Tommy and his Black 1999 Puma 1.7

[tommy505]

Hey Guy's how are you doing.

I've just tonight purchased a stunning little puma, immaculate for her age, only problem being is the clutch is slipping, due to one very carefull lady owner . I'm going to get the clutch done at a Ford Dealership, Peoples of Falkirk. A long with the Timing Belt, as I've been made aware it's a totall different ball game with the 1.7 due to the variable cam.

any way down to the question, what am I roughly looking at price wise, to have the clutch and timing belt done?

any help would be greatly appreciated

regards

Tommy

 

[STEAVIE]

hello mate

not sure what fords charge but i charge £120 lab plus the belt and about £250 for the clutch fitted! hope that helps!

welcome! good luck with your puma! :lol:

 

[tommy505]

Cheers Dude.

I've read the forum to see what Recomended Independant dealers were close by, but none are that close, and The ford dealership is 300 yards away. I'm based in Falkirk, Scotland

with the 1.7 is it a good Idea to get the Water Pump changed as well I've budgeted £500 for the work, hope thats enough.

 

[STEAVIE]

yer its best thats a good budget but not too sure how far it will go with ford prices?! lol!

 

[red]

Welcome to our site k:

 

[YOG]

Cheers Dude.

with the 1.7 is it a good Idea to get the Water Pump changed as well I've budgeted £500 for the work, hope thats enough.

A Ford dealership normally charges around £300 for a 1.7 cambelt change, not including:
Waterpump.
Rocker Cover Gasket.
Auxiliary Belt (change at the same time as no extra labour charge).
Auxiliary Belt Tensioner (if require).

Clutch change requires the gearbox to be dropped and you should fit a new slave cylinder. £500 won't be enough for both jobs. Why not go and discuss it with them and ask for a discount for both jobs being done at the same time?

 

[tommy505]

Cheers for the reply mate, I went down today, they quoted me 280 for the cam belt, said that they would check the water pump, as they say that they take them out, at times and they look pristine :idea:

With the clutch I reckon I'll just buy it, and get it fitted independantly, as this seems not as important as the cam belt. I've heard a few horror stories on this site while researching it.

Thanks for the input guys

 

[tommy505]

:evil: Hi peeps thought I'd give you an update

Took the puma to ford. Told me it would be ready for today. Guess what? ''Sorry mate it's not ready, we've had a bit of Bother wi the variable cam timing''

angry is not the word. Does this mean its completely knackered, or are the just genuinely taking longer? I took it to Ford due to the horror stories I heard, and then this happens. Where do I stand, and what am I expecting to get back

Help me please :-(

 

[Sparx]

Hey Tommy welcome to the site.

Did they say what the problem was with the timing??

 

[Dal]

They are probably just having difficulty setting the timing up properly. The fact that it's a Ford main dealers that doesn't know what they're doing isn't really on. I'd be having a word with them to claim a courtesy car or something as you're paying a premium taking it there to get the job done swiftly and competently.

I think ford themselves quote about 4 hours on their timesheets and only "Highly skilled Technicians" to do a 1.7 VCT cambelt change.

 

[Scotty1.7]

Well the plus side could be they want to make sure they get it right and not have you with a dead engine- you never know thye could actually have some sort of customer satisfaction thing and they won't let a car go if its not done properly?

And see dals more usefull comment above ^

 

[Sparx]

I'd possibly say thats fair enough as long as they dont add any extra labour charge than of that already quoted!
But then they should be able to get the job done swiftly and correctly.

 

[tommy505]

They just said they're having problems with the vct, my heart kinda sank.....And I said when can I expect it back.They said we'll give you a call later on this Afternoon.

I've done a timing belt on my old Xr3i many years ago, and I know what bad timing rides like, as I mucked it up. Best of it is I spoke to the mechanic, and stated that it's the 1.7, with the VCT, He say's ''Yeah we are aware, they're tricky'' so that kind of gave me a sense he knew what he was doing.

Cheers Dal, Thats kinda put my nerves at rest. I'll let you know how I get on, and I'll also post up a few pics. Assuming that it makes it out of the garage.

Thanks for the input. It'll give me good standing when asking what actually is the problem with the timing.

 

[Fil2eFly]

Hey tommy, welcome!

Unlucky with your timming belt but as said at least they are puting it right rather than sending out with a sad running puma.

This is why I have not taken my car to a garage in years though, you never quite know the service your getting.

Nice to see another Scot on here Good luck mate.

 

[tommy505]

:grin:

Got it back this morning. Its running sweet! drove it around town, nothing unusual so to say. Then went down the motorway, again nothing unusual. The Mechanic said it was trouble getting the crankshaft pulley off, that kind of set them back :?

anyway it runs just like it did when I put it in, now just to get the clutch done next month and I'll have one sweet lil' Puma.

 

[PhilTaylor]

hardly seems worth it does it when all you do after you've bought it is spend money on it, but once its done and done proper its done and worth every penny

 

[Fil2eFly]

Half the fun in buying a car is tinkering with it for the next few weeks to get it just as you want Well unless you buy a new car.