1300 miles ago and less than 2 months my suv broke - have it fixed by mechanic with close to $900 bill for timing belt, tensioner, rad refill and spark plugs. it died on my wife again while driving - i was told my same mechanic that it needs to open the left cylinder head valve cover to explore charging me for another $150 for it. to replace with a used cylinder head valve cover if ever would cost me $1100 part and labor.
by the way mileage of the suv is around 170K and in three years of ownership had put in around $7500.
is the mechanic bleeding me for more money where he is supposed to fix the car the first time - he claims that when he cranks the car manually it will not rotate and this is the reason why the belt is jumping off the track.
YEAR
1995
MAKE
TOYOTA
MODEL
4 RUNNER 4WD
ENGINE SIZE
3.0L
LICENSE #
VIN #
ODOMETER
173,226
APPROVAL:
DATE:
This is a preliminary estimate - good for 30 days. Parts prices are subject to change.
Additional changes to the estimate may be required for the actual repairs after tear down.
Not responsible for any personal items left in vehicle.
Total
ITEM TECH/CLASS DESCRIPTION QTY RATE AMOUNT
TOW 20 TOW (TO) 1 40.00 40.00
FUEL SURC… FUEL SURCHARGE 1 10.00 10.00
LABOR CHECK NO START—FUEL PROBLEM?? –
CAMSHAFT IS OUT OF TIME - VEHICLE
HAS BEEN TORN APART WAITING FOR
APPROVAL. IF WORK IS NOT
PERFORMED IT WILL BE ADDITIONAL
LABOR TO PUT BACK TOGETHER
GH 2 75.00 150.00
**NOTE: TO PUT BACK TOGETHER
WOULD BE $75.00. IF NOT REPAIRING
WOULD NOT SUGGEST PUTTING BACK
TOGETHER, WE COULD PUT THE PARTS
IN A BOX **
LABOR REPLACE CAM PINS, TIMING BELT AND
CRANKSHAFT SEAL
5.5 75.00 412.50
SUBTOTAL 612.50
SHOP SUPP… SHOP SUPPLIES 3.00% 18.38
PARTS 2087 NGK SPARK PLUGS 6 4.60 27.60T
PARTS TIMING BELT 1 42.95 42.95T
PARTS TENSIONER - POSSIBLITY OF TWO
TENSIONERS PRICED THE HIGHEST
1 107.95 107.95T
PARTS CRANK SHAFT SEAL 1 12.95 12.95T
PARTS CAM PINS 2 1.75 3.50T
my advice to u is to get a haynes manual and start doing the work yourself everyone worrys that they are getting ripped off by doing the work themselves they’ll know it’s done right and 7500 would have paid for a whole new set of tools and all the parts damm near a small garage for u to work them
If the camshaft timing is off, it is either because your mechanic did not line everything up correctly when he installed the timing belt 1,300 miles ago, OR the belt jumped/slipped. If it is the latter, then I would suspect that your mechanic did not install the tensioner that he charged you for when he installed the timing belt.
Either way, I suggest that you find a new mechanic.
Thank you.