Who's responsible for the repair cost?

[Newmemphian]

I had the serpentine belt changed for my LW2 about a month ago in the dealership. Today, the belt fell off in the middle of nowhere while I was driving on the high way. It took AAA 3 hours to come to my rescue. The cooling water was totally empty. I speculate that my cooling system and timing belt could be seriously damaged. The car is still running but I don't want to drive it before all the problems are fixed. I have towed the car to the dealership and my question is who is responsible for the repair cost.

[Newmemphian]

The dealer called me today and told me that the tensioner was broken and
asked me to pay $415 to replace the tensioner and the belt. Besides this,
there might be additional costs to repair the water pump and timing belt.
All these add up to $1000 quickly. As I have only driven around 300 miles on
this new serpentine belt, I feel that I am robbed. Don't know what to do?
Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Chriznat20@msn.com]

First off, how many miles on your L series?

What engine?

I hate to say it, but at higher miles tensioners can fail. It happens all of the time. Now what you need to find out is IF it was damaged by a tech when they were changing your belt.... That might be the "deal breaker" when distinguishing who pays for the new tensioner and belt...


I have no idea why you are talking about timing belts and water pumps in relation to your serpentine belt. On the 3.0L V6, the water pump is timing belt driven. These (water pumps AND timing belts) are parts that wear. If the water pump leaks, you must replace the pump (obviously) AND the timing belt. Anti-freeze degrades the timing belt and the 3.0L V6 is an interference engine (means if the timing belt breaks, engine turns into a large mangled paperweight)

My advice: get the car out of the dealership if the tensioner failure wasnt their fault, go to an independent shop. The tensioner isnt that expensive and it isnt hard to do (Ive done 1 on the 3.0L engine). Have the timing belt and water pump replaced.

If its the 3.0L V6, it could very well be the oil cooler leaking. Very common.

[Newmemphian]

It is a 3.0V6 engine with 84000 miles on it. Thanks for your advice. I have chaned the tensioner and the belt at the dealer and I won't do the timing belt at the dealer anymore.