# New Timing Belt



## Gator (Jul 14, 2013)

Here's the break down case you need to start saving for it. This cost includes a serpentine belt also


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Yowsa! Didn't know that it was going to be one large.


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## CruzeDan (May 17, 2015)

Their labor rate is pretty cheap too.


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## GlennGlenn (Nov 27, 2015)

Ouch @*Gator* , is that an estimate or did you have it done??hw

strike that, I see they had it for three days.....did they at least give you a loaner??


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

So glad my diesel has chain driven cams, ouch.


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## grs1961 (Oct 23, 2012)

The numbers are about the same as I paid when my belt was changed (I have a series 1 Korean-built diesel), albeit mine were in AUD.


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## Gator (Jul 14, 2013)

No loaner Glennglenn, it was a expense I knew was coming when I bought the car so I put 10.00 a week aside for this and had the cash to pay for it. Less painful that way.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Chevy dealer sent me a brochure for a new 2014 Cruze diesel, knocking off $5,000 off the sticker price, plus even more on my GM card. Kicked it around for awhile, but decided I did. Ha even more glad now, because I didn't know it was using a rubber band, that's what we call these belts. Already had my share of these things for the last 35 years.










Major concerns at the time, our diesel cost of fuel was much higher here than gas, no savings there, no spare tire, and read if that tank ran dry where the spare tire should be, the engine would quit running.

Can't seem to get a straight answer if this is an interference engine or not, seems to be non-interference that would just leave you stranded, interference, not only stranded, but a lot of more addition cost in replacing a broken head, bend valve, or a piston with a hole in it, take your choice. 

Problems I ran into, is not the belt, but either the tensioner or idler pulley seizing up that was the cause of the belt breaking in the first place. Call these limited lubricated ball bearings, over time, grease would dry up, hot inside that plastic shroud, bearing would seize, pop goes the belt. Also the way they were making those plastic shrouds, a lot of road debris would get inside further causing bearing and belt problems. Also could have camshaft seal leaks, oil on the belt is not good. They don't change these, but I sure did, a lot of extra work. 

Ha, don't pay any attention to me on this subject, getting old and tired, but kept me in good shape changing timing belts, not only for what I had, but all my family members as well. Sure beats getting fat drinking beer and watching 22 guys trying to move a tiny football back and forth on a field.

Did get soft in around 1993, finally insulated and heated my garage, in sub-zero weather, finger tips started to crack in the cold. That was painful for the next 3-4 weeks.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

NickD said:


> Chevy dealer sent me a brochure for a new 2014 Cruze diesel, knocking off $5,000 off the sticker price, plus even more on my GM card. Kicked it around for awhile, but decided I did. Ha even more glad now, because I didn't know it was using a rubber band, that's what we call these belts. Already had my share of these things for the last 35 years.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for posting the pic. Do you have the breakdown of what the #'s are pointing to?


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Gator said:


> No loaner Glennglenn, it was a expense I knew was coming when I bought the car so I put 10.00 a week aside for this and had the cash to pay for it. Less painful that way.


When you put it that way, it's like a total non-issue.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

NickD said:


> Can't seem to get a straight answer if this is an interference engine or not


4 stroke diesel = interference


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## Kexlox (Nov 4, 2014)

Yeah, a $1,000 maintenance at 100,000 (or 150,000 if you're crazy!) miles adds another $0.01 per mile to your operating costs. Not terribly bad if you plan for it.


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## JRB'sOilburningCruze (Feb 25, 2015)

Looks like they nailed you a bit on the parts. AC Delco water pump on Rock Auto is $115.79. Did not look at any of the other parts prices but they look a little high. I know, a dealership is in business to make money. But wow. 

Thankfully I'll be doing this myself when the time comes. 72,000 more miles.....


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

JRB'sOilburningCruze said:


> Thankfully I'll be doing this myself when the time comes. 72,000 more miles.....


That's my plan.

That's $700-$1000 I can put into something else.


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## Gator (Jul 14, 2013)

I thought the pump was high also. They usually give me a break on parts but not this time since they were putting them on.


