Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Serpentine belt replacement

I just got my SVT back from the dealership for a serpentine belt replacement. The belt had a nick in it, presumably from a rock or something.

Any of you know how much "book time" the belt replacement should be? Dealer charged me 2 hrs labour, plus $69 for the belt. Seems kinda high to me. 2 hrs to change the belt??

Any wisdom appreciated. TIA.

Kerry

Kerry,

I did mine last weekend. It is a little bit of a pain to do...but it only took me about 30 minutes.
That time includes removing the right front wheel and the plastic liners in the fenderwell which give you access to the crank & alternator pulley. I think 2 hours is ridiculous and it's just one of the reasons I never take my car to the dealer or a garage unless I can't handle the job myself.

Later.

I had the ford dealer throw a new belt on when they did the DMD. No extra labor charge ..2 birds with 1 stone..

Two hours to replace a serpentine belt is ridiculous!

I can do it faster and I don't have power tools.

Plus you can buy the belt at a local auto parts store for around $20-25. I got mine from Yates/Carquest for $19 plus tax.

Thanks for the confirmation, guys. I would have thrown on the DMD, if I had one. Gotta order one next month.

I did the SEARCH and it appears that labour time should be around 30 mins for a dealer with the proper tools. B*stards.

Damn, good thing I haven't paid them yet...they ordered in the dash repair kit, so I get to go in there again in a few days...yikes.

2 hours is assinine. With the proper breaker bar for the tensioner, you can do it in 20 min. without taking anything off the car.

The dealer should have a book which dictates how long they can/should charge for changing the belt. And, as everyone has pointed out, anything over 30 minutes is too much.

Yes the dealers do have a book. Actually they have two. At least they did when I worked there. One is for non-warranty jobs and one is for warranty work. Guess which one is the more liberal with the hours? When I worked for Ford in the early/mid 70's, labor was ~$25 - 35/hr IIRC. I worked for three Ford dealers and one Mercedes and they all had different rates. More important to us techs was the percentage of that labor that we received which was between 40 to 50%. We used to get alot of Lincolns and Mercs too because their dealers charged higher labor rates.

Anyway guys, front wheel drive cars are not cheap to repair for the most part. Just spread the cost of owning these vehicles over the length of time you own them or the mileage you drive them. It isn't as hard to take that way.

Karl

It is if they charge you 2 hours for a job that takes 30 min.

As per ALLDATA And Mitchell.. Alotted time for a Ford Certified Technician to replace the belt is .5 Hours... If they are complete idiots then I would say .75 hrs... No more... I would go see the Service Manager and have him show you the book time.