omega5225

Just to put it out there, it belongs to a friend. She had the car taken to a shop and looked at. They advised her that the timing chain was off a tooth or two. With that being said. And i know there are many factors involved. But the gave her a price of 1,400 to 1,500 dollars just to put a new chain in, valve cover gasket, plugs. Now i would hope with the price being that high that they ment a complete timing set. I.e. chain, guides, tenioner. And unless im wrong it has a balance shaft chain and adjuster for it also. Does that price sound right for everything? Just curious, cause i thought it was high to just put only the chain in. But what good is the chain without the guides and tensioner. And i think they just wanted to put the chain parts in and start it to see if it had bent valves. She doesnt know anything about cars abd most shops see her as a easy target. Thats sad to say but there are shops out there like that. Any info on reasonalble prices? Or was that right?

ezone

How many miles are on this?
Is this a "low maintenance" car? Neglecting oil changes and using cheapo oil seems to be a huge factor in timing chain lifespan.


Do you trust this shop? Do they (the tech doing the work) know what they are doing? Reputable? Quality?
A job like this can go bad in a hurry if someone doesn't know what they are doing.

That would be the oil pump drive chain.

Ask that shop, not us. There should be a written estimate and it should include all of the parts they put a number to. Don't assume a darn thing here.

Not sure why they want to stick spark plugs in if it jumped the timing chain.
100k maintenance interval on plugs.

Get an estimate from the Honda dealer.

omega5225

She said she found someone that can do the work for her and she trusts him. Can you recommend somewhere they can purchase a chain set? And I'm sure if he replaces the chain he would, but he should replace the oil pump drive chain and its adjuster shouldn't he? It may be a low maintainance issue. I know a little about cars. But I'm not sure of the mileage, I've not looked at it myself, I only know what she has mentioned to me talking. But I'm sure it has at least 130,000 miles on it.

ezone

Any Honda dealership.

Ask the person doing the work.
I haven't had to replace a pump drive chain myself, and it would add expense on top of a regular timing chain job.



I'd figure it is. Either lack of service or low quality oil, or both.
The people I have seen with chain problems were not regular customers at our shop (dealership).

HTH

omega5225

Lack of service is almost always the cause of most any failures. Most people find that out the expensive way unfortunately. I think they were trying to find a cheaper price for the chain set than at the dealer. But thank you for taking time to answer a few questions

ezone

I work for a dealer, I'm not familiar with aftermarket sources.

The shop will probably get a standard jobber type discounted price from the local Honda dealer parts department, probably similar to what anyone can get dealer parts online for.
Then they mark it up, same as every other decent business. How much mark up is up to the business.

The shop (and you) can double check your local dealers prices against any of the many online Honda dealer catalogs. (Your local dealer does not have to follow MSRP, they are free to use any pricing system they feel necessary to make profit.)
I use this one for posting images here all the time, but there are many dealers selling online at wholesale prices.

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/

Don't expect to get any parts priced below retail unless you can get it yourself. If your shop will allow you to purchase your own parts, there may be other stipulations *such as no warranty* and a corresponding increase in labor fees to offset lost parts profit.

HTH