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## IndyDiesel (May 24, 2015)

I think they just charged the MSRP full retail price on your parts, not a mark up per say just retail. Probably adds $200 plus to the job.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Not trying to be an egotist, only guy I know how to replace a timing belt correctly is me. Take the time to break the new belt in so the tension can be adjusted properly. And already mentioned replacing the camshaft seals as well.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

diesel said:


> Thanks for posting the pic. Do you have the breakdown of what the #'s are pointing to?


Can find it right here:

ENGINE for 2014 Chevrolet Cruze

Ha, being as frugal as I am, get the part numbers off this or other sites like it, and do a google search to find the best price for that part, searching on ebay is a good start or even rockauto.com or Amazon to save a couple of bucks and get free shipping.

Another thing I do, is to check the country of origin on the tensioner or idler pulley, if China, press it out and throw it as far as I can. Only use bearings made in the USA, Canada, or Japan.

Another great source is alldata.com to get access to an online shop manual, Like a buck per month to get all of the specifications and procedures. Been using this even since I always buy the shop manual for the vehicle I intend to keep.

Cruze manuals are nuts, alldata has a search engine to help you find what you are looking for.

When ordering, just type in "DIY2015" to get a nice discount.


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## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

I was pricing out parts on RockAuto a couple days ago, and I came to a total parts cost of around $300 for the job. As for a Serpentine Belt, I usually buy the Gates belt from RockAuto, which they have for $26, so $325 or so, plus shipping, for the parts to DIY.


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## KpaxFAQ (Sep 1, 2013)

Another person who plans to DIY the timing belt when it comes time but don't blame a soul who pays to have it done either.

I honestly don't think $1,000 bucks of routine maintenance at 100,000 miles is that ridiculous. 

Some people are so anal about total cost per miles instead of happiness per mile it's a wonder to me that they ever bought a new car in the first place! 

On a side note, Gator's method of saving for the timing belt is also how people ought to approach "extended warranties". Put that cost of the warranty aside and go on vacation when you most likely don't use it! If you need it, it's there.


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## IndyDiesel (May 24, 2015)

KpaxFAQ said:


> Another person who plans to DIY the timing belt when it comes time but don't blame a soul who pays to have it done either.
> 
> I honestly don't think $1,000 bucks of routine maintenance at 100,000 miles is that ridiculous.
> 
> ...


I agree with you about the timing belt and $1000 for 100,000 miles is .01 cent per mile.

lets say you drive 1500 miles per month. That is $15 a month for timing belt replacement. There is on average 4.33 weeks per month. That is $3.46 per week if you drive 1500 miles a month. It's around the cost of a cup of coffee at Starbucks.


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## Gator (Jul 14, 2013)

Like I was saying I studied this car for months before it's release date. All diesels have maintenance that gas engines do not. I put the jetta and the cruze side by side and the cruze came out on top. 
I knew it would need a timing belt within the three year mark so at 10.00 a week that's 520.00 a year I put aside for this. 
Yes I wish it was cheaper, yes I might of got away with a independent doing for less, but I plan on keeping this car for a very long time , good or bad it comes with it. 
On the plus side I still got 80.00 to go towards the next one. 
Also it never fails on DIY I would need a tool for the job that would cost more than its worth to use it. 
On a side not everyone here will still own the car when it needs the timing belt and most if they do keep the car should have the car almost paid for. 
I would laugh when I was looking for a used jetta the timing belt was usually just put on and the owners see that as a expense they didn't want to repeat and sell the car, or it was time to change and would sell the car. 
I'm sure we will see the same for this car


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## Gator (Jul 14, 2013)

On another note I'm still running on original tires, guess what 800.00 for new ones. Just giving you a heads up before you cry about it


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## IndyDiesel (May 24, 2015)

Gator said:


> On another note I'm still running on original tires, guess what 800.00 for new ones. Just giving you a heads up before you cry about it


Does your car the Goodyear Oem tires? When I looked up at local discount tire looked more like $600. You must have a lot of highway miles to get over 100k on original tires.


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## Gator (Jul 14, 2013)

Yes still running the Goodyear OEM tires, I checked with tirediscounters and Nexus are the cheapest at around 600.00 but the Michelin's high milage are 800.00. Figured I'll get around 150000 miles out of them.
I still have alot of tread left on these. Hope to get 120000 out of them, and yes I drive 98% interstate.


