ArkiStan

I'm about to sell my car and it has about 120,000 which means it's about time for a new timing belt. I'm thinking of having it replaced before I sell it. I have a '93 Honda Prelude. Anybody know how much this procedure will cost?? Thanks.

Luxykin007

unless you feel it will substantially increase the value of your car, I'd instead mention the timing belt would probably soon need to be replaced. Most people shopping for a car with that many miles will know that already anyway... As far as price, I am not really sure, hopefully somone else with a little more knowledge on that will respond. G/L

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Repost Nazi

dontknow about the year, but my experience with preludes is approxamately $600. the price isnt in the belt, but in the labor.

Ladogaboy

Couldn't you just put it in yourself? I sounds like the car is far past warranty anyway. Of course, if you aren't comfortable working on the car, then yeah, the labor is going to be steep.

But IMO, I wouldn't even bother changing it. You aren't responisble for the road worthiness of the vehicle anyway, and someone buying the car should know to check what does and doesn't need to be fixed/replaced. Then again, if you're selling it to a friend, it might be a different issue.

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johnnymk

Timing belts are only $20-$40. The rest is labor. They should be changed at approx. 60,000 - 80,000 miles or serious problems can result if they break. $600 seems awfully expensive.

Blu

I'm going with telling the people that buy the car to have it checked. You probably won't be able to recoup yhe money you spend on having it replaced. You might want to find out if the engine has "interfering valves" (meaning the valve actually enters the cylinder). If not, you could drive the car till the chain/belt broke, and then just have to deal with a breakdown. BUT, if they are interefering, when the chain breaks, you can kiss your valve train goodbye.

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ArkiStan

Wow...just $20-$40 for a timing belt and so much for labor?? Just makes me want to do it myself if I could... The thing is everybody that looks at my car asks about the timing belt, and it would just be so wonderful to say, "oh I just got that replaced!" Oh, well... If it's gonna cost $500-600, there's no way I'm getting that done.

helius

$600?!? Should it cost that much? It cost less than $300 to get my 4 cylinder Camry's timing belt replaced... Call your local Honda dealer to find out.

Jihforce

Yeah the labor its what's costly. I installed mine with a friend. We literally had to lift the engine up and stuff. Took a LOOONNNGGGG time.

nhbilly

The timing belt is not the only thing that get change.

RECOMMENDED with timing belt change

water pump
power steering belt
idler - timing belt tension if applicable


yeah lining up the sprokets and the cank is a little of a B!TCH.
Just a tight space to work with period.

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whitak24

i don't know about the prelude, but like Jihforce said, for a lot of cars, you basically have to pull the engine in order to access the timing belt. sucks.

Ladogaboy

Yeah, I don't know what the interior of the prelude looks like either. If you are lucky (which I doubt with most new cars), the only thing that really needs to be done is to shift one of the components-depends which car it is- which loosens the belt. From that, you can remove the belt without a problem. Place the new belt in position, and shift the component back until the belt is tight again.

I know that on the vehicles I've worked on, mostly older though , there are actually bolts that you loosen which allow you to slide the componenent in and out, allowing you to replace the belts with little or no problems. On those vehicles, max time to change a belt is about 15 mins.

ArkiStan

Wow..I guess there is some hope for this to be a rather low cost procedure. I think I should call up Honda and see what they say. Thanks guys for the info. BTW, how much would labor be if it DID only take 15 minutes??

helius

The going rate for labour in Washington DC's suburbs is something like $80/hour. Or at least that's the rate I saw at the local Toyota dealer. I really doubt if it's something that can be done in 15 minutes for most cars. But then again, I don't know squat about cars.

Ladogaboy

A couple of things to remember. I doubt that Hondas would be that easy to work on, but they might be.

Also, mechanics will NEVER do a job for 15mins labor. Many will charge an hour up front, and then add on whatever labor it actually costs.

No matter what, if you have a mechanic do it, bare minimum, you will probably be looking at $200. I wouldn't recommend doing it unless you are comfortable with working on your own vehicle, and even then, I wouldn't do it without a Chilton's type manual or book.

ArkiStan

yeah I just called up honda. I guess my car's one of those complicated ones cause they said around $550....And it's a process that takes all day. DAMN!!! THere's no way I'm doing that just so I can sell my car. But that's such an obsacle when it comes to explaining to potential buyers!! Oh, such is life. Now I really want to do it myself. I could save over $500. Too bad I don't know jack about touching my car...

Ladogaboy

Yeah, if it is that much, they probably have to open the engine up...

Oh well...

I've never worked on a Honda before, but I might get one... hmm, maybe something I have to look forward to in the future...

MacaroneePenguin

They do have to basically open the whole front part of the engine because that belt runs thru the whole front of the engine block (in Hondas anyways).

Have it done by a non-dealer, but make sure they have some sort of guarantee/warranty.

I had a 93 Honda Accord and to replace the belt for it would've costed me about $350 parts and labor. Keep in mind though, this was with a Honda dealer when I was in PA. CA is always a little more expensive.

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BrewMaster

non-dealer will save you some money., but LPM is right, CA is more expensive. when they did it on my Volvo, i dropped $400. they had to open up the whole engine. it was ugly.

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