Drive belts / Timing belt replacement

I own 2001 Elantra - 69,000 miles. It's been recommended to replace
the belts. Which ones? Timing belt? Accessory Drive Belts? Both?

Is it just as safe to have a certified private repair shop do the work,
or must the dealer do it?

 

Replacing timing belts is a common task requiring common skills. Any decent
shop ought to be able to do it very well. There's no need to rely upon the
dealer with the belief that this is a procedure which requires specialized
knowledge, skill or tools. That said, the dealer can be nearly the same
price as an outside shop and if there's no big savings at stake, it might
make a good opportunity to develop something of a rapport with the dealer.

 

If you haven't done the timing belt, you should. It's time to do it based
on time and mileage. The shop will need to remove the drive belts to get
to the timing belt, so if they haven't been recently replaced, you should
have them install new ones with the timing belt job.

You can have any shop capable of replacing a timing belt do this job.
This isn't a difficult or tricky timing belt to do, so that should be just
about any shop. You'll also want to take an interest in the parts used.
For something as important as the timing belt, you should insist on a
quality, name brand part (such as Gates, Dayco, or Goodyear, or even a
factory timing belt).

 

Thanks a lot... I'll start shopping it around. The dealer wants $579
(total parts (3 belts) and labor))

Scott

 

That sounds pretty steep. I'd definitely get a second and maybe third
opinion.


Matt

 

Found another quote from a shop that's highly recommended by some local
folks here. They use belts from Mighty Auto Parts - it's actually 4
belts in total... $395. I made my appointment for tomorrow morning.
Thank you all for your reponses! I feel much more confident now.

Scott

 

You should be interested in whose parts Mighty Auto Parts will supply to
the repair facility.

 

Sounds like Mighty Auto Parts distributes many different brands?
Urghh... the repair shop indicated they would only replace the belts
with the "highest quality belts... Mighty Belts, so we can warranty
your work." They told me the belts they use are the only belts they
will warranty and are as good or better than the OEM. I hope so.

 

As long as they will warranty it when the timing belt breaks at 80K and
buggers up the valves, I say do it.

 

Turns out all 4 belts are Goodyear. The 3 drive belts are warrantied
for a lifetime; the timing belt is only warrantied for 1 year or
12,000 miles. Sucks, but when I called around nobody would warranty
for more than a year (except the dealer, I'm sure).

Scott

 

In that case insist that they use a Hyundai timing belt. Otherwise,
you'll void the factory warranty (Hyundai can deny the claim if you use
an aftermarket timing belt) and risk trashing your engine. Your best bet
is to go to the dealer, buy the belt and bring it with you when you drop
off the car. The other belts are much less critical, so I wouldn't worry
about them.

 

The timing belt manufacturers; Gates, ACDelco, Dayco, etc. say the 2001
Hyundia 2.0L is an "interference engine" which means the engine will be
damaged if the timing belt breaks while the engine is running. So
don't run the timing belt too long past the recommended maintenance
interval.

 

Goodyear makes some of the best belts around. I wouldn't hesitate to
use them.

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