Timing Belt Replacement & Freon Recharge
 

How much does it cost on average to get Timing Belt replaced from a local indie car shop?

Also, how much does it cost on average to get Freon recharged?

Thanks!

+1 for the freon recharge. I did a DIY last summer and it was only good for a month or so.. and it went to shit again.

As far as timing belts go, there's no average - depends on the car. There are also other things to factor in, like waterpump, coolant, seals, tensioners, etc.

What year is the car?

If it's < 1994 (I think) you have to do a retrifit to R134a from R12. You can't recharge cars that have R12 in Canada anymore (easily anyway.)

If the DIY recharge failed within a short period of time, you have a leak somewhere. I would highly recommend you have a professional take care of it and trace down the source of the leak, then make the necessary repairs.

It's a 2005 Toyota Matrix, and I intend to bring it to a professional to get it done.

Pretty standard car. As ICE BOY mentioned, you should get the water pump replaced in addition to the timing belt job (it's better to do both at once) and any other odds and ends that should be taken care of (cooling system, belts, tensioners etc but that stuff adds up.)

My best guess is to budget anywhere from $600 - $900, depending on the parts, labour and where you go.

As for your AC system, I think The Speed Syndicate charges $120 or so (?) just for a recharge but as I mentioned in my post above, if it has a leak, it's best to do a proper diagnostic and repair. You're otherwise throwing a band-aid at the problem and it will result in bigger/costly repairs down the road.

Edit: I was wrong - Starting @ $99. http://www.revscene.net/forums/61315...syndicate.html

I just spent about $400 on parts alone. Timing belt, all accessory belts, water pump, thermostat, timing belt tensioner, all new idlers. All oem parts or equivalent. But I'll be doing the work myself.

Il charge you 50$ + freon to charge your car as long as you know it does not have a leak, swing by my place lol...




750-850$ for belt, pump, seals and swap is what a shop should charge you.

before you get ripped off doing the timing belt, maybe you should make sure its definitely a belt and not a timing chain cuz im pretty sure it has a timing chain

^ Yeah I just checked, and indeed it is a Timing Chain. What's the difference? Is there a difference in price?

If it's a timing chain, I don't think you need to replace it. Maybe at 250,000 km, but even then...

Others may disagree.

Odd, my trusted shop told me to do a replacement.

The idea of the timing chain is that it will last the lifetime of the car. What is the mileage at?

about 140K KM

You should be ok. If you want the peace of mind, you COULD replace the timing chain tensioner, but that's still unnecessary (in my opinion.)

Time to find a new shop haha

Edit: Here. Take a read - http://matrixowners.com/index.php?/t...ain-tensioner/

^ Thanks bud. Much appreciate it.

You might want to keep the water pump job in mind. Toyota water pumps don't normally fail catastrophically like BMWs, so keep an eye out for it.

Personally, I would replace it for safe measure at 160,000km but YMMV. If you do end up doing the water pump, insist on using OEM Toyota pink coolant, not the green stuff.

How much would it cost to change the Timing Chain Tensioner?

The tensioner is fairly cheap. Shouldn't be any more than $60 through Toyota with no discount and at full retail? (Just a guess.) Definitely cheaper if you buy an aftermarket.

Labour? I'd say maybe an hour? Two tops? An independent shouldn't charge more than $80/hr for labour.

I'm approaching 140K on my 05 Matrix too. Which shop do you take it to? I haven't been to the dealer for like 3 years now as I've been doing my basic oil change and air filters/cabin air filter myself.

but I think i now need to take it someplace just to get it checked out for other wear and tear items.

If anything were to fail, it would be the guide, followed by the tensioner. Before any of that, there's usually a noticeable rattle and this generally only happens on cars that are driven hard and poorly maintained.

Typically, they'll last >300k km without issue.

Accutech in Richmond.

huge difference in price, its cheaper for me replace my engine than to replace the timing belt

I think you meant chain.

oops, yea chain