of mechanics in the family!!

Hang on... I apologise if I missed something, but $400+ in labour for a water-pump and belts change?

Seriously?

1red5 wrote:Hang on... I apologise if I missed something, but $400+ in labour for a water-pump and belts change?

Seriously?

Timing belt, tensioner and water pump change.

So yeah - here's my precis and the reason why I think $900+ a bit over the top:

* Under $200 for a timing belt kit and water pump kit;
* Air guide off, drain coolant and remove radiator, intake, valve cover, roll engine over to TDC and pull water pump pulley, lower pulley, and off come the accessory belts. With the aid of air tools, this takes around 25-30 mins.
* Pull the plastic cover off - IIRC it comes off in three pieces. Mark the pulleys, then pull the tensioner, idler/spring, and timing belt off. 30-40 mins tops.
* Pull water pump and feed tube off. This can be a pain if you have A/C and/or P/S as the pumps can get in the way. Even if those accessories are present, all it takes is to loosen the mounting bolts and move them aside temporarily. Between 5-15 mins.
* Clean the gasket mating surfaces. Much easier with an alloy surface finishing tool - 10 mins tops - but even nasty surfaces should be able to be cleaned with a razor blade or scraper in 20-30 mins.
* Remove cam gears, front crank seal and cam seals. 15 mins.

So far, 1 hour 45 mins or so. Maybe 2 hours.

* Reinstall water pump and feed tube with new gaskets and o-ring. Care needs to be taken, but 15-20 mins tops.
* Install new seals, and reinstall cam gears. 10 mins.
* Now the fun part - installing the timing belt with the new idler and tensioner. This could take 30 minutes if you don't have a cam gear locking tool, but with a cam gear locking tool (as most mechanics should have), 15-20 minutes should kill it.
* Home stretch now - plastic timing belt covers go back on, P/S and A/C pumps to be reattached if applicable. Pulleys back on, accessory belts back on, valve cover back on with new gasket. 30 mins tops - less without P/S and/or A/C.
* Radiator and air guide back in, reinstall intake, fill and burp cooling system, check for leaks, Beer o'clock.

Seriously - unless some disaster happens, 4 hours max! Maybe 5 if you work slowly or don't have air tools or a cam gear locking tool.