After seeing what "regular" people pay for repairs, glad I can fix my own car

[tasdrouille]

Originally Posted by Formula413

I plan on trying my hand at it in the spring. Don't make me nervous! LOL

On a TDI it can easily be a $2000 error. Better hand out the $600-$700 every 100k miles and have peace of mind.

[Formula413]

I know that my engine is a non-interference design, so I'm not too worried about hurting anything. The only part of the job that sounds like it will be difficult is getting the balancer pulley off.

As for the piece of mind thing, what's to stop a mechanic from screwing it up? Experienced does not necessarily mean good. I'd get more piece of mind from doing it myself.

[Clev]

Originally Posted by Formula413

I know that my engine is a non-interference design, so I'm not too worried about hurting anything. The only part of the job that sounds like it will be difficult is getting the balancer pulley off.

As for the piece of mind thing, what's to stop a mechanic from screwing it up? Experienced does not necessarily mean good. I'd get more piece of mind from doing it myself.

Yup, my engine is an interference design, which is why I'll leave it to the pros. (I have no experience at it at all.)

Sure, the garage can screw it up (though they haven't done me wrong yet), but I'd know before even leaving the parking lot, and then they'd be responsible for the repairs.

[tasdrouille]

Originally Posted by Formula413

As for the piece of mind thing, what's to stop a mechanic from screwing it up? Experienced does not necessarily mean good. I'd get more piece of mind from doing it myself.

Oh, they can screw it up big time, but then they have insurance to cover their mistakes.

By not having an interference engine you do not support the sames risks. Your worst case scenario is probably a lot less expensive than mine, so it makes sense to do it yourself.

[Compaq888]

I try to fix things myself. If it's a big job I leave it to the shop. I can't have my car down for a couple of days and it's better to let someone do something right than to try to do some big job and then be stranded in the middle of nowhere.

[blueflame]

Those times it would take them 1.5hrs and you would get the job done in 6 or 7hrs(including driving across town to get the parts)....

[GasGuage]

What's the difference between "interference" & "non-interference" engines? And what makes one more difficult to repair then the other?

[Formula413]

No difference in difficulty. What that refers to is whether the valves could contact the pistons if the timing belt were to break. On a non-interference engine, there is enough clearance that even if a valve were all the way down and a piston were all the way up they still would not touch. On an interference type engine if the timing belt breaks and the valves stop the pistons will hit the valves, bending or breaking them and possibly damaging the cylinder head.

[GasGuage]

O I see, thanks for enlightening me. I've lost a valve keeper b4 that dropped a valve & completely destroyed most of the engine. The block wasn't even salvageable after gouging up the cylinder wall. How do you know which type you have? Do you have to depend on a service manual, dissassembly, or is the manufacturer kind enough to inform you of this before you purchase the vehicle?

[Formula413]

In my case I found the information online, I found a list of various Ford engines and the timing belt service interval, and it noted which engines were interference type.