jaygreg said:
Hi Bill. Thanks for the reply. Yes. I meant control arm bushing.
Sorry. But I'm confused about reference to these belts. I took you
reply and pulled out the factory manual (FM). It says replace the
timing belt at 100K on "Federal Emissions equipped vehicles only." But
there's no definition of that vehicle. Does that mean my 3.2 liter
engine? I know it has an emission control system but is that the same
as a "Federal Emissions equipped vehicle"?
I'm pretty sure that Federal Emissions equipped vehicle means any
vehicle manufactured for sale in the U.S. Human laws aside, the laws of
physics and statistics say to replace the belt at 100k.
A mechanic gave me a quote last Fall for replacing a "Serpentine belt
and water pump" but according to the FM, that's not the "timing belt";
it's the "accessory drive belt"... which does need to be replaced too.
If the quote said replace the serpentine belt and the water pump, then
someone didn't know what they were doing or wrote 'serpentine' when they
meant 'timing'. The timing belt *has* to be replaced. It's prudent to
(as in 'foolish not to') replace the water pump at the same time as the
timing belt because when you expend the considerable labor to get to
one, you get to the other - and in fact water pumps do wear out - and
certain failures of the water pump would have the same effect as the
timing belt breaking: Serious damage to the engine, either from
overheating or locking up and ripping the timing belt apart. Hence, at
100k, replace the water pump and t-belt - not one or the other - both.
And about those door latches/locks. I have a brother who has a 2003
Intrepid that had the same problem. And I've run into a few other
people who complained of the same repair. I remember examining that
component when it was removed ;...
Oh - no question. Those latches are a common failure item on the LH
cars. But if that's the criteria for obsolescence of the car, then they
often become obsolete long before 100k.
My point was that there's
nothing magical about the 100k mile mark for those sorts of things to
start going bad. Pretty much all the things that you mentioned are
random failures, whereas, ironically, the one item you left out (timing
belt/water pump) *is* a 100k mile item.
it had an American manufacturer's name
stamped on it. Whether they made it here or off shore, they should be
held to tighter quality control standards...
Unfortunately that's the accepted level of quality and longevity in the
industry for certain items. Quality may be the wrong word there - I
would say it's the design standard that is the problem (to me, bad
quality is that the materials, processes, and tolerances used in
manufacturing violate those specified in the design).
The car manufactures all shop among the same component and subassembly
manufacturers. I agree that it is disgusting that components in certain
areas are no more durable than they are by design. Window lift motors
and door latches are a problem for many auto manufacturers because they
all use the same component/subassembly suppliers/manufacturers - same
marginal designs and modular components tweaked to fit the particular
vehicle. They could fix those problems (obsolescence if that's what you
want to call it), but they lack the will. They would say that if they
did that, the initial purchase price would be more, or the car would
weigh 4 ozs. more, and would make them non-competitive. Maybe they need
to revisit their philosophies, eh? As Dr. Phil would say "How's that
working for you? What were yew thinking!?"
Enough on that. I have to make a decision on this disappointing
machine I own. Can you help define that "Federal Emission equipped
vehicle". If that fits my 2000 Concorde LXi... that's another headache
to add to the equation.
Make no mistake: You need to replace the timing belt on schedule. Many
have ignored it and regretted it. See:
http://300mclub.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17498&start=0
(300M has the 3.5 engine which is exactly the same engine you have but
with slightly larger bore)
