tl3097flnkr

Hi guys,
I just got the A14 service on the maintenance minder on my 2008 TL. I am inclined towards getting it done from a dealer because I don't know any good independent shop and my car has been serviced at one dealer all through since I am the first owner and I have generally had good experience with them so far. Since the car is already 13 years old, I might be looking to replace it in the near future - so I am looking at a relatively shorter horizon and want to make sure I get the critical services done while holding off on the not-so-critical ones. Basically I don't want the timing belt to fail while driving and cause damage to the engine. I would be ok spending up to $1k. I need your input on:

1.)The dealer quoted $1800-$2000 for the service (I need to clarify if it included replacing serpentine belt, water pump and tensioners or merely inspecting them but I think it's likely the former) Another dealer in the area has a timing belt special for $899 but it clearly mentions only timing belt will be replaced. Serpentine belt, water pump and tensioners will only be inspected. I am thinking of calling the dealer that services my car and telling them about the other dealers coupon and asking them to match it even if that means replacing just the timing belt. I wanted to know your thoughts on replacing just the timing belt vs. replacing serpentine belt, tensioner and water pump if I am looking at a relatively short term i.e. 1 year.

2.) I have replaced all 6 spark plugs few months ago - any idea how much do the spark plugs typically cost to replace (parts and labor) - so I can make sure to take that portion out of the estimate for A14 which typically includes replacing spark plugs.

3.) Are valve adjustments necessary? I don't think those were included in the estimate of $1800-$2000

Thank you!!

peter6

1) ~$2k even if including pump, drive belt, tensioner, and two pulleys, is way too much. Independent shops should charge ~$600-800 for the job including Aisin kit and new coolant
2) Alldata calls for 0.7h labor, so dealer will charge $100-150 for that + cost of spark plugs
3) How many miles? If under 150k then you can skip it.

Don't do just the belt.

tl3097flnkr

Out of curiosity, I should not do just the belt because labor is the same for just belt and belt ++ or is there some other reason? I agree, I was expecting $1500 from the dealer - any idea what dealers typically charge?

I am at 105K, so I guess I will skip valve adjustment

Thanks!!

peter6

It would be a waste of money and time to just do the belt and then have tensioner or water pump fail. If you have everything apart it's not that much more money to do it right - assuming you won't go through the dealer, as they will charge you more for extra parts vs just the belt. I've done bunch of those cars and I mostly use Aisin kit from rockauto and never had any fail on me.

Just one small warning if you will be shopping for your own parts. I had couple cars where people bought "OEM" kit from ebay that came with everything for ~$160 and actually had couple belts break. We even had couple posts here on this forum about "OEM" ebay belt breaking.

TheSauceBoss

+1 on buying the aisin kit or OEM. I've also heard that Gates kit has been suffering in quality recently, so I'd personally avoid that. Ultimately, as said above, you should be able to get the entire job done at $1k or below. Especially if you already did spark plugs 6 months ago. So you'd be looking at replacing the timing belt, the timing belt tensioner, the water pump + gasket, and two pulleys for the timing belt. Plus coolant. If you bring all these parts to the dealer, the cost should be less. I brought a kit to an Acura dealer and they charged me $600 to install it all, mostly labor. (plugs included).

I recently got a flyer from my local honda dealership that was advertising a $650 timing belt special, INCLUDING the belt and water pump. Not sure about the details (what it all included), but that alone should be a good frame of reference.

Replacing the serpentine belt should cost beans compared to the entire job. I think the belt is like $20 and it takes all of 60 seconds to replace.

Lastly, a valve adjustment probably isn't absolutely necessary unless you're noticing issues, or hearing valvetrain noise or something.

NBP04TL4ME

OP - where are you located? Some of your fellow Aziner's may be able to recommend an independent shop or even help 1:1 in doing the maintenance with or for you. Just a thought. Also Honda dealers tend to be less $$ vs. Acura if you want to go the dealer route.

tl3097flnkr

Gotcha - thanks for the input. I will likely buy parts from the dealer. I got some more details from them - they will replace the timing belt, drive belt, tensioner, water pump, and spark plugs for $1900. They said TB (parts + labor) alone will be $1825 which seems absurd when I look at the part costs on Acura e-store and see cost of TB is $114 - can't possibly be $1700 in labor:

