Originally Posted by
almister
that's probably going to run me another $500 + or so ... I will try to do it soon when i save up ... He is a local mechanic.. and the one who fixed my car has been doing it for 7 years, the other for 20 yrs (when i asked them earlier) .... .. i checked in on him this morning to find out and he told me that he checked it and it seemed fine... he told me that if it's breaking down it makes a noise, and i asked him if the timing belts were ok. and he said the OEM parts are more expensive but don't have a huge difference in comparison to after-market parts. ... i saved up a lot to get this car and if i ruin it, i'm done..
I guess if you gotta pay to have it done I can see your point about not changing them for OEM parts.
He should have really asked you first to change the tensioner though. Why not ask him to do it for cheaper since he didn't give you the option of changing it when he had it all apart?
I'm not saying they're inexperienced, its just its blatantly obvious to change it... Just like when you do a clutch job, you replace the throwout bearing even if its not making noise cause it is so time consuming just to get to the part. Same thing with the tensioner. I would ask him to do it cheap if I were you.
He's right but there still is a small difference. In the future, be sure to get the OEM parts. Any Honda tech will tell you the same thing. Use Honda parts and it will last damn near forever with regular maintenance.
Is it a VTEC motor?