WTF!!! $75-$80 FOR SERPINTINE BELT

Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives

WELL I FOUND OUT WHAT WAS WRONG WITH MY OVER HEATING PROBLEM. THERMOSTAT AND HOUSING AND TEMPERATURE SENDING UNIT. NO BIG DEAL SINCE IT WAS COVERED UNDER THE EXTENDED WARRANTY. BUT THEN THEY SAID THEY WERE CHANGING THE SERPINTINE BELT. THE ONLY THING IS, THAT THEY DID NOT CALL TO TELL ME THIS. THEY WANT TO CHARGE $75-$80 FOR THIS!!! DO ANY OF YOU KNOW IF THIS IS WAY OFF BASE AND I SHOULD CHANGE IT MYSELF OR IS IT OK AND HAVE THEM CHANGE IT.

SORRY FOR THE RANT, BUT IT IT STARTING TO PISS ME OFF. TWO DAYS WITHOUT THE CAR, AND I HAD TO CALL TO FIND THIS OUT.

Please turn off the caps lock!!!

I just saw a thread, but I'm not sure where, and the prices tossed around for the serp. belt were between $15-$25. You could probably do it yourself, but you have to be careful of screwing up and voiding your extended warranty. Legally they can't do any work without your approval, so if there are any charges on your bill that you didn't authorize, give them holy hell!

That looks like labor to be.....are you sure you understod them right and you didn;t mix anything...cause a belt for 80 is absurd.

Roz

yup, what he said. They can't do any work without your consent. I would raise some hell and since they probably already threw your old belt away they will have to give you the new belt but they can't charge you for it since you didn't authorize them to do that work.

Sorry for the caps, but I was a litle miffed. I talked to one of the customer service reps and she said they were still working on it. She went in back to grab the file and see what was wrong with it. That is where she told me about the problems and the serp belt. I think the price was just for labor. I am expecting a call from the manager regarding this issue. If it is still on the bill when I get there, (hopefully it will be done tonight) I will certainly let them know that I did not authorize that repair.

But does anyone know how hard it is to change the belt, is it like the fox bodied mustang, 5-min and your done or is it more complex than that.

Thanks in advance for the input.

Search is your friend! I found this in under 5 minutes.

clicky

If you want/need more detail, I highly suggest going to Autozone or wherever and buying a Haynes manual. If you plan on doing this kind of work on a regular basis, the Haynes manual will pay for itself many times over.

Once you know how to do it, it is simple.

The price of the belt is about $20-25.

You will also need a tool to remove the tension on the belt. Some model years have very little clearance (less than 1/2") to get the tool into the belt tensioner.

Some people seem to be able to relieve the tension from above (in the engine bay), whereas some people can only do it from the below (the RF wheel well area). It all depends on your model year. If you have to relieve the tension from below, then you will need to jack up the car and remove the RF (right front) wheel and the splash guard.

Time to do this depends on your model year. It can take anywhere from 10 minutes up to an hour.

Hey, thanks for the how-to. Unfortunately I am at work and have a hard time with the search feature. I knew I could count on you guys.

CEG Rocks.

I have to replace mine too.. hopefully I can do it from the engine bay.. havn't looked at it yet.. is the serpentine belt the belt under the platic housing in the front of the manifold?

Originally posted by Kevdogg410:
is the serpentine belt the belt under the platic housing in the front of the manifold?

No, that is the water pump belt. The serpentine belt is on the other side of the engine (on the passenger side).

The big one then.. thanks...

Originally posted by GeoPappas:
Once you know how to do it, it is simple.

The price of the belt is about $20-25.

You will also need a tool to remove the tension on the belt. Some model years have very little clearance (less than 1/2") to get the tool into the belt tensioner.

Some people seem to be able to relieve the tension from above (in the engine bay), whereas some people can only do it from the below (the RF wheel well area). It all depends on your model year. If you have to relieve the tension from below, then you will need to jack up the car and remove the RF (right front) wheel and the splash guard.

Time to do this depends on your model year. It can take anywhere from 10 minutes up to an hour.

The "tool" is a simple 1/2" breaker bar. It's a 5-minute job at a dealer. If you didn't authorize it don't pay for it - it's certainly not necessary to change that belt to do the other work they are doing so don't let them try that crap on you either. Then again, by telling you that they are changing the belt, unless you said "no, don't do that until I authorize you to do that repair" you've likely already authorized it. Even if you said, "um, OK" you've authorized it and will pay for it.

Scott

Originally posted by Pigeon:
The "tool" is a simple 1/2" breaker bar.

Actually, I believe that it is a 3/8".

In my situation, I had to buy three or four different breaker bars before I could find one that would fit into the limited clearance of the wheel well area.

And I can't get to the tensioner from above, I have to remove the RF wheel and splash guard.

As I said before, some model years are easier to work on than others.

Nope, I did not say either of those. All I stated was that I did not authorize that part of the repair and requested that the service manager call me directly. If they did go ahead with the repair there might be some arguing on my part.