Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting serpentine belt and water pump-replacement & pricing

I took my 98.5 Mystique LS/auto for a oil/coolant/transmission fluid change today. I have 59,000 miles on the car.

The service advisor at the neighborhood service center noticed that the serpentine belt had cuts and advised me to replace them.

He quoted me a price on the belt at $57.78 and labor at 0.7 hours for $45.49. The labor fee sounded reasonable, but the price on the belt seemed high- based on web pricing searches.

As for the water pump, I'm getting worried about failing and wanted to replace it. Again, he quoted a price of $99.90 (I asked if the pump had metal impellars) and labor for 1.5 hours at $97.48

Any suggestions? Should I buy the parts and have them install it? Or should I just shut up and go with their estimates?

OEM belt is around $20, metal w/p at Autozone is $70.

Don't let them shaft you on the parts. Labor ??? DIY !! There are plenty enough topics/how-tos to walk you through it plus the gurus, I'm sure will answer any other q's.

Regards...

I had the dealer change my serpentine belt at 60,000. For my Zetec the belt was $29.78 plus $29.50 for labor for a total of $59.28.

If you have the Duratech the belt could be more, plus access with the V6 may take longer.

i'd look around at a few places quickly to find a better price if u dont want to do the work....i paid 77 bucks total to have my serp belt changed and was quoted low as 60...i went for the more expensive repair tho because i trusted that place more than the other...i was expecting to pay maybe 100 or more but several people on this site i believe got the work done pretty cheap

I know someone with an svt who just had those done. The dealer charged almost $600 for the pump, belts, labor, and coolant flush/fill!

If you can do it yourself otherwise find a good private shop...