Searched forum for answer but could not find one specific enough. Been a long, frustrating day so perhaps I'm just tired.

2006 Accord EX-L V6 sedan has 96k miles.

Driving home from in-laws' house on Long Island to Boston. While going through NYC the A/C started blowing hot and temp gauge was at max. Pulled off highway and opened hood. Coolant overflow tank was at max, and coolant was leaking from beneath front end.

AAA towed to local Mobil station. They say water pump and timing chain (belt?) need replacing. $775. I expect a premium price for anything in NYC area but it seems steep.

Might call the local Honda dealer in the morning, but then we'd have to tow it there. Or could we drive it there? It's only about 2.5 miles from the Mobil, but the there's the logistical problem of being back on Long Island currently.

Does that price sound like a total and complete rip off, or just a minor rip off? LOL. We're expecting to get a little ripped off due to geography and circumstance, but we'd like to cut our losses.

Anyways, we're back at the in-laws for another "bonus" night...

Thank you very much for any insights you can share!

 

pump is run by the belt so the belt has been coolant soaked, needs replacement. book time is around 5 hours for the pump, figure somewhere in the 100 dollar range/hour in NYC, 500 bucks plus parts. so 775 is in the neighborhood, you could try to pick up a pump and belt yourself a local parts house, but not sure if you'd save much. looks like the pump is about 60 bucks and the timing belt is about 30 bucks and i recommend a tensioner and idler set as well, about 75 bucks. so, quick add up with coolant and misc. about 700 bucks. and DONT drive it!
let us know what happens.

 

This weekend I replaced the timing belt, tensioner and water pump on 97 Honda Accord. In parts, it cost me around $150 from Geekparts.com. I had never done timing belt before. It took me about 10 hours. If you are handy and know a little bit about cars, you should be able to do it. I live in Michigan, the dealer cost to replace this job was around $600. You are very lucky that the engine did not get damaged.

 

Thanks guys.

As for finding parts and/or doing the repair myself, it would be difficult. We were visiting for the weekend and there's no place to do the work (though I probably lack the skills anyway). The car is stuck in the city and we are back out on Long Island at my in-laws' house. (after an $83 cab ride, thank you very much)

I'll probably call my mechanic back home to get his 2 cents, but we'll probably just suck it up and pay the $775. I asked for a discount if I pay cash, and he said he'd waive the sales tax, which is like 8.8% in NYC. Looks like I'm heading to an ATM in the morning...

 

Good you could do it yourself, but I doubt the Mobil dealer is gonna let him do it in his parking lot and lend him the tools to boot

 

HeeHee.. true.

 

Just wanted to update/close this thread.

We ended up having the repair done by the Mobil station. Came to approximately $780. I called a couple of Honda dealers, one wanted $850 the other wanted $900. Called our regular mechanic back home and he said it would be an approx. $600 job. So since everything costs more in NYC to begin with we figured we weren't getting COMPLETELY ripped off. LOL.

Silver lining: we keep this car for local use, and replace my 2004 Scion xB for long distance use. Which means a new car for me! Drove a Crosstour and liked it but it's a little too tight for us. I am 6'3" and we have 2 car seats plus stroller, luggage, etc. To make a long story short: it looks like I will be getting a new Outback 3.6R pretty soon...