alternator belt instalation costs?

Question

I have a 1990 Mazda Protege (I know). What is the average cost to have one put on. We cant figure it out

It is an alternator belt & we have it $8.00 We cant figure out how to get it on. The neighbor said $50.00 for him to put it on, seems like alot

Answer 1

I am reminded of the story of the retired engineer who is called in to troubleshoot a problem (http://pcbwizards.com/mechanical.htm)"
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"There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30 years, he happily retired.

Several years later the company contacted him regarding a seemingly impossible problem they were having with one of their multimillion dollar machines. They had tried everything and everyone else to get the machine to work but to no avail. In desperation, they called on the retired engineer who had solved so many of their problems in the past.

The engineer reluctantly took the challenge. He spent a day studying the huge machine. At the end of the day, he marked a small "x" in chalk on a particular component of the machine and stated, "This is where your problem is".



The part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly again.



The company received a bill for $50,000 from the engineer for his service. They demanded an itemized accounting of his charges.



The engineer responded briefly:




Invoice:



One chalk mark $ 1.00
Knowing where to put it $49,999.00

Total $50,000.00



It was paid in full and the engineer retired again in peace."
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$50 is a bit steep for what I would pay but then again, I have changed the belts on cars enough to know it will only take me a short period of time (most cars, less than 20 minutes). Replacing the belt is generally a fairly simple tasks. Generally the alternator is on a bracket that allows the device to be slid to adjust the belt tension. You'll loosen a bolt to reduce the tension, remove the existing belt, add the new belt, and use something to leverage the alternator to increase the tension (not too tight though or you'll wear the bearings), then tighten the bolt to lock the alternator assembly into place and keep the tension on the belt.

Answer 2

is it an alternator belt, or a serpentine belt (runs all accessories)? if it is just an alt belt, it should be cheap...maybe 8 bucks for the belt, maybe a half hour of labor. if it is a serpentine belt, the belt could run you around 30 bucks, and the labor varies. ive seen cars which, to replace the serp belt, you had to remove motor mounts...if that is the case, it could get very expensive.

Answer 3

call a dealer ask for a quote...then subtract 25% and take it to a regular repair shop...