Just curious, my car stopped on the road, and a mechanic told me it was my opti. Well, for $335 I could have it replaced, then my timing chain was broke, now the total $515, then the cover has a hole, and the cam gear is missing teeth as well as the crank gear....my *** hurts from this screw job. The total now is $790!! Does this make sense to anyone? What problem would I have if my timing cover had a hole, or some teeth were missing on my gears?

I just feel like I am being taken advantage of.

 

ask him to pull the parts and show them to you.

only real way to see if he is messing with you.

 

Next time if you can DIY. The opti install/timing cover chain isn't as bad as it sounds. IMO that's the only way you know you're not getting the weenie.

 

If the timing chain broke it could also have broken some teeth on the cam gear and crank gear when it went I suppose, or the broken teeth on the gears then caused the chain to break. When that all went it could have put a hole in the timing cover from the chain breaking etc. Of course the opti drives off of the end of the camshaft so I guess it could have gotten screwed at the same time. If the chain really went I would believe all of these things were possible.

Note: Be ready for him to tell you you bent a few valves and possibly damaged a piston or two from the chain breaking = more $$$$ Hopefully that didnt happen too, good luck with it.

 

Actually, If all that stuff is bad that your mechanic says is, Then $790 is reasonable in my opinion.

 

I agree this would be a reasonable cost if it includes yanking the heads and inspecting pistons and associated valve train for damage. If your timing chain either broke or jumped a couple of teeth I then an inspection would be in order. That price would be high if all he is doing is replacing TC and gears.

If it were my moter I'd want to take a close look at my valves, pushrods and probably the tops of my pistons looking for valve to piston contact damage.

 

Uhhh don't forget an opti is included in that 790?
So no it really isn't bad at all..[I agree.. ask to see the broken parts]

 

The $790 includes the Opti, TC, gears, TC cover, and all the labor. This just seems so bad IMO. He did say something about the possiblity of bent valves. I don't see how the car suddenly dying on the road did all this damage.