Timing Belt Replacement

What's involved with changing the timing belt on a 2000 Villager??
Anyone had it done at a dealership,if so, what was the cost??
Can a DIY person with a good mechanical background accomplish this task???
Is there a lifetime guarantee belt available for purchase??

Why do you want a lifetime belt? They are good for about a 100k and then they need to be replaced. I drive about 36k a year and change it every 90k except for the first time I went to 120k gotta love factory installed.

What I really wanted to know was if this is a job a DIY person can do or if you had it done at a dealership and what the cost was to have it done !!!
The reason I ask about a lifetime belt was because I put a lifetime Goodyear Gatorback serpatime (?) belt on my Dodge Cummins Diesel and it's guaranteed for a lifetime. It also stops the squeak or squeal sound on shutdown.

What's involved with changing the timing belt on a 2000 Villager??
Anyone had it done at a dealership,if so, what was the cost??
Can a DIY person with a good mechanical background accomplish this task???
Is there a lifetime guarantee belt available for purchase??


Hi,

My neighbor has a 1998 villager and last month he had installed the timing belt himself. It took him about 4hrs , but he seemed to have managed it fine. I spoke to him about that as I too have a 2000 villager and one of these days might have to change the belt. He said that he needed a crank pulley puller and that was the only special tool that he needed. He just bought a shop manual from the dealer for help. He put the passenger side of the car on a jack stand and after removing the front wheel was able to do the job.
As regards cost of doing the job, I checked with a local mechanic who had been doing most of the work on my other cars, and he said that it would cost me around $ 250 + a little more if the water pump was to be changed also. The dealership might charge a bit more. I live in Dallas/Fortworth. TX.

Hope this helps,

Ranga.

Yes it is a do it yourself project if you are mechanically inclined and have some type of haynes manual or a shop manual to guide you in the right direction. You will need the pully puller or some home made type like my mechanic made a special only for vullagers using some of the screws he purchased from the dealer. I paid $150 for labor including the antifreeze. The belt was a gator belt and a ebay water pump for $10 I think. There should really be no extra labor since the pump is right in front of your face and can be removed very easily. Good luck.

Thanks for both of your replies. That was the information I was looking for. Thanks again.