hello all
I am nearing 105k on my 07' outlander xls{v-6} and am going to either do the job myself or have my mechanic do it. The stealership in my area feels 1600 dollars for belts, pump, tensioner and pulley is ''fair''.


Im wondering if anyone can advise what timing belt kit would be the best bet to insure quality and accurate fitment? gates, topcm, continental, asin etc..
also any advice on expected labor charge if I take to a mechanic?
THANKS AGAIN.


As an aside, if anyone was wondering as I was, I checked on e bay to get a look at a set of pistons for this engine and saw definite valve recesses in the piston heads..wondering if this is enough to assume this is definitely a non-interference engine..?

 

it is my understanding, we have a non-interference engine up through '09. There is ancedotal talk that discussions with other mechanics have said they've seen tbelts break on ours and the engine was okay. There is also one guy on these boards with an '09 that says his valves bent...can't remember his username.

As far as do it yourself or not, it is a job for sure. I've done it once, about to do it again. I know it will hurt, but do your plugs at the same time. I would honestly go to a regular mechanic's shop and get a quote there...something like a NAPA or other full fledged shop...not a firestone/pepboys/etc. It took me 6hrs to do plugs and tbelt...but I'm no mechanic either, nor did I have all the correct tools...had to improvise a time or two.

I used a Goodyear GatorBack belt and it has been great. No squeaking or other issues. Due to age, get your tensioner done. I skipped on mine the first round just because I was chewing through miles....but will definitely do it this time around. Also, get your power steering and accessories belt at the same time...they have to come off anyway. I'd wait on water pump.

 

I did the job myself a few weeks ago as you said, with the exception of I also did the water pump and thermostat. I did this because I had no history of maintenance or previous owners.

 

the Gatorback belts aren't sold under the Goodyear name anymore though, anything engineered by Goodyear is under the name Continental Elite now.
I went with these for all three belts.
For the tensioners, water pump, and thermostat I used Gates.
For the water pump gasket I used Fel-Pro.

I had to separate the spark plug job because I plan on doing the wires and coil packs as well and am having to save up some money first.

 

thanks to both guys. Oddly enough ccernst , PEP boys quoted me the lowest labor charge of $450.. quoted me 4.5 hours labor and will allow me to bring my own parts.. The manager said as long as all parts are in the teardown that no additional charges are needed... Also WARNED me that if using non -oem parts , the labor charges would be non refunded if the parts I brought did not fit in any way.... this is why I wondered if anyone had used an aftermarket kit.{.thanks Jayasc,,]

 

I always find pretty good parts on rockauto.com and buy the ones with a Lifetime warranty or just the best warranty available out of the choices available. You can usually find 5% Off coupons on retailmenot.com
Be sure to shop around AAA repair shops, Repair pal, Openbay.

 

Hi please check out this youtube video regarding the timing belt replacement on a 2007 Outlander V6 engine. At 3:20 the narrator mentions that this particular engine is an interference type.


After watching this video, I convinced to get mine replaced soon. I'm up to 130k miles and still on original belts.

 

There are quite a few timing belt related threads on this board. You should look through them all. Search by my and ccernst's handles as well. One thing I would suggest is get a professional crank holding tool before you start. 180ft*lbs + 60degs is hard to get to.

I read somewhere our exhaust valves are non-interference but the intake valves Are interference.

 

I really hate to admit it, but I'm pretty sure dad drove the crank nut on with an impact...so far so good.

Here's why I'm not trusting stuff like the video. While yes, they are showing all the steps correct, one thing I can't get over is the presence of divots in the pistons that are represented in the service manual (intake and exhaust) as well as in exploded diagrams on parts websites. Building on that, in 2010, they increased compression, which the easiest method would be to change out pistons to delete the reliefs. If you look at Piston part numbers, they changed in 2010. Many years ago, this was discussed and there was a mitsu tech that stated they'd had a '07-'09 with broken timing that did not sustain damage. On the flip side, another guy within the last year broke a belt and bent some valves. who knows anymore. we need someone pre and post 2010 to tear down engines and look.

 

The 2007 is NOT A NON-INTERFERENCE ENGINE!!!!

My timing belt recently broke - two valves were bent!

-Matt