Lude Generation

just off the phone to honda about changing my timing belt.

£210 through honda happiness reasonable i thought

i asked how much to change the oil seals for cams and balancer etc with me supplying the seals ,"thatll be another two hours labour" £140 + VAT.
he said "the balancer shaft oil seal replacement will be an engine out job"

i say "no just remove the old one and replace with a new one, and i also have the retainer clip thingy to go on aswell"

so roughly £400 plus the price of a water pump if i get that changed.

but regarding the balancer shaft seal can someone tell me i am right and its just a straight forward remove and refit???

this'll need to wait until after christmas.

They are talking rubbish. There is a Honda bulletin 00-073 which I have a pdf copy of. It takes 0.6 hours to do. You have to remove the dipstick and tube, and move the PS pump reservoir and set aside without disconnecting, then remove the crank pulley, then remove the bottom 3 bolts of the lower timing cover and pry it away and hold it in place with a socket. Then remove the 1 left bolt from the oil pump housing and fit the oil seal retainer using this same bolt.

...you also need to remove the cam cover and alt and ps belts....

The extra 2 hours were for changing all the seals
Then he says the balancer shaft seal change would be an engine out job
I know this isnt right so why am i more informed than a service manager

It is as Tim says except no need to move the power steering resevoir- deffo not an engine out job - i cant even begin to imagine why theyd say that-yes its a bit of work to get everything out the way and you have to take the crank pulley off etc but once is all out the way it will take 10 seconds to remove the seal and another 10 seconds to put a new one in plus 1 minute to put the retainer in place-so thats 2 minutes total - ive done this job myself (with help from 3rd gen steve and Indigolemon). It is not an EXTRA two hours labour to fit the seals its a matter of minutes - bear in mind they will have to take the covers and other stuf out to do the belts - your being fed a load of bs and fleeced and i would tell them that. Id try speaking to Brown Brother Honda in Penicuik if you want to stay Main Dealer. See what they say now you know what your talking about.

Yeah nick i know its only minutes for the balance shaft seal and retainer
Remove two bolts for the cam wheels and stick those seals in
What else crank seal? Like you say crank pulleys already off
I feel like sayin you do timing belt and ill change the seals myself whilst its all undone
Ps where can i get a cheapish new waterpump?

i got my new waterpump from bellocat on ebay - but i did notice that that the fins were slightly smaller than one the OEM Tec one i removed - wasnt too pleased about that so be carefull.....but its fitted and working
dont know if there is any difference between 4th and 5th gen ones. Think i paid about £35 for my non oem one.

Anyone know how much ill get fleeced for a tensioner?

Alternatively do any of the scottish contingent know of a private garage that would replace the timing belt recommendations welcome

My usual mechanic had a nightmare with an atr once so he doesnt want to touch it hence phoning the dealers

Have they got a website newkid