Odyssey Timing Belts

[paulkramer]

OK I searched and didn't find - at least not enough.

My mother-in-law has about 105,000 miles on her '97 Oddy. She just went to the local service station near her job and they told her she needs $800 or so worth of service.

One of the items needing attention is the timing belt(s). She said they want $225 for that job.

Sounds reasonable to me. What do you guys think? She wants to know if I can do it to save her some $. I know I can do some of the other stuff (coolant, distributor (they actually use distributors?!), wires, plugs, trans fluid, etc.)

She wants to drive the car to me - about 80 miles - to do this work. I'm thinking she shouldn't drive any farther on those old timing belts, and just pay the man $225 and let me do the other stuff.

Again - opinions?

[duodad]

I personally feel that you will be better off paying a professional mechanic to do that level of service. There are inspections of internal components that can be made while the engine is opened up that you may not be fully equipped to deal with. By this I mean no offense to your capabilities. It's just that the timing belt service is the most important in the life of the vehicle and nothing should be left to chance there.

[paulkramer]

Originally Posted by duodad

I personally feel that you will be better off paying a professional mechanic to do that level of service. There are inspections of internal components that can be made while the engine is opened up that you may not be fully equipped to deal with. By this I mean no offense to your capabilities. It's just that the timing belt service is the most important in the life of the vehicle and nothing should be left to chance there.

No offense taken.

After seeing what is involved in changing the Odyssey timing belt, and realizing that there are many inspections to be made, etc. I told my mother-in-law to go ahead and pay the man $225 to have it done.