Engine Whining - Stealarship cost for alternator, idler pulley, belt...

Everyone needs a local shop they trust. I get he feeling we're seeing the end of dealerships anyway.

 

Without knowing the dealership labor rates and parts cost, there is no way to give you accurate price quote. I might be able to look up labor hours, if you want, but you need to understand that not all labor guides are the same.

 

Turns out it's already done by Johnny Mechanic. First time in my life I ever paid anybody to work on my vehicle except for a timing belt on my Honda and wheel alignments. They pulleys were in bad shape so they were all replaced. The belt wasn't cracked but it was quite brown and very dry.

A lot more than I expected but:

$307 Denso Alternator
$97 Genuine Toyota Belt
$98 Genuine Toyota Idler Pulley, Upper
$90 Genuine Toyota Idler Pulley, Lower
$90 Genuine Toyota Idler Pulley, Above Tensioner
$197 Genuine Toyota Belt Tensioner
$400 Labor
$1380 Total With Tax

If the truck were a piece of crap I'd just do the alternator and belt and be done with it. But my truck is in near-perfect condition - outside, inside, underside, and engine bay. I plan for another 200K so that makes this less painful.

Thanks for the help here.

 

Nice looking truck.

 

Truck’s in great shape and assuming the repair is sound I think it is worth it. Nice!

 

1300$ worth of worry free miles, and you didn't have to waste your free time

 

Find a quality technician. $50/hr
provide good parts
problem solved

only dealerships are authorized to pre delivery inspect new cars and perform warranty repairs, recalls, etc
And have scanners, experience, special tools nobody else has

not to mention modern vehicles with a ton of computers. Don’t have a login? Congratulations. You can’t activate the part you just replaced. Or update one that needs updating just like your laptop or phone.

what kinda crack did you pick up to smoke?

 

Easy, now.

I agree the "stealership" phrase is bandied around more than it should be.

A bad alternator really doesn't require dealer specific software to diagnose.

On a 10 year old truck, I don't think it really matters where the work is done.

I've had great work done by my local Toyota dealer, but simple repair jobs are not really required but them.

 

You're the one smoking crack if you think a good quality mechanic will give his time away for 50$/hour. It's not 1988 anymore.

Maybe a guy working out of his driveway with other sources of income

OP you did fine, those prices are not outrageous

 

No the 400 isn't outrageous. Parts, well, you just have to pay. Make a mech. your regular guy and he may give a break down the road.
Really using Toyo. parts he (?) should know it's not coming back.

 

every single tech currently in existence does that

 

UPDATE:

The truck runs much, MUCH better, especially notable when decelerating and the transmissions downshifts. Was not expecting that.

And you know our famous "ticking" sound at idle when the engine is hot? Theories say it's a normal clanky Toyota engine, some say VSV valve - my ticking is gone. It must have been the pulley on the tensioner, the other two pulleys are OK. In an an older truck I'd spin 'em and keep 'em but considering the condition of my truck I feel good about replacing the whole kit & kaboodle.

The cost of this was painful, but according to my spreadsheet - the truck itself, all insurance, all registration, all maintenance, this $1,380 scheduled maintenance bill adds only $0.01 to the total cost per mile after about 200,000 miles.

I'm at $0.56 cents per mile, or $0.45 per mile if I sold the truck.

 

There's worse vehicles to have to put money into. Enjoy the truck

 

You can say that again. You damn SoCal guys are so damn lucky with the condition of vehicles and lack of any moisture in the environment haha

 

Just popped in to say that’s one nice looking truck. Glad you got the issue(s) fixed. I suspect the dealership would have charged you twice what you wound up paying the mechanic.