Hi all new to the forum but have some quick ?s.

On the way home tonight, the car started making noises that were akin to loose bearings. I spoke to a buddy who has worked on other euro cars and he said most likely its the alternator or tension bearings. I took it a Volvo specialist. He thinks 90% chance that it is the water pump and/or tensioner bearing. Quote was 850 (I live in California) , they said bill for 5-5.5 hours labor and about 300 for parts. This sound about right?

 

Make sure when they do the work they replace the timing belt, timing belt tensioner, water pump, timing belt idler, and the serpentine belt tensioner (if that is what tensioner bearing you are talking about) since all of those parts are easily accessed when you replaced the water pump. $850 seems a bit high. Might want to shop around a bit.

 

Read up on timing belt info. If you think your timing belt idler or tensioner roller is going out you should NOT drive the car until that stuff has been replaced. Failure of the belt or anything in the timing belt path will likely be the death of the car.

Do you know the history of the timing belt? Do you have a sticker under the hood? Which model car do you have? How many miles do you have on the car? Can you do the work yourself? Any decent mechanic should be able to do the job. Parts should cost around $250-$300 and 4 hours is as long as it should take. You CAN'T argue with the Volvo dealer, they will charge you their "shop time" if it takes them 3 hours or 6. If you are skilled enough to chage brake pads you can do the work yourself.

Usually the work can be done at an independant shop for about $650. The big thing is that everything in the path be replaced if you do not know the history. Usually a water pump will leak before it goes out. If you have more than 200,000 miles on the car and no history of the water pump I would suggest you have it changed as well.

Besides all that, it would do you good to read the thread about being a new Volvo owner of these types of cars:
https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...s-s-v70s-9266/

 

I just had the timing belt and water pump changed in my 2006 v70. It went smooth as silk.
I bought the Gates kit that includes a water pump, gasket, timing belt, and tensioners from eBay
motors for $147.00 with free shipping.

My mechanic installed the parts while I waited in 2.5 hours, and charged me $130.00.

Every dollar saved from greedy mechanics and parts shops is a better life for my family.

I take pride on getting the best deal on all my parts and repairs.

I am the Value KING.

 

Just bought my S70-2000 & belt was worn by the looks of it. Cracks all over it. The shop got part and charged me a bit extra for that. Should of bought it myself lesson learned follow the "King". But in all fairness it should be between 6-$700.00
That's @ the going price in NE

 

Yeah, I'm sure the value king would love to sell you his 1-post secret for $49.99. Especially since this miracle skill of bargain hunting pertains to a vehicle 1 generation more advanced than ours.

"king" = "troll"

 

I would be glad to help you all.

I am frugal even cheap but the problem is I live in one of the most expensive areas Newport Beach California.
I just got tired of paying and paying.

Over the last few year I came up with my system for auto repair.

1. know what is wrong with your car and what parts you will need to fix.

2. load the part name and car model and year in a Google search, you most likely will find amazon, eBay motors, jc whitney.....
buy the cheapest good quality part (don’t forget the shipping expense, look for free shipping)

3.This is the fun part. pull up the Google map of your area and put auto repair in the search bar.
Red dots will populate the map, each is a auto repair shop. make your map big and small with the
+ and – buttons so you can see a wide area. when you click on any dot that repair shop will pop up.

I will give what I do as an example. Coastal California is expensive but if you travel inland things change quickly.
Newport Beach is surrounded with communities that are mostly immigrants, the Vietnamese in Westminster, Garden Grove, Stanton
The Mexicans in Costa Mesa, Santa Ana .

These are huge communities with millions of hard working people. There is a difference however, the immigrant communities economies
work on a much lower dollar multiplier than the Anglo communities. The goal then is to find a great immigrant mechanic that will do a great job
for a great price.

Use the Google map and call forgin sounding businesses and price your repair. look for positive comments in the Google ratings.

When you find a good business ask if they can recommend any one else that does good work for a good price.

keep a file on your findings.

The money saved by doing this can be staggering.

Over the years I have discovered many businesses by using this technique. Taylors, Radiator shop, muffler shop, auto repair, whole sale tires and many fantastic restaurants.

Good luck and have fun meeting new friends in your community.

 

Mike, would you mind sharing who you used to replace the timing belt on your Volvo in OC.