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## oilburner (Jun 13, 2013)

NickD said:


> Can find it right here:
> 
> ENGINE for 2014 Chevrolet Cruze
> 
> ...


that's the 1.8 motor with a timing chain so no one gets confused.


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## IndyDiesel (May 24, 2015)

I had a set of Michelin Defender tires I bought for my sons vibe and they were suppose to be 90,000 mile tires, they lasted like 43,000 miles and he rotated and balanced every 5000 miles. They wore evenly but went to 4/32 in less than 1/2 of the warranty. The retailer said they were getting a lot of them back, maybe it was a bad batch of tires I dunno. They did provide a $75 credit for the warranty per tire. He drives a lot for a 20 year old, drove 43,000 miles in 2 years and 4 months.


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

IndyDiesel said:


> I had a set of Michelin Defender tires I bought for my sons vibe and they were suppose to be 90,000 mile tires, they lasted like 43,000 miles and he rotated and balanced every 5000 miles. They wore evenly but went to 4/32 in less than 1/2 of the warranty. The retailer said they were getting a lot of them back, maybe it was a bad batch of tires I dunno. They did provide a $75 credit for the warranty per tire. He drives a lot for a 20 year old, drove 43,000 miles in 2 years and 4 months.


My Michelin latitude touring tires on my escape claims around 100K km and at 50k they're pretty much done, I'll definitely change them this fall.


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## Gator (Jul 14, 2013)

Tires are worn by driving habits, some on here are ready to replace their OEM tires and don't have 50000 miles on them.


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## IndyDiesel (May 24, 2015)

Gator said:


> Tires are worn by driving habits, some on here are ready to replace their OEM tires and don't have 50000 miles on them.


That may be true, I failed to mention they checked very badly too, it just soured me on them. Driving habits may contribute to premature wear for sure, but they should not crack in a little over two years.


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## Gator (Jul 14, 2013)

I agree on the cracking, had a set of BF Goodrich TAs always had good luck with these on my pickups, last set they changed the tread pattern and I was hesitate on them but got them anyway. At 40000 miles they were all cracked like dryrote in the tread.


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## oilburner (Jun 13, 2013)

I only get about 5,000 kms on a rear tire.......................on my motorcycle.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

KpaxFAQ said:


> On a side note, Gator's method of saving for the timing belt is also how people ought to approach "extended warranties". Put that cost of the warranty aside and go on vacation when you most likely don't use it! If you need it, it's there.


This is exactly how I treat extended warranties. Would have wasted the money if I bought one on the cruze, currently sitting at 91K and no out of pocket repair cost yet. I still have that money in the bank as well as the money I put away every month for repairs.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Gator said:


> Here's the break down case you need to start saving for it. This cost includes a serpentine belt also



Shouldn't that water pump be included by GM's 150K/10year warranty, plus the installation?


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## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

NickD said:


> Shouldn't that water pump be included by GM's 150K/10year warranty, plus the installation?


That only applies to 1.4t. For Diesel, it's a maintenance item when changing the timing belt.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

My stupid question would be, if there ain't nothing wrong with it, why replace it?

If maintenance is the issue, why not replace the entire engine, or the vehicle for this matter.










$107.67 including shipping is the cheapest price I can find for this part.


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## KpaxFAQ (Sep 1, 2013)

Seems like pennies to me to replace at 100K while I'm at it.....


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

KpaxFAQ said:


> Seems like pennies to me to replace at 100K while I'm at it.....


Especially when you already have the water pump removed to change the timing belt.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Owned several vehicles with well over 200K miles on it without any water pump problems.

This one at rockauto.com is $56.79, sure would like to compare it with the AC Delco pump as AC Delco no longer makes pumps, they buy them. And if they don't pay for the tooling,manufacturer has the right to sell the pump at a much lower price.










And for all you know, this is the pump your dealer used, more bread in his pocket. 

Can run a TIR on the pump, check for radial and axially play and a rotation torque test, if its good, why replace it? And those pennies can add up to thousands of dollars.


