Car is falling apart, or neglect is catching up to me

[xyeLz]

Not sure which to blame, but recently had to drop $1500 for wheel bearing, tie rod ends, alternator, and a whole crapload of stuff I really shouldn't have done.

Then 2 days later, the car dies in a parking garage. I'm told it's the battery, which is only 2 years old, but makes sense since the alternator was a year old and died and probably put a lot of stress on the battery.

Just wanted to check with you guys to see if all this makes sense so far, logically speaking.

I also need to replace the supercharger tensioner pulley. I just purchased the one off INTENSE and plan to install this myself. A year ago I installed the grooved idler pulley myself, but wanted to see if it was difficult to replace the tensioner as well. The shop is trying to charge $80 for that (really? that's 4 hours of labor).

[DCJREDLINE]

IMO all of those things (beside the alt/battery) are wear items, you dont mention how many miles the car has on it. To me it doesnt make sense to just replace a battery, who told you it was the battery? What tests did they run if any?

Second: $80 here is not even 1 hour of labor. I dont know what you meant by "thats 4 hours of labor"

[96 SSEi]

hi, from all the stuff you have replaced, I would assume the car was not properly maintained, the battery can be tested before you replace it and the tensioner is easy - you may need a torx bit for it

much of that stuff could have been done by you to save lots of cash - yeah, you underestimate a auto techs rate - up here in Canada it is 100+ at GM and 80 - 100 at no name techs.

hang in there!!, you should have many miles of enjoyment once completed.

[jradke61]

Yeah $80 is 1 hour at best so $80 is about right. Hell, takes 1/2 an hour to get the tools out. That's almost like a minimum charge.
*shoot*, I should get back into turning wrenches again.
Changing that tensioner is child's play tho. No need to pay anyone anything.