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[stoppit]

Hi,
I have an oil leak in the engine which my local garage told me is due to the cam covers. From the information I have read here this seems to be the case (oil is leaking into the plug wells).

Does anyone have an idea about how much this should cost to fix? The garage wants ~£600 to do this and fit a new cambelt kit. I have read the how to on changing the cam covers but I think its beyond my abilities.

Many thanks in advance

[JamesV6CDX]

Bloody hell

Cambelt kit is about £100
Cam cover gaskets are about £65 - all genuine parts

Meaning they're charging about £335 labour for a 3/4 hrs job!

I could more than half their price

I would however, if you're confident, read the maintenance guides / cambelt DVD, borrow and necessary tools, and have a go yourself. It's really not that difficult

Oh, and make sure you clean the breathers, it's the usual cause of gasket failure

[stoppit]

JamesV6CDX, thanks for your reply. I thought it was a bit high but didn't realise quite how high!

I will have a look at the guides and see if I can convince myself to give it a go. Failing that, was it a serious offer to do the job

[JamesV6CDX]

I would encourage you to have a go yourself, as with everyone... but yes, subject to fitting it in, I would be able to have a shot at it sometime for you.

[ians]

What exactly were they quoting for?  Reason I ask is they may well have included new cam covers (Vx quoted me for these and they are almost certainly not necessary).

I have done the job a couple of times and it is basically straight forward if you allow enough time (I took 2 days..) and be systematic.

Where in Reading are you?

[VX1]

Wow!!! You must of got that quote from EDEN the main stealers. Not supprised thry quoted you that much. I wouldn't take my car there not after what they charged me to eventually replace the IACV (£375). Don't trust garage's for this type of work or any work come to think of it. As jamesV6CDX has said you can do the job yourself it is easy to do as long as you follow the basic rules. Read up in the maintanence section.

Paul

[cem_devecioglu]

Wow!!! You must of got that quote from EDEN the main stealers. Not supprised thry quoted you that much. I wouldn't take my car there not after what they charged me to eventually replace the IACV (£375). Don't trust garage's for this type of work or any work come to think of it. As jamesV6CDX has said you can do the job yourself it is easy to do as long as you follow the basic rules. Read up in the maintanence section.

Paul

375£ just for ICV change ...

is good they dont want your arm..

[Scania]

James

When are you goin to do mine?

[JamesV6CDX]

James

When are you goin to do mine?

PM Pending

[stoppit]

Thanks to every one for their responses. The garage came back to me after reconsidering their quote and dropped it by a couple of hundred. After re-reading the guides I don't feel confident in my abilities to do the work, so I will let the garage do the work at their revised price.

ians, they have included new covers in the price (about £70)

[ians]

You almost certainly don't need the new covers, just the seals - but these must be Vx ones.   Is this Vx quoting you or an independent?

£400 for camcovers + cambelt is probably not unreasonable (I suspect its not Vx in that case..), IF the job is done properly (genuine seals, breathers cleaned at same time, proper cambelt job using the locking/timing kit.)

Might be worth dropping JamesV6CDX a PM as he may be able to help..

[Darth Loo-knee]

Hi,
I have an oil leak in the engine which my local garage told me is due to the cam covers. From the information I have read here this seems to be the case (oil is leaking into the plug wells).

Does anyone have an idea about how much this should cost to fix? The garage wants ~£600 to do this and fit a new cambelt kit. I have read the how to on changing the cam covers but I think its beyond my abilities.

Many thanks in advance

There is also a DVD to show you how to fit the Cambelt Kit mate that is very good, think they are around £3 ish Like already said you will save yourself a few hundred pounds doing it yourself... should cost you about £180 i reckon thats with your water pump too
I phoned are local Vauxhall just out or curiosity to see how much to do the Cam Covers £234 was the answer.... I had my Cambelt Kit plus water pump done there when I first had my car that came to £356....

[stoppit]

You almost certainly don't need the new covers, just the seals - but these must be Vx ones.   Is this Vx quoting you or an independent?

£400 for camcovers + cambelt is probably not unreasonable (I suspect its not Vx in that case..), IF the job is done properly (genuine seals, breathers cleaned at same time, proper cambelt job using the locking/timing kit.)

Might be worth dropping JamesV6CDX a PM as he may be able to help..

It is an independent garage that I have used before. The quote is for all genuine parts. The actual covers probably dont need changing but it cant hurt to have new ones installed.

[TheBoy]

You almost certainly don't need the new covers, just the seals - but these must be Vx ones.   Is this Vx quoting you or an independent?

£400 for camcovers + cambelt is probably not unreasonable (I suspect its not Vx in that case..), IF the job is done properly (genuine seals, breathers cleaned at same time, proper cambelt job using the locking/timing kit.)

Might be worth dropping JamesV6CDX a PM as he may be able to help..

It is an independent garage that I have used before. The quote is for all genuine parts. The actual covers probably dont need changing but it cant hurt to have new ones installed.

Right, make sure they change the entire cambelt kit, not just the belt.  Also ask if they have a GM V6 cam locking and timing kit. If they don't, they cannot properly do the job (whatever they say), and walk away.

[stoppit]

They are changing the whole kit but I didn't realise about the timing and locking kit. I will speak to them on Monday before they do the work. Thanks for the heads up!