924Board.org

Lucius Silanus · Joined: 20 Jul 2004 Posts: 24 Location: Green Bay, WI

I brought my car into the shop with my clutch problems and a rattle under the hood. I asked him to fix the clutch and possibly tighten up the pulley that was making all that noise. He got back to me yesterday telling me that the timing assembly is about to go. 175 just to open her up and figure out what to do. He won't give me any sort of estimate until he takes a look, which is understandable. What kind of history is there regarding the timing of these cars. Is this typical of a '78 924 or did I just have bad luck with this car. And the final question is how much should I pay before paying too much. There is the timing and the clutch, am I dreaming to get this done for 800-1000 USD?
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-lucius silanus
1978 924 owner as of june 04

gohim · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 4459 Location: Rialto, CA

Do you mean the the mechanic is claiming that the ignition timing is off, and the camshaft timing belt needs to be replaced?

The belt and the tensioning pulley cost about $30 together, and can be installed in an hour, without any special tools.

$800 for a clutch replacement alone sounds fair to me. Parts cost for new OE parts should be $300-$400 alone.

-nick · Joined: 16 Nov 2002 Posts: 2699 Location: Cambridge, MA

Lucias-
The shop shouldn't charge you anymore than an hour of labor + about $40 in parts for a new tensioner and timing belt. Any VW shop should be pretty familiar with the timing belt setup. You might as well have them install a new alternator belt too since they have to take it off to put the new timing belt on.

A new clutch, however, is a totally different story! What exactly is it doing?

nick

Lucius Silanus · Joined: 20 Jul 2004 Posts: 24 Location: Green Bay, WI

http://www.924board.org/viewtopic.php?t=12147&highlight=

This is what happened at about the time it happened. I think after my test today I'll call the mechanic and ask exactly what is wrong with the car. Thanks for the help!
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-lucius silanus
1978 924 owner as of june 04

Lucius Silanus · Joined: 20 Jul 2004 Posts: 24 Location: Green Bay, WI

I called the mechanic yesterday, looks like I need a new timing belt, idler bearings, and water pump. They still have not touched the clutch, they are writing up an estamate. They sure seem to be taking their time.
_________________
-lucius silanus
1978 924 owner as of june 04

gohim · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 4459 Location: Rialto, CA

The timing belt, tensioner, and water pump should cost you right around $100. The timing belt and waterpump would take maybe 1.5-2.0 hours to perform. A shop is going to charge you 2 hours (book labor rate) labor time (that's $80-$200 depending on the labor rate).

As I said when you started this topic, you are not going to be able to get everything done for $800-$1000.

If you are on a budget, and you definitely can't take care of the clutch yourself, you should get the shop to do the clutch, and you can do the timing belt and waterpump yourself. The timing belt and waterpump are a easy, simple replacement project.