I have a dealership that is going to do a timing belt and seals job for me on my H22A1 (95 VTEC). They gave me a quote of $870, but when I asked them to change out the oil pump gaskets they changed the price to $1025. Is there a whole lot more work to be done to get to those gaskets?

 

that sounds reasonable to me.

 

They're going to be taking apart the entire timing side of the engine. Make sure you aren't confusing them, do you mean the outer seals on the oil pump (3 that are normally changed with the t-belt) or the few behind the pump. If you told them to do the ones behind the oil pump they have to drop the oil pan to remove the oil pump.

Sometimes those seals can leak, sometimes they don't, sucks for those that do after they already paid for a t-belt then have to pay again to go back in there.

 

OK, thanks, you have explained it to me well, the o-rings are these... #6 and #7....
Do you have to take the oil pan off to get to that?

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...-+OIL+STRAINER

 

Can they tell if they are leaking when they do the normal timing belt?

 

^It depends on how badly everything behind there is leaking, best is to clean the engine thoroughly and check. You'll see oil seeping between the block and the pump, may need to leave timing covers off while testing, it's usually only found after the timing belt has been done and oil is spotted around the lower timing cover.

I'd just let them do the normal t-belt, water pump + seals, make sure #7 is included, for some dumb reason at the one I work at they don't include that one but the other 4 pressed in seals are.

You'd have a serious amount of oil coming from there if the pump was leaking.

 

You are a big help, so is 6 on the inside of the engine wall? from the picture, it looks like it might be, if yes, who cares if it leaks right?

7 appears on the outside from your comment, "Make sure # 7 is included" and from the Helms, it looks like that one easy to replace, correct?

 

Yes, #7 is simple with the belts off, the removal of the case that holds the gear is all that's needed to change it, 2 bolts and 1 nut. It does matter if #6 leaks but it's very unlikely that it will, loss of a lot of oil and oil pressure but very unlikely that it will.

 

RIGHT, I was just going to edit my post and comment more on this. Yes it does matter if #6 is leaking, BUT if it was leaking....

1. My car would tell me with an oil pressure light or something else would be an indication, or whatever...
2. The oil from this seal would leak back into the oil pan and not outside of the car

Do I have this correct?

 

Yeah, 1st way you'd actually know that oil pressure was low before a light is VTEC wouldn't work.

 

This is exactly why I work on my own car...

The dealership calls me at 5:00..."All good to go" When I get to the dealership to pay I see on the paperwork that the mechanic wrote that there was a spring missing from the balancer belt and that the auto tensioner was not functioning. The way it was written, it could have been talking about the tensioner for both. The guy I delt with had already gone home but the guy there said that the mechanic manually set the tension and it should be good to go.

I did not pay for it, but left the car there so I could do research and think about it.

So I have two things I need to consider
1. I am pissed that they did not call me half way through the work, but if they would have, would I have paid for it? Do I want to complain about it, find out it is an extra $200 and decide if I want to pay for it
2. The car has like this for several years and ran just fine, so maybe they saved me money by setting the tension manually.

Thoughts?

 

anyone, anyone? I have to talk to the guy in the morning. I have heard of people turning an auto tensioner into a manual. But, not sure about this.

 

They must be talking about the balance belt, only that one you can set manually.

It's stupid that they wouldn't just replace the spring, it's a tiny, cheap little thing.



#12 in the picture, $3.

 

This is insane, they want more less the same the car is worth.

 

^Only time I see it cheaper is some small shop and they don't change out any oil seals which is the dumbest thing you can do and they use cheaper aftermarket parts. Price out the parts alone and around half of the money is going to parts.

 

Thanks for your help guys, car was fixed to my satisfaction. All this is part of my oil leak track down. It appears that the oil leak from that side of the engine has been repaired plus the coolant leak (water pump)

Thanks again!!