1.) Timing Belt (1 EA) ----------- $114.26 (14400-RCA-A01)
2.) Tensioner (1 EA) --------------$201.08 (14520-RCA-A01)
3.) Drive belt (1 EA) --------------$??? (???)
4.) Water Pump (1 EA) ----------$206.89 (19200-RDV-J01)
5.) Spark Plugs (6 EA) ----------$27.89 (9807B-5617W)

(I couldn't find the drive belt in the e-store so no cost or p/n data)

Total parts comes out to be: $689.37 excluding drive belt. Adding $150 for drive belt it comes to $839.37 for parts. That's excluding gaskets, seals etc. (not sure if any of those are typically changed)
So off the $1900 quoted, $1060 is for labor. The whole job is expected to take a day so $132 per hour rate for labor. I replaced the spark plugs a few months ago, so I will have them remove $250 ish for parts + labor from the above estimate and I can probably get 10-15% discount using coupons. So I am expecting my cost to be $1900 - $250 = $1650 - $165 = $1485 at the dealer.

tl3097flnkr

Thanks that's useful info - I will add it to my comparative study.

tl3097flnkr

True that - northwest suburbs of Chicago

truonghthe

Labor wise at the dealer should be roughly $800, water pump and TB tensioner is a must item to replace. However if you doing 105k service don't forget to to the oil pump assembly reseal, every single TL will have that leak soon or later.

peter6

- Oil pump might be recommended but it's a lot of extra labor (drop exhaust and oil pan) (+3h?) and I never had any customer decide to get it done. Hell I didn't even do my car and now it's leaking slightly but so far no drips on garage floor so I'm ignoring it.
- You could technically replace front main and camshaft seals, but again, I've done belts on cars with +200k miles and maybe one leaked. If you ask, sure I can replace them, but most people don't want to pay extra.
- Belt, pump, pulleys, water pump, if I remember correctly calls for ~5h of labor.
- Spark plugs can last over 150k so if you just replaced them there's no point touching them.
- I believe 105k service also includes thermostat

TheSauceBoss

Hate to hijack this for another question, but you're the guy to ask - my thermostat hasn't been replaced in at least 100k miles. If I were to replace it standalone, do you know if I will lose a ton of coolant? I lost nearly a gallon when I did the water pump, no coolant drain beforehand.

peter6

I don't think I ever replaced thermostat on this engine besides when I was doing my own, but that was after taking water pump out.

I would drain the radiator at least to get it below level of thermostat. And then you will lose some anyways.

tl3097flnkr

So I am looking into getting the components from Rockauto and having the dealer install them in my car. I am thinking of going with the Aisin timing belt, water pump and component kit for $179. Do I also need to order the drive belt component kit? If so, which one is comparable to OEM?
Timing belt kit:
AISIN TKH002 $179

Drive belt kits:
GATES 90K38332{#ACK060841} Includes Idler Pulley
ACDELCOACK060841{#19311160}Gold / Professional
DAYCO5060840K1
DAYCOKIT432BCK
CONTINENTALK49349A{#ACK060841, ADK0021P} Kit Includes Poly-V and Tensioner Assembly
CONTINENTALADK0021PMetric Multi V-Belt; Kit Includes: 1 Belt, 1 Tensioner/Tensioner Pulley, 1 Idler

Thank you!!

NBP04TL4ME

I can't comment on which drive belt kit is comparable to OEM, but I would sanity check with your dealer that they would be willing to install parts you purchase before making any purchases. They have mark up that would be missed and they likely wouldn't want to or be able to stand up to any sort of warranty claim or any issues should they arise related to your parts. My $0.02

truonghthe

The best part is that my local dealer has a website that has similar price to OEMACURAPARTS so I just order and pick up walk over to the master tech and hand him the part XD. Now its their parts, labor and I got a discount lol

NBP04TL4ME

That's a good deal and obviously works. When I lived outside Boston, the master tech I worked with bought all the parts using his employee discount and installed them. So similar to you their parts and his labor all discounted.

Just didn't want @tl3097flnkr to buy the parts himself only to be surprised when the dealer won't install them.

ausctsh

FWIW. I purchased an OEM timing belt kit (including water pump and tensioner) that my Honda dealer installed on my Acura TL for $500 in labor 2 years ago. And, that also included a belt that I purchased separately.

NBP04TL4ME

That's great - I just didn't want anyone to assume that this would be the case at any dealer or shop. Years ago, I used to use an indie shop and they allowed me to bring in my own parts, but at some point they stopped allowing that. Again selling the parts, is an opportunity for incremental profit and as mentioned above may present warranty issues, etc...