91 Ford Escort LX Wagon - Shredded Belt & a VERY angry BULL! :(

[Mojoed]

On New Years Eve, my girlfriend and I were on our way home when the timing belt (Serpantine belt?) partially shredded. I pulled the car over immediately in the most unlucky spot on an otherwise dead road which is normally a whole lot of nothing for miles. Let me tell you, this bull was piiiiissssssssed off big time. He was digging those 4' horns into the ground and bashing the fence about 15' away from us. We had to wait in the car for nearly two hours before the tow truck showed up. I didn't think I'd see 2008.

Anyway I'm not really a car guy, so I'm not sure what belt it's called, but it's the belt that is attached to the alternator. My girlfriend has the engine replaced 3 times and the car has been running just fine for about six months. We had the car towed to the garage and it's gonna be a few more days until we get an estimate for the damage. I'm thinking this is going to be an expensive fix and it's probably not even worth the repair, especially with all the $1000-$2000 199x Honda's and Toyotas in the local papers.

Two questions:

What do you guys think we should do?
How much is this gonna cost us approximately if she decides to go forward with the repairs? Oh, if it helps, the shop we go to charges $40/hour labor.

Any insight or recommendations would be appreciated!

 

[Vetterin]

If it's attached to the alternator it's the fan belt and for an Escort shouldn't cost more than $40 and you could put it on yourself. If the belt didn't actually break you could have still driven the car (although slowly) without any problem.

 

[DougK62]

That's just the accessory belt, not the timing belt. You can buy one for $10 and do it yourself very easily. I guess a shop might charge $50ish to put a new one on? It's easy.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: DougK62
That's just the accessory belt, not the timing belt. You can buy one for $10 and do it yourself very easily. I guess a shop might charge $50ish to put a new one on? It's easy.

Transverse engines can be a pain. I've seen them where you had to remove the engine mounts and jack the engine up to get to them.

 

[AMDMaddness]

My parents had an esccort just like yours and we put 250,000 miles on it before my stupid sister sold it, it was a 92 sedan. We never had to replace the engine.... did need a bit of work though (standard stuff like brakes,alternator etc). Engine timing belt went out 2 times both cost around $350 to fix(it is a non-interference engine), they did the water pump at the same time. Serp belt broke/started slipping 4-5 times cost around $20 for the belt and me and my dad did everything to it ourselves besides the timing belt. The car is rather easy to work on and it will last a long time as long as you get your oil changed. You can change the serpintine belt in less than 10-15min its rather easy to get to and the tensioner pully is just as easy to get to move (i have replaced it on the side of the road a couple of times).

 

[jagec]

I'm guessing the shop will charge you between $100-150. Doing it yourself will be much cheaper. But not everyone has the skill or the desire.

Originally posted by: AMDMaddness
Engine timing belt went out 2 times both cost around

You know you're supposed to replace those things on a maintenance schedule, right? Even if it won't do any damage when it fails, the hassle of having a dead car, possibly in the middle of nowhere, possibly in the middle of the night, and the hassle of lining up the camshafts correctly before installing the new one make it NOT worth forgoing regular replacement. It's usually 60-120k between replacements anyway...

 

[Mojoed]

Hey thanks for all the advice and replies, guys!

We just got a call from the mechanic and he said the belt tensioner was broken and this was causing the serp. belt to shred.

He quoted us $155.00 for everything. Belts & water pump on my Accord cost me around $700. I think I can deal with a measly $160.

Thanks again for the help guys.

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: Mojoed
Hey thanks for all the advice and replies, guys!

We just got a call from the mechanic and he said the belt tensioner was broken and this was causing the serp. belt to shred.

He quoted us $155.00 for everything. Belts & water pump on my Accord cost me around $700. I think I can deal with a measly $160.

Thanks again for the help guys.

I had a tensioner die on me and the guys around the corner from my work set me up for $85.00 parts, (tensioner and belt) and labor .

 

[helpme]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: DougK62
That's just the accessory belt, not the timing belt. You can buy one for $10 and do it yourself very easily. I guess a shop might charge $50ish to put a new one on? It's easy.

Transverse engines can be a pain. I've seen them where you had to remove the engine mounts and jack the engine up to get to them.

Yeah, on my SRT-4 you have to:

1. Disconnect Exahust from manifold

1. Disconnect power steering pump from motor mount bracket

1. Disconnect AC compressor sensor

1. Remove upper motor mount

1. Remove splash guard

1. Remove lower motor mount

1. Jack up motor until you can access motor mounting bracket

1. Remove mounting bracket

1. Remove Accessory or alternator belt and replace

Then put it all back together again...

$155 would be well worth the time for me if I didn't know what I was doing...

 

[Colt45]

Originally posted by: Mojoed
Hey thanks for all the advice and replies, guys!

We just got a call from the mechanic and he said the belt tensioner was broken and this was causing the serp. belt to shred.

He quoted us $155.00 for everything. Belts & water pump on my Accord cost me around $700. I think I can deal with a measly $160.

Thanks again for the help guys.

Thats because the belt & pump on the accord was the timing belt, which requires actual work to change. serp belt should be a piece of cake usually. $160 sounds like rape to me, but I guess that's the incompetence surcharge.