Hi there, what place is the cheapest for a cambelt change and cambelt seal replacement on the GTV6? I have been quoted $1000 at one alfa place which seams steep. Maybe a non specialist will be cheaper? Not sure when the last change was, so doing it now to be sure. I'm in Melbourne. Cheers!
Jon
Try ringing around all of our sponsors. They can be found from a link on the home page.
I think $1000 is cheap compared to the belt skipping a couple of teeth, bending valves and stuffing your engine.
Quote from: Phil Baskett on November 03, 2008, 08:42:04 AM
Try ringing around all of our sponsors. They can be found from a link on the home page.
I think $1000 is cheap compared to the belt skipping a couple of teeth, bending valves and stuffing your engine.
Having been on the end of a non specialist repair(previous owner) with the result being exactly what Phil has described, I'd say $1000 is a lot cheaper than the $2700 it cost me to rectify mindless pennypinching.
Anthony
Wouldn't you rather know who would do the best job rather than the cheapest?
$1000 seems like a good price to me for the job anyway. But Phil's advice is pretty much spot on. Depending on whereabouts you're located I'd try the closest club sponsor.
Failing that, I'll give it a go for $750. Never done it before, but how hard can it be? And I'd like some practice before I do it on my own GTV6.
Had to do ine when I replaced the water pump.
Yeah - how hard can it be. Probably spent at least 6 hours just stuffing around with the belt until I gleamed a couple of tips. Next time i think it will be a garage job.
Even though I appear to have done a good enough job as the car runs like a dream.
On days like today, sunroof open, favourite girl in the passenger seat, sussing out some info for social club events, and gunning the GTV6 down the highway, it doesnt get much better than that :-)
CAtch ya
Shane
Seriously - if you ring around the mechanic shops listed on our sponsors page (http://www.alfaclubvic.org.au/content/view/20/33/) you'll get a fair price for an experienced person to do the job. I honestly think if you want to get cheaper service then you should consider a Hyundai.
my money is with Sheldon may not be the best job but at $750,you could afford him to muck it up, besides Sheldon could then write a magazine article on his experience with your car.
Hey thanks for the replies guys!
Not sure about the get a Korean car if the $1000 is too much comment though - I think its fair enough to shop around for a good deal... Plus excel's are not really my style...!
Remember that $1000 is 10% of the car's value. Also, if you see that a cambelt is $50, even at $100 an hour labour it should not come to more than $650 - I have been told its a 6 hour job by an alfa mechanic.
Cheers
Jon
Hi Jon
For what its worth, I think $1000 - $1200 might buy not just the belt and labour but a set of tensioners as well.
I think its common to replace the tensioners at the same time. If they're are not doing their job properly the belt can slip a tooth and the result is the same as a broken belt.
I had mine done at Pur Sang Motors (now merged with Maranello Motors, Brunswick)
cheers,
Alan
Quote from: joninmelbourne on November 05, 2008, 04:53:05 PM
Not sure about the get a Korean car if the $1000 is too much comment though - I think its fair enough to shop around for a good deal... Plus excel's are not really my style...!
Yeah I know how rude - this forum's full of trolls! :-P
I had an Accent rental car once - I really didn't think it was possible to get a worse car. Then next time I got a Getz, and realised how lucky I had been.
A squirt of TD40 will keep those little devils away from your wiring.
Oi Phil! Who do these Trolls belong to? ;D
I didn't think it was rude, honest, just making my point and you made yours. ;) I was in the MG club before, had a 1976 MGB and I was the youngest in the club by about 20 years. They gave me free beer and cucumber sandwiches at the meetings and were so pleased that the club was attracting the younger generation. Frightened of the pressure of respresenting a whole generation I decided to go to the dark side of the force and back to the Alfas. Miss the MG though, and the free carrot cake at meetings is sorely missed too. One day when I am rich and famous and have my 3 car garage, I will have the GTV6, a MGB V8 and a Volvo P1800 and will never worry about the cost of servicing again. :D Until that day I will bitch about the $1000 cambelt changes ::) Found somewhere to do it now for $550 thanks to this forum so really pleased!(http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd207/jmmoss1/GTV6onYarra.jpg)
I don't think its the best idea to just 'let your engine go'. Not the smartest comment going around there. I am sure its alot eaiser to just pay for the cam belt to be changed than to put another engine in. And if you are unable to swap engines yourself a cam belt seems alot cheaper to me.
