dealership charging $1000 fix for 2001 Pathfinder?

[stepchow]

Well, had to take my 2001 Pathfinder SE to the dealership today. The SES initially came on back in Dec.04, but I didn't notice any difference in the trucks' behavior and the SES went out about in a day or so. Then in Jan.05 the SES started blinking for a bit and stayed lit. This was when I had initially started the car in the morning and I noticed that the car kind of "hesitated" during it's normal "cranking cycle". My first thought was that it was a bad coil. Anyways, when I got into the car, I noticed the idle was pretty rough and the car was shaking. I let it warm up a bit to see if it made a difference or not, but it didn't. Took it for a quick spin and the throttle response was poor and it felt like there was no power. I was in a rush to work that day, so decided to drive it the short distance to the hospital where I worked (yeah I know I shouldn't have driven it, but I was on call that night and there were a bazillion patients in the ER). Anyways, after a short drive, the idle went back to normal, car stopped shaking and all was good (the SES was on solid at this time). This scenario happened about 2-3 times in total over a course of 2-3 weeks. I finally had some time to bring the truck into the dealership to get it checked and this is what they found:

- bad coil- bad TPS sensor- need new sparkplugs- new front brakes- new air filter- cracked timing belt needs replacement

They want just over $900 bucks to fix everything (this incl parts and labor). Now I'm pretty mechanically inclined and I could probably do all of this myself, but I honestly don't have the time nor the garage here (I just moved) to do it all. Just wanted to know if their quote was reasonable. Thanks everyone!

[S13inBatnRuge]

how many miles are on it

[stepchow]

It's got about 79000 kms on it. I think that's close to 50000 miles?

[DAEDALUS]

Don't the 2001 Pathys have the VQ35DE engine? Timing chain, not belt? If it does indeed have a chain, I'd push it somewhere else in favor of having them do anything to it. Maybe Canadian models have a different engine?

[stepchow]

Just picked up the truck from the dealership. Seems to be running pretty good, wonders what new brake pads feel like! Anyways, yes, the 2001+ have the VQ engine. And it was my mistake, it wasn't the timing belt (we have chains), it was the drive belts. Also it wasn't the TPS sensor, but the VTC sensor. What the heck is a VTC sensor anyways?!

[DAEDALUS]

Variable valve timing control. It rotates the sprocket relative to the camshaft to alter valve timing under different conditions.

[Q45tech]

The sensor measures the cam position relative to the crank position. To see if the VVT ACTUALLY changed.

ODB2 electronics must always have a set of back up sensors [2 methods of determining the same thing or checking up on each other] as a fail safe!

The sensor outputs are averaged [if they closely agree] to zero in on precise control to make up for wear..........they tend [designed] to get out of calibration in the opposite direction.

Since ignition advance is fixed no adjustable distributor [CAS]......these sensors tend to help correct chain stretch since it is always less than 5 degrees relative and a chain [link] tooth is 10 or 20 degrees depending on which gear.

Most VVT have 2 positions=== 20 degrees advance or retard [idle and high rpm/load].

More modern VVT are somewhat continuous say 4-6 steps of ~~5 degrees so every important to know where you are and if the command actually did something [mechanical vs electrical].

[xung]

but I honestly don't have the time nor the garage here (I just moved) to do it all.

Who needs a garage. You can do all that on the street. It might go a little slower if you're wearing gloves, but it sounds like that isn't more than 2~3 hours of work. It would help to take a break every hour.

I guess it's a matter of how much you value your time, but don't forget how much time is spent take the car to the dealership, waiting to get service, arranging trips to and from the dealer, etc...