Rep Power: 0

Have a 2004 Civic LX Coupe. It has 60,500 miles. I am the second owner and got it with 28,000 miles, always do the maitenance and have had only a few problems. Honda says I need to do the timing belt now, since it is based on time not miles in this situation, they also say I have a slight oil leak from Oil pump. They want almost $ 1100 to repair, any advice as to if I should try a local shop instead of Honda since it is very costly??? Thanks in advance.

 
Rep Power: 518

Timing belt--yeah, you are over 7 years. It's time to do it.
I'd say a water pump at the same time, and the antifreeze goes with that.

But......
Oil pump.....really? I have serious doubts. I want proof. Post pics.
Get under it and look. Does it have a leak? What and where?
I'd want a damn good reason before I blow that amount of loot on an obscure issue that may not even be worth mentioning.
That is relatively low mileage, I wouldn't expect to see oil leaks from rubber seals yet.
I've seen them still dry as a bone at a quarter million miles.

The dealer (that wants all of your hard earned cash) should be ready, willing, and able to SHOW YOU EXACTLY WHERE AND WHAT IS LEAKING and why they want all of your hard earned cash for it! They should be glad to do it too.
If they get all defensive because you question it......well....that should be a statement in and of itself. Run far, run fast.



I'm going to guess you went in for an oil change.
I'm going to guess it went something like this:
One of the rookies got it. "Hey! There is a wet spot on this here thingamabob. What is this thingamabob?"
"That's the oil pump."
"Oh. OK." He tells the advisor there is a wet spot. Advisor has no clue what it is or how many different ways it could have got there, nor why. ALL he knows is the kid said oil pump, so it must need one.

The spot of oil he saw came from far above the pump.
The kid doesn't have any experience to know any better, just a week ago he was asking if you wanted "fries with that?"
Someone spilled a bunch of oil during the last oil change, and not all of it got cleaned up.
Or it needs a cam seal.
Several possibilities.
I can't see it to give my opinion.



Now, I could be way off base on this, and the dealer could be 100% correct.
BUT.....I bet there isn't a big enough problem to worry about, if there is any real problem at all.
I don't remember ever seeing a problem big enough to warrant pulling a pump off at only 60k.
(I might expect seepage at 150k, and some drips at 200k. These would be coming from between the block and the pump, not dripping out of the timing cover.)

How much oil does it leak?
Does it leak enough to lose more than a quart between oil changes?
Make a mess on your garage floor?
Is it leaking enough to save $500 in oil?

Second opinions can be priceless.
I suggest you should try one.
Maybe two.


HTH

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks, actually my son has it at school and wnet to Honda. He has been there a few times before and they seemed ok. Last time he was home, was a few months ago, had oil changed here, mechanics have been doing maintence here for the 3 years i have the car, and they have kept up on everything. As far as i know, no problems, so i will wait as he will be home in about 3 weeks, i will take to them and have them check it, I have an extended warranty which has been used a couple of times, and if the oil pum is really bad it will cover it, not sure it will cover seals, but part labor etc on that is a joke. I will then jave them do the timing belt. Thanks for your input on this!!

 
Rep Power: 518

There are rubber seals between the oil pump and the engine block. Yes, they harden and leak after many heating cycles. Only 60k seems extremely early to me.

If the oil pump really had to come off, that would cover every bit of labor for the timing belt job. The timing belt has to come off to do the job.
The water pump would only be a little extra labor with all the rest already out of the way.

Labor on the oil pump (remove and reinstall) may be around 7 hours on a 1.7 engine though. That's a lot of loot in the shop I work in @ $110/hr. The actual seals would be only a few bucks.

SWAG:
t-belt job 3.0
Add .5 for the water pump.
or
Oil pump R+R 7.0
add .5 for the water pump


Remember: Labor $ is not the same as parts $.
I'm only thinking of the work involved to accomplish a job here, not the cost of the parts.


HTH