GEEEEZ, where's the love gone!!! looks like not in vic hey? ;D
Agree that some places try to rip you off because its an Alfa. The "specialist" I went to in Melbourne I asked out of interest if one day I want the whole engine reconditioned what it would cost. The manager told me it was "12 hours labour just to get the engine out of the car" - which I thought sounded fishy - and my mechanic that did my cambelt and alternator belt for $550 told me he could get the engine out in 4 hours so some of them are out to grab as much money as they can off you. They also told me not to bother getting my A/C regassed as "in Italy it is cold and they don't need A/C so they barely work on GTV6's". (I was also told years ago by another "specialist" when my Alfa 33 heater was not working that Italy was hot so they did not bother to put good heaters in the cars). After getting my system regased and a leaky hose replaced plus the receiver/drier the thing is cool enough to chill beer on! There is some really bad advice coming out of the some of the specialists so that much I agree on. Cheers guys
Sheesh, settle down Mick. Put down the can of Jimmy and take a deep breath. ;D
Dont worry franck, there is still plenty of love in Vic, some of us are just a bit grumpy cos it's mid december and we havent seen summer yet...
Good to see gumby (mick) is his usual happy self....come and give us a hug mick...
its really amazing, my wife believes that all business/trade organizations, operate in an honest way,and possibly thats correct, so it leads me to believe that on the flip side, if these organizations are making mistakes, then they are ignorant of facts, but why then at quote time is the mistake in the organization's favour!, I believe johnny is right, as i have encountered the same with my alfa, but more so with my previous 911, be it an oldie( 81). I knew very little about these cars except that it was air cooled and a 3ltr flat six. to replace a clutch mr porsche dealer quoted $155.00 per hour plus all parts! i went to my trusty alfa mechanic with parts purchased by myself from internet sites and the job was completed at 60% cheaper! business are there to make money, and if they can make a little extra cream, they will try, the fact that some workshops have higher expenses, because of exposure area, adverstising, miss management, insurances, etc then this will influence their hourly rate, and if their hourly rate becomes too high out of market then maybe they will quote 12hrs for a four hour job .
So johnny you are right, if u can save a dollar, then better in your house hold then someone else.
Quote from: Phil Baskett on December 12, 2008, 10:09:06 AM
Sheesh, settle down Mick. Put down the can of Jimmy and take a deep breath. ;D
Dont worry franck, there is still plenty of love in Vic, some of us are just a bit grumpy cos it's mid december and we havent seen summer yet...
Summer??? sydney is not much better, my place is starting to look like Venezia, maybe i can turn my gtv6 into a gondola!! god nows its halfway there!
Mick - My posts are totally honest - I have nothing to gain by making up stories - I have much more fun things to do than write fiction on internet forums!
Quote from: Mick Aarons on December 13, 2008, 09:46:36 PM
Cool jon, why dont you point out these people charging too much so the rest of us dont get ripped off then? if someone is doing a dodgy like that they deserve to be outed on a public forum i reckon.
no, no, no that is a big can of worms. things like that are best left for private exchange.
Mick, they can in theory sue for the public shaming you ask for - regardless if its true.
They are in the South Eastern suburbs though.
But if you look at it in another the way - they were telling me don't bother rebuilding an alfa engine (12 hours just to get the thing out of the car before you get started) or getting the A/C fixed (won't be cold enough for Australia anyway) - so you could say they were trying to save me money.
I enjoyed your comments on timing belt on GTV6 and fully agree on being ripped off because we own alfa's is a crime.I am about to start shopping around for quotes,is there anyone in sydney that will do the work for an honest price,as i have been burned many times for having a passion for la macchina chiamata alfa romeo.rgrds and ciao
Ditto VeeSix
$ 1,OOO for a cambelt and seal change NO WAY!! save the money and do it yourself
Practice makes perfect
1st go 6hrs??
2nd time 4hrs
I replace mine every 12 mths because its cheap insurance $65 for the belt and two hours of my time
I think $1,5OO with a new waterpump, tensioner bearing and oil seals might be better value for those who dont have time to work on their own cars thats $500 for parts and 10hrs labour at $100 an hour, a good mechanic could do this job in 5-6 hours
One of the pleasures of owning my Alfa is working on it myself, you dont need a lot of special tools
at least for the older cars and they are fairly easy to work on once you learn.
and there are plenty of informed people on this forum [smartarses and shitstirrers] included who are more than helpfull if you do want information on a job.
When I mention to people that I drive Alfas I often get the reply " but there so unrealiable"
I say "reliability is only as good as the person who works on the car, I do all my own servicing and repairs and I drive it to work EVERYDAY"
I would encourage people to work on their own cars you save money and you get a better understanding of your car, instead of throwing $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ at someone else to stuff in their pockets
live and learn
roll the engine through one or two revolutions by hand just to make sure all is good
then start it and pocket the money saved
thats why you mark everything at a certain position so it goes back to they way it was before you pull the belt off, thats what ive allways done and never had a prob
I use a white out correction pen... to easy