147 2.0 Timing Belt quote......

[tvradict]

My mate has just had a quote for the timing belt to be done on his 147. £125 for the parts and £150 for Labour.

He has no idea if this sounds right, or if he is being ripped off, I have no idea the work involved, so wanted to check with those in the know.

to be honest, i think it sounds ok.

cheers
stuart

[Alfahorn]

That sounnds very, very cheap. I doubt they will be OEM parts and I doubt that will include the variator and water pump, which I would recommend are also replaced. In particular the water pump should be replaced as they can fail and you just end up doing the cambelt all over again as well as other potential problems.

[tvradict]

When I see words like very very cheap, I get worried.

What is the normal price for a 147 belt change then?

[wal 45]

Does sound cheap, these are quotes from 2 places I've used for Italian stuff:

Poweritalia: £408 for all belts and tensioners, £38 for waterpump, £100 for variator all inc VAT

Roberts Aerospace: £299 for cam belt and tensioners plus extra for aux/balance belts, pump and variator

HTH

[anonymous-user]

A local dealer quoted me about £1100 last year but this didn't include the pump or service. A local specialist did the belt, tensioner, pump and service for about 6-700 if I remember correctly.

[Alfahorn]

tvradict said:

When I see words like very very cheap, I get worried.

What is the normal price for a 147 belt change then?

Where in the country does your friend live? There's bound to be a good Alfa specialist nearby.

[wrinx]

Price is cheap, be sure to ask what's included, if it's just the camblet and not the balancer shaft too then it's not as cheap as it looks.

Jamie Porter (respected Alfa specialist) is cheaper than the prices posted above but also charges extra for variater etc:

http://www.alfaworkshop.co.uk/alfa_romeo_timing_be...

wrinx

[V6GTA]

Doesn't sound very cheap to me. Sounds about right. (not including the variator in that price)

[crostonian]

Dayco Belt and tensioner kit is around £75 plus VAT and someone who has done the job before should be able to do it in 3 hours so around £150 plus VAT in my part of the world (Lancs). So £270 in total. Obviously you may have other service items on top and the garage will need the cam locking tool. If the variator and water pump are quiet why change them, more Alfa specialist doom mongering crap.

[Alfahorn]

crostonian said:

Dayco Belt and tensioner kit is around £75 plus VAT and someone who has done the job before should be able to do it in 3 hours so around £150 plus VAT in my part of the world (Lancs). So £270 in total. Obviously you may have other service items on top and the garage will need the cam locking tool. If the variator and water pump are quiet why change them, more Alfa specialist doom mongering crap.

It's not crap at all, there have been many reports of water pump failure. It makes complete sense to change at the same time as the cambelt, if it fails are starts to fail then you just end up doing the cambelt again at twice the expense or even worse.

[crostonian]

I suppose you are right from a private user perspective just I spent 8 years buying and selling Alfas and had over 500 Twin Sparks of every variety pass through my hands and not once did I change a water pump or ever need to under warranty. Variators yes but not water pumps.

[HeatonNorris]

Variators. Leave alone unless noisy. If you're paranoid, you could change every other belt change.

But always change the water pump - would I be right in saying that a failed pump bearing can take out the cambelt?

[Alfahorn]

HeatonNorris said:

Variators. Leave alone unless noisy. If you're paranoid, you could change every other belt change.

But always change the water pump - would I be right in saying that a failed pump bearing can take out the cambelt?

You're spot on.

I don't know of any specialist or any seasoned Alfa owner who would not recommend changing the water pump.

[renorti]

would't say that was cheap, that is about the average price of a belt change using non- genuine parts.

[robsco]

Echo the above. Why anybody would change the belt and not replace the water pump at the same time is beyond me.

[V6GTA]

What's all this nonsense about the water pump changing?

If it was a V6 with the plastic impeller then yes, but changing it on a twinspark?? They rarely fail.

The main issue causing twinspark engine failures is due to oil starvation.

[crostonian]

V6GTA said:

What's all this nonsense about the water pump changing?

If it was a V6 with the plastic impeller then yes, but changing it on a twinspark?? They rarely fail.

The main issue causing twinspark engine failures is due to oil starvation.

Sense at last! Fair enough if it's your own money and you want maximum peace of mind but where do you draw the line, you could go on and on using the excuse 'oh while the belts off makes sense to do this' etc.

[alfa pint]

Twinspark does not need the water pump changed every 32k miles, just the cambelt and variators. The diesel 1.9 unit is the one that has issues with water pumps.

Did mine last year - £400 all in at an indie Alfa specialist.

[HeatonNorris]

Cambelt interval is 36k miles, and for the price of a water pump it makes sense to change it.... How lucky do you feel?

40 quid for a pump and negligible extra labour, or a top end rebuild bill?

(and I'd never trust a Tspark after a top end job as it usually ends up trashing bottom end bearings which isn't apparent until several thousand miles later)

[V6GTA]

HeatonNorris said:

Cambelt interval is 36k miles, and for the price of a water pump it makes sense to change it.... How lucky do you feel?

It's not a question of luck, it just very unlikely to happen in the first place. It doesn't make sense to change it.