Honda Car Forum

I own a 2001 Honda Civic. It has about 100,000 KMs (62000 miles)

I just brought my car in to be repaired. The Honda dealer told me I have
to change the timing belt and water pump. Athough the timing belt is not
broken, he recommended I change it since it is all cracked. Unfortunately
changing a timing belt is not under the warranty (unless it snaps in
half…this is just maintenance). But, the water pump is under my warranty.


I know that to change the timing belt and water pump, it is pretty much
the same job. The question is, what amount of labour is required to
change the water pump and what amount of labour is required to change the
timing belt. I want to make sure that I am not getting screwed. I want to
make sure that I am only paying for the timing belt portion of the labour
and not the water pump portion of the labour. Can anyone give me an
estimate on the time required? Thanks

> I own a 2001 Honda Civic. It has about 100,000 KMs (62000 miles)
>
> I just brought my car in to be repaired. The Honda dealer told me I have
> to change the timing belt and water pump. Athough the timing belt is not
> broken, he recommended I change it since it is all cracked. Unfortunately
> changing a timing belt is not under the warranty (unless it snaps in
> half.this is just maintenance). But, the water pump is under my warranty.
>
>
> I know that to change the timing belt and water pump, it is pretty much
> the same job. The question is, what amount of labour is required to
> change the water pump and what amount of labour is required to change the
> timing belt. I want to make sure that I am not getting screwed. I want to
> make sure that I am only paying for the timing belt portion of the labour
> and not the water pump portion of the labour. Can anyone give me an
> estimate on the time required? Thanks

It is one and the same job because you have to remove the belt to replace
the pump -- suggest you pay for the timing belt and they pay for the water
pump+labor. It should only take 10 minutes to replace a belt so they
shouldn't give you any lip about it. Since they don't charge by the minute
and the pump is not going to replace itself, they should pick up the tab for
labor.

Remco

mpet500 wrote:
> I own a 2001 Honda Civic. It has about 100,000 KMs (62000 miles)
>
> I just brought my car in to be repaired. The Honda dealer told me I have
> to change the timing belt and water pump.

thats not until 90k, or so. id try another dealer.

remco wrote:

>>I own a 2001 Honda Civic. It has about 100,000 KMs (62000 miles)
>>
>>I just brought my car in to be repaired. The Honda dealer told me I have
>>to change the timing belt and water pump. Athough the timing belt is not
>>broken, he recommended I change it since it is all cracked. Unfortunately
>>changing a timing belt is not under the warranty (unless it snaps in
>>half.this is just maintenance). But, the water pump is under my warranty.
>>
>>
>>I know that to change the timing belt and water pump, it is pretty much
>>the same job. The question is, what amount of labour is required to
>>change the water pump and what amount of labour is required to change the
>>timing belt. I want to make sure that I am not getting screwed. I want to
>>make sure that I am only paying for the timing belt portion of the labour
>>and not the water pump portion of the labour. Can anyone give me an
>>estimate on the time required? Thanks
>
>
> It is one and the same job because you have to remove the belt to replace
> the pump -- suggest you pay for the timing belt and they pay for the water
> pump+labor. It should only take 10 minutes to replace a belt so they
> shouldn't give you any lip about it. Since they don't charge by the minute
> and the pump is not going to replace itself, they should pick up the tab for
> labor.

Wha???? 10 minutes? When I had it done by a mechanic on a '95 Integra
GS-R, it was more than 5 hours of labor. I looked at the procedure
in my factory service manual, and there was no way I was going to try
doing it myself.

Oh - if you're going to do this job, the belt tensioner pulley should
als be replaced. Here's a pretty good article on a timing belt change
for a Civic:

<http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/tech/0406ht_timing>

So here's the condensed version of what was done (they didn't do the
water pump):

1) Raise car and place on jackstands.
2) Remove spark plugs.
3) Remove valve cover.
4) Loosen drive belts.
5) Unbolt driver's side engine mount and support engine with a jack.
6) Remove upper timing belt cover.
7) Set #1 cylinder to TDC.
8) Break loose the crank bolt.
9) Remove crank pulley.
10) Remove lower timing belt cover.
11) Loosen timing belt tensioner.
12) Remove timing belt and replace with new one.
13) Put everything back in reverse order.

y_p_w wrote:

> remco wrote:
>> It is one and the same job because you have to remove the belt to replace
>> the pump -- suggest you pay for the timing belt and they pay for the
>> water
>> pump+labor. It should only take 10 minutes to replace a belt
<snip>

>
> Wha???? 10 minutes? When I had it done by a mechanic on a '95 Integra
> GS-R, it was more than 5 hours of labor.

I'm pretty sure remco meant 10 minutes additional to change the belt in
the course of replacing the water pump.

So what would it cost to get the timing belt and water pump changed at the
dealer for a 97 civic? How many hours and what's the cost for the parts?

SoCalMike wrote in message <8M6dnTyCkak7ebnfRVn-jQ@comcast.com>...
>mpet500 wrote:
>> I own a 2001 Honda Civic. It has about 100,000 KMs (62000 miles)
>>
>> I just brought my car in to be repaired. The Honda dealer told me I have
>> to change the timing belt and water pump.
>
>thats not until 90k, or so. id try another dealer.

Goremeister wrote:
> So what would it cost to get the timing belt and water pump changed at the
> dealer for a 97 civic? How many hours and what's the cost for the parts?

bout $450, all inclusive. less is better, but MUCH less and id start
wondering if they really even did the job.

SoCalMike wrote:

> Goremeister wrote:
>
>> So what would it cost to get the timing belt and water pump changed at
>> the
>> dealer for a 97 civic? How many hours and what's the cost for the parts?
>
>
> bout $450, all inclusive. less is better, but MUCH less and id start
> wondering if they really even did the job.

Standard package should include timing belt, water pump, tensioner
pulley, and new valve cover gasket. The vast majority of the cost
is labor. I once bought a belt, water pump, and tensioner pulley
for a shade tree mechanic to do the job. The belt was about $40,
the water pump $35, and tensioner pulley $30.

> I'm pretty sure remco meant 10 minutes additional to change the belt in
> the course of replacing the water pump.

No, YPW is right -- I think when I typed this I must have been gitty with
lunch and did not read his message correctly.
While I did reply typing "timing belt", my mind was stuck in park thinking
regular "belt" (alternator, waterpump, etc).
I wasn't thinking so my comment was way off base. Sorry if I sent you down
a dark alley - it wasn't my intent.

remco wrote:
> > I'm pretty sure remco meant 10 minutes additional to change the
belt in
> > the course of replacing the water pump.
>
> No, YPW is right -- I think when I typed this I must have
> been gitty with lunch and did not read his message correctly.
> While I did reply typing "timing belt", my mind was stuck in park
> thinking regular "belt" (alternator, waterpump, etc).
> I wasn't thinking so my comment was way off base. Sorry if I sent
> you down a dark alley - it wasn't my intent.

Actually - a Honda water pump isn't driven by an accessory belt. It's
driven directly by the timing belt. If the water pump or tensioner
pulley seizes, the belt will likely break. That's why these parts
are usually replaced with the timing belt. It's little additional
labor and replacing them is extra insurance for the timing belt.

If a water pump is leaking and has to be replaced, it's probably
worth having the timing belt replaced. Honda has often been
criticized for this bit of engineering.