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

Is that what the diesel water pump looks like?


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## Gator (Jul 14, 2013)

NickD you replace the water pump with the timing belt change because of the location of water pump. It is driven by the timing belt. So the labor would kill you just in replacing the pump.
A DYI would be the way to go if you have the means to do it.


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## pacolino (Aug 1, 2015)

oilburner said:


> that's the 1.8 motor with a timing chain so no one gets confused.


here is the correct diagram for the diesel:
ENGINE for 2015 Chevrolet Cruze


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Ha, as an old engineer, one of the first comments I made was never had a course in political engineering, just as about as much politics in this field as in our government.

Good ones insist on building a product that is reliable, others get ahead by saving the company two cents that is not quite so reliable.

Could argue the reliability of a water pump whether its driven by a serpentine belt that requires around 125 ft-lbs of torque on the tensioner so it won't slip as opposed to using a sprocket that practically doesn't put any load on the water pump bearings at all. 

2.2L Ecotec as used in our old 04 Cavalier was timing chain driven, zero problems even after 160K miles on it, reason why it made that final trip to the wrecking yard, unibody was a pile of rust. Really no shaft load on that pump with a sprocket. Dropped this idea with the 1.4 L, one reason why there is so many problems. The engineers that designed this certainly knew the difference, but gave into the bean counters. 

Old V-belts just drove a 20 amp generator and the water pump with a fan on it, hardly a half a HP load. When AC came along with much greater load requirements and a much larger alternator, the load requirements on the water pump became excessive. Concern at this time was to use separate driving belts for each one. Became history with the single drive belt, and along with a bunch of new problems.

That photo above if correct shows a serpentine sheave, hardly interfaceable with a toothed type timing belt.

Ha, in comparing the price of the 1.4L gas to the 2.0L diesel water pump.










Would say the diesel is way overpriced.

Did work with the big stuff, where the overall economy of the diesel was far superior to gas in industrial and commercial applications with like 3-4 million miles between overhauls and far better fuel economy. But still fudging way too much in the consumer markets.


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## IndyDiesel (May 24, 2015)

Thanks for the long history lesson, it is customary for all VW TDI when changing timing belt to replace water pump just as it is with the Cruze diesel. How much the pump costs honestly really isn't a major issue. In my view it's not the company trying to make an extra dime, it's just the right thing to do while doing this service.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Kexlox said:


> Yeah, a $1,000 maintenance at 100,000 (or 150,000 if you're crazy!) miles adds another $0.01 per mile to your operating costs. Not terribly bad if you plan for it.


Like me, haha! I would have gone further if it wasn't whining at me.

@*Gator* I forgot to ask you this. After my timing belt was done, and after the engine is good and warmed up, I can hear a new sound right on top of the engine, right by the timing gear toward the front of the engine. It's not loud or anything, but it's a distinctly different sound, sort of like a whirring sound. I even took it in to the dealership after the fact but they said they didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. I've gone 12K miles since the belt replacement and nothing's blown up, but I was wondering if yours does this now.


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## Gator (Jul 14, 2013)

No Diesel, engine was a bit louder than normal but went away quickly a few miles,but normal ever since. Got 600 miles on new belt.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Gator said:


> No Diesel, engine was a bit louder than normal but went away quickly a few miles,but normal ever since. Got 600 miles on new belt.


Thanks. Will be interesting to see if anything develops when you reach 150K miles. It may have made that noise on mine before the change, but I am not sure. I was more overly critical of engine sounds after the belt replacement. 

When you say it was louder, did you mean just the general clatter? I think mine did that too.


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## Gator (Jul 14, 2013)

Yes the clatter, scared me at first to a possible out of time. Went away in about 5 miles. Been fine since, but always in my mind listening for anything


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Gator said:


> Yes the clatter, scared me at first to a possible out of time. Went away in about 5 miles. Been fine since, but always in my mind listening for anything


Yes mine did something like that with the clatter as well which went away quickly. I didn't first notice the whirring noise until I put on a couple thousand miles, so keep your ears open for that. I'm curious.


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## Gator (Jul 14, 2013)

Will do.


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