Hello,I am just curious as to how much labor is required to replace the timing belt on a 1990 non-turbo 300zx? About how long would it take at a shop? Thanks in advance.

I guess it's a bit of a loaded question as other things are usually done at the same time such as water pump, cam and main seals to be sure no leaks. If it was only the timing belt I'd guess 6 to 8 hours depending on if the shop has done it on a Z before. I think most shops charge $500 or more labor to do it.Why not do it yourself? Every z owner should change a timing belt at least once.

Per AllData, which is the reference for flat rate times that most shops use, it pays 6.8 hours to do the timing belt. You will also want to do the water pump, cam seals, possiblly tensioners, etc. Figure easily 8.5-9.0 hours.

As for cost, most dealerships are in the 85/hr range for labor so figure 8.5 hours at 85 an hour you'd be around $722.50 + tax + parts.

this may sound stupid, but on a scale of 1 to 10 what would you guys rate the timing belt/water pump change as?

as for the timming belt, maybe a 5. It isn't real hard it just takes time. I think there maybe a write up of the waterpump in the tech pages.

it's nowheres near as difficult as a motor pull for example, but it's a little more tech intensive than a spark plug change.. just take your time and take pics/label everything.. tt.net has some decent writeups on the such

if someone wouldn't mind posting some links or PM'im me i would greatly appreciate it. I found one on the 300zxclub and it appears that basically you take old belt off and simply put new one on while lining up the marks on the belt with the proper link. However i know it has to be much more complicated then this or it wouldn't cost 500 to pay someone to do it?

Thanks

a good shop that specializes in Z's can do it in a lot less time and might actually charge you closer to the actual time needed, the problem is that depending on the milage the parts might get costly, it's recomended to replace the tensioner everytime, tahts like $130, at 120k it's recomemded to replace the idlers, studs, waterpump which is anouther couple hundred bucks worth of parts, cam and crank seals are cheap but you might need to replace the crank gear and slinger as they tend to get destroyed coming off

As others said it's not a nightmare, but it is a little more in depth than average maintenance and you'll need some metric tools.

Leave yourself a good couple days to do the job if you haven't done it before as you definitely want to take the time to get everything clean and right so you don't have leaks or the belt on wrong and have to do it all again. The belt is easy to get on right if you just line up the marks on the belt with the gear marks, you can't really go wrong.

Also, as you are doing it, probably a good idea to change rad hoses and drive belts as you don't want to revisit that soon after. Best thing to do is buy the kit that includes everything you need, depending on what was done last.

*Check your power steering hoses for leaks while the rad is out as it's much easier to change at this point.

Here is the tech link:

http://www.ttzd.com/tech/timingbelttech.html

Here's a link for parts, but other places sell it as well. Personally, the 120k kit is the one to get:

http://www.courtesyparts.com/z....html
Modified by Zwicked at 10:36 AM 2/5/2008

ok so i basically skimmed through the tech lesson to get a basic idea (since i dont own a z yet) and just to make sure really the only parts that seemed confusing were taking the belt off and putting it on. Does it just fit on pretty easily and when your spinning the cam sprockets to get them in the proper position is there anything one could do wrong to really ^*%^ there car. Im not new to most engine stuff having doing a custom turbo build on my spec v but i feel like im in a whole new ballgame here.

Thanks for all the help so far, i really appreciate it and Im learning alot about my future car. Basically this would be my DD so im going to take the time and fix everything properly from the start. I mean a complete overhaul on all the vacuum/fuel lines...