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[GinoGinelli]

Hi, just a quick Q- would 160 fitting + 65 for the kit be a good deal for a new cambelt on a '96 2.5?

Cheers

[markey mark]

yes sounds pretty good but pm jamesv6cdx first see if he can match it or mabye do better ! and he will do it propley bud !!

[caolan_p]

for my 2.2petrol it was £40 to fit the full kit and i think £65 for the kit it self  

[Darth Loo-knee]

£65 sounds cheap for the Cambelt kit....
Get the DVD mate and save yourself £160

[JamesV6CDX]

Agree with the comments about DVD if you fancy having a go.

If you' do want someone to do it, I'd knock £85 off the labour charge you've been quoted - making it £75.

[psychnurse]

Agree with the comments about DVD if you fancy having a go.

If you' do want someone to do it, I'd knock £85 off the labour charge you've been quoted - making it £75.

And it would be so much better than a garage. The timing on mine is soooo much more accurate. saving fuel   and increasing umph

[JamesV6CDX]

Agree with the comments about DVD if you fancy having a go.

If you' do want someone to do it, I'd knock £85 off the labour charge you've been quoted - making it £75.

And it would be so much better than a garage. The timing on mine is soooo much more accurate. saving fuel   and increasing umph

Glad to hear it - I thought you'd see an improvement when I saw how far out the NS bank was

[Markjay]

Vx prices are £300-£400 (I negotiated it down from the initial quote of £400 to £325 at the time, but these were London prices). This is including the kit (original Vx obviously) which is around £110 retail, so the labour element works out as £200-£300.

£160 from an independent is very reasonable, assuming they know what they are doing (many don't!)... £65 for the kit is also very good but make sure it's a kit i.e. including the tensioner and idlers and not just the belt.

[Richie London]

Vx prices are £300-£400 (I negotiated it down from the initial quote of £400 to £325 at the time, but these were London prices). This is including the kit (original Vx obviously) which is around £110 retail, so the labour element works out as £200-£300.

£160 from an independent is very reasonable, assuming they know what they are doing (many don't!)... £65 for the kit is also very good but make sure it's a kit i.e. including the tensioner and idlers and not just the belt.

and isnt it a good idea to change water pump at same time

[Markjay]

Vx prices are £300-£400 (I negotiated it down from the initial quote of £400 to £325 at the time, but these were London prices). This is including the kit (original Vx obviously) which is around £110 retail, so the labour element works out as £200-£300.

£160 from an independent is very reasonable, assuming they know what they are doing (many don't!)... £65 for the kit is also very good but make sure it's a kit i.e. including the tensioner and idlers and not just the belt.

and isnt it a good idea to change water pump at same time

No, it's a great idea  

I didn't do it though because the car was 4 years old and only covered 30k miles, so i had the water pump pencilled in for the 8-years cambelt change which would have due in a couple of yaers, alas I don't have the car any more...

[cbs2]

I know its been said before, but I'll say it again.

Under no circumstances hand over money to a garage for your cambelt change. Not even if he has snap -on gold spanners.

You'll get a half-@rsed job usually, your timing will still be a mile out, you'll be charged extra labour for the water pump ( when the only extra work he has to do is remove 3 bolts & skelp it with a mallet)
And theres no exact proof that he actually changed the tensioners as well.
Plus you have no proof that a locking kit was used.
Either buy the DVD, the kit & water pump, and hire the locking kit for a week for £15. I did mine recently & its the biggest job I've tackled yet on the mig, but the dvd is great & I took 4-5 hours to do my first one.
Or get a member to do it or help you with it, or watch for a cambelt party happening.

You'll save a wedge & the piece of mind is priceless

PS - Apologies to any mechanics reading this.

[Mr Skrunts]

With all the help and info learned from this forum then all I would say is that the price quoted for the kit is a mistake or an inferior set.

£75 is the best I found on the net for a belt/tensioner kit made by Gates.  Dealer Trade Club price is £97 + Vat, and £121 Retail + Vat.

I have bought the Cam belt DVD and having seen it I doubt even the dealers will fit the belt to the level of accuracy Mark shows it to be done on the disk.

So my advice is if you want to keep the car then be carefull, if you want it to fail then it's a possible top end rebuild at the dealers expence.

My vote goes with Mark, James and the others that have been recommeded within the forum.  The V6 DVD the best investment you will make.  Order one and watch it, you probably will reconsider who fits your timing kit.

Dont cut corner's it wont save you money in the long run.

[Markjay]

I know its been said before, but I'll say it again.

Under no circumstances hand over money to a garage for your cambelt change. Not even if he has snap -on gold spanners.

You'll get a half-@rsed job usually, your timing will still be a mile out, you'll be charged extra labour for the water pump ( when the only extra work he has to do is remove 3 bolts & skelp it with a mallet)
And theres no exact proof that he actually changed the tensioners as well.
Plus you have no proof that a locking kit was used.
Either buy the DVD, the kit & water pump, and hire the locking kit for a week for £15. I did mine recently & its the biggest job I've tackled yet on the mig, but the dvd is great & I took 4-5 hours to do my first one.
Or get a member to do it or help you with it, or watch for a cambelt party happening.

You'll save a wedge & the piece of mind is priceless

PS - Apologies to any mechanics reading this.

I must say that Vx did a good job on mine, albeit they had to do it twice (they kept the car for 3 days and said the first kit they used - original Vx - was faulty and idler was noisy so they re-did it all with a new kit...).

[TheBoy]

Hi, just a quick Q- would 160 fitting + 65 for the kit be a good deal for a new cambelt on a '96 2.5?

Cheers

Where are you based - someone may be willing to assist?

[JamesV6CDX]

£160 from an independent is very reasonable

Does that mean I'm way to cheap at £60/£75 a pop?