Hi,

I need to decide tonight if I am going to drop some cash on a 98 Ranger with the 4.0 tomorrow. I believe it is due for a new timing belt- preventative maintenance- and its not something I am ready to attack myself.

With that said- about what can I expect a shop to charge me for this?

I ask so I can factor it into my estimation of the vehicles value/price.

Note: I specifically withheld all the juicy details about the truck so as not to derail you guys! I will tell all about the ride once I feel good about the timing belt question. :) BAIT!

Thanks,
B

 

Umm, about 85 for the belt from autozone. If you have a shop do it they will charge you out the ***. I would do it yourself or find a friend to do it cause a shop will cost ya big time.

 

Most of my experience is with suspension stuff or... boats. The core motor items seem a bit dark juju to me. Its not "just a belt" right? Like, I would need to GET IN THERE right?

 

Not to be mean, but if you don't know anythign about timing then I wouldn't mess with it. best to find someone who knows how. I mean your only replacing the belt, but I wouldn't risking messing something up and throwing the timing off

 

Not mean- point taken- and that brings me back to my original question. I need to know if this is 250 dollar job, a 500, 750?

Man, I wish it wasn't Sunday!

Thanks for the help all.

 

Like I said, it all depends on how ya go about it.

Are you having a shop do it or are you doing it yourself?

 

Right right. I am looking for the "drop it off at a shop that isn't a dealer" price- rough estimates are fine.

I am not sure if I will do it myself or not- but I want to get a sense of the reasonable max price so I can factor it into if I should buy the rig or not. I *love* the truck and it is in great shape- but the miles are high and this hasn't been done.

 

Well If that's the only problem then I would buy it, It shouldn't be too much. Your ganna have to the shop of your choosing and get an estimate. All shops are different and will charge differently so it all depends.

 

The guy was pretty reasonable and what I am thinking is I would like to get the price adjusted to cover the work (or some part of it) as the truck is right at my budget limit. This is why I just need a rough figure. If the work might cost 750, I'd try to get at least 500 off... If the work would be less than 250 I probably won't worry about it...

 

To be rough I would just go with 500, get that off the truck to cover the cost to fix it. If he comes off it then buy it. If not then walk away and find something else

 

Thanks man, I will noodle on that overnight.

Meanwhile, if anybody has any specific insight- let me know.

Thanks!

 

No problem brother

 

I don't believe the 4.0 liter V6 engine has a timing belt, but rather a timing chain. It's not something that needs changed as a regular wear item like a timing belt would be. The 4-cylinder engine in the Rangers have a timing belt.

 

The 4.0L doesn't have a timing belt like 03XLT mentioned. They have a timing chain and doesn't have to changed until I dunno on that. But I do know they last 250k+ miles.

 

yep no timing belt. if you have belt "squeak" then do your serpentine belt.

 

Oh man, that is awesome news.

Well, given that... And given that I am ready to pull the trigger after one more daylight looksee tomorrow- any last minute "make sure to check this" thoughts?

I drove it and it drove very well and felt very torquey at the low end- it did feel like it lost steam around 4k... It didn't feel like there was anything wrong- more like the motor was just designed to pull more at lower RPM- but maybe I was feeling what I wanted to feel?

Thanks again guys!

 

You were just feeling what you wanted to feel. The motors really are not meant for high rpm applications. The torque is only rated for 220 @ 2400 RPM while the HP is rated for 160hp @ 4200 RPM.

 

The 4.0 has a timing chain, as mentioned earlier. Always has. It's a no-maintenance item for most folks unless you get really really high in mileage. Forget about it.

Timing belts really were a trend started by the Japanese automakers in the 1980's and 1990's and the trend has been toward chains and away from belts for the better part of the last decade. In general, they went to them because they're quieter than a chain, cheaper, and it allows a regular interval for seal and water pump replacement. The replacement of a timing belt is very expensive on front-wheel drive vehicles due to the sideways layout of the motors. It's less of an issue on longitudinally mounted motors because there's plenty of space, but you basically have to tear off the front side of the motor...it's a huge operation on any car and I wouldn't charge less than $500 even on the easiest car...some cars (specifically FWD luxury cars from Lexus, Audi, etc.) the cost can be $1500 for a simple change of the belt due to the hours required. Be glad you don't have one.

With a chain, though, no one ever changes their water pump or their seals so the engine will blow because of overheating or will just start leaking until the person gets rid of it for fear of a $1200 timing belt job. It's a crap shoot, but in general, you'll get more years of trouble and maintenance free life from your vehicle with a CHAIN than a belt...no worrying about changing a belt every 60,000 miles. If you ignore the belt, it will eventually start stretching, screwing up the timing, running poorly, and eventually it will snap. Depending on the motor, that could mean the engine just stops (non-interference engine) and you're broken down or it means the engine is blown (interference engines) from the valves impacting. And it's not like the dealers are screwing people over badly...these jobs take 10 hours sometimes and are a huge mess with so many bolts and screws...it's really a lot of patience and organization. After doing a few of them, it becomes easier.

With a chain, the tensioners can go bad eventually, but the chain is pretty much good for the useful life of the vehicle...don't mess with it unless it's messing up on its own. Chains wear out slowly. I've never had to change on on any car that had them. My 1993 Nissan 240SX has a chain and I had to replace a chain guide on it, but never the chain itself...and it's 17 years old now and just shy of 200k miles.

My 1999 4Runner had a timing belt and it required changing every 60k miles...$550 including seals and a new water pump...that's about the cheapest and easiest timing belt change you can imagine...rear wheel drive, lots of room. A timing belt significantly increases the cost of ownership of any vehicle and I won't own a car with one, quite frankly. I'm done dealing with that nonsense.

 

I don't have the same engine as you but recently needed to have mine changed. I got quotes from 430$ to 600$ from various shops and dealers. I'll let you guess which one was the ford dealers quote ...










If you guessed the 430$ quote was from ford you were right! they gave me the best price, so i ended up doing it myself with a buddy on a sunday afternoon.

 

I had my water pump, thermostat, clutch and slave, and timing belt done for $200 at my buddies. He is currently schooling to become a certified master mechanic. Dude can drop the tranny on his C1500 in 20 minutes lol.

 

Well, guy was supposed to call me in the AM to setup a time for the transaction. I never heard from him, left several messages, then got a call at 1 or so where he told me he sold it to someone else. So... bummer.

Thanks for all the input.

 

that jerk!
don't give up, plenty of other rangers looking to be lusted...imean..loved.

 

D' Oh!
DOHC 2.3 is a timing chain, not a belt.