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Date:         Fri, 8 May 2009 12:33:53 -0700
Reply-To:     David Kao <dtkao0205@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Kao <dtkao0205@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: [NVC] Passat Timing Belt Replacement
Comments: To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <6bc66ccf0905081105m47390d66t3de0e097a120bde2@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Don, I totally undstood your point before I made the decision to do it myself. I understood completely that if I wanted the service of a shop it would be totally appropriate to replace all those tensioners and whatever that are commonly replaced so that nothing would come out to bother me in the next 5 years.

One reason I decided to to do it myself was the dealer price was a bit high. But if I went for an independent shop I am not sure about the quality of OE parts they would use.

So I decided to bet between the original OEM parts and new OE parts. I will know in the next 5 years if the original OEM parts will take the beating for another 50k miles. If they do last that long they will be replaced next time.

David

David

--- On Fri, 5/8/09, Don Hanson <dhanson928@gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [NVC] Passat Timing Belt Replacement > To: "David Kao" <dtkao0205@yahoo.com> > Cc: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com > Date: Friday, May 8, 2009, 11:05 AM > This story kinda relates to last week's discussion about > "How come it > costs so much to get someone to do an engine swap" > Sure, David, you did the work yourself and saved a bundle > of money. You > made some decisions that a "shop" and most > certainly a dealer would not have > been able to make...You made some judgment calls on what to > re-use and what > looked to be in acceptable (to you) condition as you > proceeded in your > repair/maintence. But a dealer or an independent shop, if > they made these > same 'judgement calls'...They would be putting a > lot at risk...Their shop's > reputation, the possibility that soon them might have to > re-do the repair if > a small part failed or started to fail...All that...They > have to 'make sure' > to cover their own butts by doing everything according to > the book...Takes > more time, costs more money but they won't be > responsible for taking any > shortcuts or making a wrong judgment call.. > You can do that, knowing you're gonna be OK...But a > shop or a > dealer...They might be working on a lawyers vanagon...they > don't really > know...so they can't afford to NOT do it exactly > according to > protocol..then, if something goes wrong later they can > point out in the > Bently or shop manual all the proceedures and say we did it > by the > book...Not our fault.. > A lot of the proceedures in the books are just that...CYA > stuff...cover > your a**...stuff that really doesn't improve the > quality of the > repair/maintence proceedure but someone somewhere decided > "It's a good idea, > while you are in there..." > Don Hanson > > On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 10:30 AM, David Kao > <dtkao0205@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > My 2001 Passat V6 reached 100K miles a few months ago. > I had worried > > that the timing belt needed replacement and needed to > be done soon > > as the warranty had run out. > > > > Dealer price was over $1.3k. Independent shop wanted > $800 - $900. But > > these independent shops will not use dealer parts. > They all claim to use > > OE parts. Called a dealer. An OEM timing belt along is > $92.00. The reason > > the price is as high as $1.3k is they will replace all > tensioners, idlers, > > and probably the water pump (driven by the timing > belt). This is > > understandable. If they are all replaced I most likely > will not need > > to touch any of them in the next 10 years. > > > > Well, I decided to challenge the job myself and I made > it. I replaced only > > the timing belt and nothing else. I was short of a > socket. So My total > > cost turns out to be $100. The old timing belt was > still in good looking > > shape. That was amazing. That led me to reconsider if > I really want to > > replace all tensioners, idlers and the water pump. I > checked each of them > > carefully. I really could not find any sign that they > need replacement > > any time soon. So I took the chance to reuse all of > them. I did not feel > > I would need to touch any of them in the next 3 - 5 > years. So that's it. > > $100 total plus all the labor of my own time. The > Passat has gone 500 > > miles after the timing belt job. I think it will be > fine. The serpentine > > belt was replaced lat year. So it is not replaced this > time. > > > > I started the job on a weekend. Completed it on the > next weekend. I used > > no special VW tools (4 or 5 of them) mentioned in the > Benteley. I did not > > drain any fluid (coolant and oil). I disconnected no > hoses nor any wiring > > harness. The Passat is designed for very cleaning > timing belt job. The > > front end of Passat makes you feel it is very > complicated. But it is > > really not. > > > > The story is people really can save a lot of money for > non repair type > > of jobs like this. It is mostly disassembling and > reassembling work. > > No repair of anything. I know I am taking a chance by > not replacing > > those that would be all replaced if the job were done > in a shop. > > I know I am betting the original OEM parts against new > non OEM but OE > > parts. I will find out if the origianl OEM parts (not > replaced) will > > last another 5 years or not. I bet some new OE (not > OEM) parts will not. > > > > By the way, the original timing belt was made in > Germany. The replacement > > OEM was made in Italy. I don't really like it. It > might not be better > > than an OE timing belt at half of the dealer price > from many FLAPS. > > > > I am glad that Vanagons (Vanagon content) do not use a > timing belt. > > > > David > >


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