so my truck is in the shop. questions..

[maine runner]

In your first post, you stated you had the timing belt replaced. I would get the paperwork and look at the list of parts.

What did they replace?

A shop will not replace the water pump unless you ask or they offer. Assumption is the mother of all....

An independent shop changed my timing belt, water pump and all the related parts in one day. Parts were all OEM. Why are these guys so slow.

This shop is really slick by what you are relaying to us.

 

[save_alkaline]

another update (hopefully only one more after this) - i didn't hear from them yesterday so i left a voicemail this morning. just heard back and they did finish it yesterday. they're going to do the compression test for me as well and will be calling me later today.

man, i can't wait to get it back!

 

[riverider]

another update (hopefully only one more after this) - i didn't hear from them yesterday so i left a voicemail this morning. just heard back and they did finish it yesterday. they're going to do the compression test for me as well and will be calling me later today.

man, i can't wait to get it back!

Hope we will read for a good report.

 

[save_alkaline]

just picked it up and everything seems good so far. all the power is there, it's just as smooth, just as quite. feels nice.. actually it feels great after being in that corolla so long.

compression test results are 200# - 205# on all 8 cylinders.

total cost - $187.

my verdict / opinions on the whole deal is that the matter was handled fairly. i would have paid that much (that's parts only) if it had been offered in the first place so i have no issue paying for it now. they were quick to admit fault and didn't try to get out of it. they offered a reasonable solution by covering all labor costs, the tow, the rental and the requested compression test. i guess one could argue the cost of the new parts but i'm not trying to get something for nothing. did it put me out any.. not really.. and i saved money on gas by driving the little corolla for a week or so. could the whole ordeal have been avoided - sure. maybe they got lucky (and maybe i did as well) that it didn't do any damage to the engine (at least it doesn't appear to have). maybe i'm too easy going.. i don't know.

i am quite happy to be back in it though! :beer:

 

[CJ3Flyr]

:banana: Glad to hear it's back & good. The compression #'s seem correct.


Shame on Toyota (and the others) for selling timing belts! IMHO, you should be able to buy just a belt but the 1st thing the parts guy should see when he looks for the part is a timing belt kit. Idler(s), tensioner and water pump. If the parts/service guy had 'work' to find the stand-alone belt they'd sell more parts and be doing a better service.
:cheers:

 

[save_alkaline]

i agree. i still can't possibly understand why in the world they would sell a belt without a tensioner at the very least! if both parts have the same lifespan and the same potentially devastating results why would the two not be required to go as a kit?!

 

[Uneek]

i agree. i still can't possibly understand why in the world they would sell a belt without a tensioner at the very least! if both parts have the same lifespan and the same potentially devastating results why would the two not be required to go as a kit?!

I agree with you and they should be sold as a kit. But there are penny pinchers out there and it's the same reason why we can get a burger without cheese, or fries and drinks. I don't know, but just seeing both sides of the coin.

 

[charlier180]

I agree with you and they should be sold as a kit. But there are penny pinchers out there and it's the same reason why we can get a burger without cheese, or fries and drinks. I don't know, but just seeing both sides of the coin.

Personally, I do not think the belt and tensioner should be sold as a kit.
In the event that a tensioner seizes and the belt by some miracle does not break, I would think that some owner would want just the tensioner replaced and not the stressed out, nearly broken timing belt. :jk:

Seriously thought, many vehicle owners are just not mechanically inclined. It would seem that educating the vehicle owner about the very costly consequences of not changing a tensioner when a timing belt is replaced would be a good thing to do for a dealership's service dept or a repair garage. At the very least it would be a way for the repair facility to cover their Butts when the new timing belt is broken by a seized tensioner.

Then again, the consumer should at the very least have the freedom of choice to make the decision to change the tensioner or not and not have that potentially VERY EXPENSIVE choice made for them.

BTW Uneek, maybe you should move here to the East Coast.
Around here at least we can get a burger made any way we like it with or without fries and with or without a drink.

 

[colombo]

that makes more sense about not skipping enough teeth. the low idle didn't really (which is why i asked) but if didn't jump enough to get things too out of alignment then i can see it.

i said the exact same thing. i've replaced timing belts in some of my other cars (namely a VR6 corrado which has a tensioner that sounds similar to what he described with this one) and there's no way i would do that job and not include the tensioner. i even told him that i'm paying to have such a job done to give myself another 90k miles of worry free driving. if something like a tensioner gives, that work is negated as is what happened in this case. his response was basically to the effect of 'if they pushed all the other components they would have a bunch of customers complaining about unnecessary work' which i can sort of see but at the same time i would have preferred to have the option. for me, the lesson learned is to know what all is going on in there before getting the job done and requesting to have it inspected if not just jumping right to having it replaced.


at this point, i'm honestly ecstatic to not be calling my lawyers about making a case for a new engine, haha.

Agree 100%. When I was replacing my timing belt on Passat (1000$ job), part of the job was replacing everything it touches even water pump. So I did.

Now I glad I do not hav one (V6).