[Faluzure]

First, a little backstory...

Wife drive's 2007 MDX, gets strange electrical issue, then within 15 minutes, all electronics die. She can still drive though... until another 5 minutes, then gas pedal does not respond and she loses power steering. She pulls over on side of road. Car won't even attempt to start or anything. Jumping car fails. We get it towed to a local mechanic recommended by AAA (who did our towing). Our normal Acura shop is over 40 miles away at that point and not an option. Next day, the mechanic says her alternator is dead. Charges us $450 to replace it, including labor. Not sure if that price is typical, but we were expecting at least $1000 in repairs. He replaces it, car is back to normal. Wife and I are relieved!

EXCEPT, there is this horrid squealing noise coming from the car upon start. Never goes away. I located it to the belts located on the left side of the engine (passenger side). Since the mileage is about 90,000, I knew the belt(s) needed to be eventually replaced. Called dealer and local Acura shop (former Acura mechanic owns this shop). They both quote me $900 to replace. I'm shocked at the price and since this all happened when the alternator was replaced, I just go back to the local mechanic that did the work. All I know is that the alternator was replaced and it involves the belt system. Same mechanic looks the guy says that the belt is still in decent shape (hence the reason he didn't replace it). No cracks, except some glazing/harding. He took the belt off, inspected all the pullies and said it's definitely the belt, as that's the only thing that will fix it. I ask how much, he says $90 including labor. I said OK. He replaced it right then and there.

Squealing is gone, wife is happy and I'm gloating that I saved $810. I tell my coworkers and one of them tells me that's impossible to do it at that price. We argue back & forth to the point where I start looking up things. the summary of the argument is:

1. There are multiple belts involved with the car that will need to be replaced at the 90K-100K maintenance and I only did one (Serpentine/Timing). He said there's a Drive belt and a Serpentine/Timing Belt on a car. However, doing a search on MDXers.org as well as Google for each term comes up with the same links, same diagrams, same pictures show just the 1 belt on the left side of the engine (passenger side).
2. The reason it was so cheap is because I just did a belt replacement WITHOUT replacing the water pump. Tacking on a water pump replacement would put me around the pricing the dealer/3rd-party Acura shop quoted me.

Referencing this link on a DIY replacement: http://www.mdxers.org/forums/74-second-generation-mdx-2007-2013/39728-timing-belt-job-2007-x.html

My questions:
How many belts are on the MDX (specifically 2007)?
Is there another belt I need to get replaced as a part of that maintenance?
Does Water Pump Need to be replaced?
Any other comments in regards to my thread?

Thanks in advance.

 

[skirmich]

1.- There is just 1 Accessory Belt
2.- Nope, the only remaining belt is the Timing Belt for a grand total of 2 Belts in the Car
3.- YES, Water pump should be replaced in the 105K/7 Year Service.

Basically the quote of 810-900 was to do the entire timing belt service, there is no way in hell that quote was just for the Accessory Belt as the belt alone runs at about 35 bucks. Even if they replaced the entire Tensioner and Pulley + the Accessory belt you would still be far from that quote. That is why it run you so cheap, 90 bucks was the Accessory Belt and Labor only.

 

[csmeance]

If you open the engine hood and look to the left side of the engine bay (passenger side) you'll see a belt turning a few accessories such as the alternator, power steering pump, etc.

That is the accessory belt that was just replaced for $90. There is a tensioner for this belt that you should replace at the 105K service which some folks do not replace.

Behind that belt (about 2-3 inches) are Large black covers that run along the whole left side of the engine. This cover protects the timing belt from the elements. To remove the timing belt and waterpump takes about 3 hours, and another 3 to put it back together.

The timing belt itself isn't that expensive, the waterpump is under $200 and the tensioner required for the timing belt is also around $100. Add in all the misc stuff that should be done such as coolant flush, power steering flush, replace spark plug tube seals, front main seal, front camshaft seals, Check and reseal oil pump (if leaking), new spark plugs, valve adjustment.

You can wait a few weeks until you have the money to spend on the timing belt service. Spend the money once and replace all the wearable bits while you have it all taken apart, otherwise you'll be spending money again in a few months. One guy with a 2007 TL has his oil pump leak 2-3K miles after having his timing belt service done and had to pay nearly 1K again to have it done. Otherwise, the additional labor would have been about $200 during the timing belt service.

 

[carpayment4life]

You should get the timing belt changed at 105,000 miles or 8 years (which ever comes first).
The former Acura Tech is offering you a fair price if he's changing all of these parts:

Timing Belt

Idler Roller / Pulley

Tensioner Roller / Pulley

Water Pump & Gasket

Hydraulic Tensioner

Water Pump & Gasket

Serpentine Belt


This is the Timing belt # = Timing Belt 14400-RCA-A01
This is the Accessory Belt # (also known as a Serpentine Belt) 38920-RCA-A03