Quote Originally Posted by Chopper View Post
After finding the telltale green coolant drops a few weeks back (when turning the VX around to do Bearings and brake pads) I turned it right back around and parked it. Today I bit the bullet and called Merlin. I printed Bart's timing belt download, and just ran down his parts list for Merlin. While he agreed I should go ahead and do the timing belt, he talked me out of the tensioner pulley, Idler pulley and serpentine tensioner. This amounted to a 500.00 difference in what I expected to spend and what I did spend. He said that with only 45,000 miles, the only thing I'd need was the "push tensioner". I gotta believe he knows what he's talking about...he'd have no reason to talk me out of 500 bucks worth of sales....He said that these parts simply are NOT known to fail in the 3.5 engine, even after over 100,000 miles, and that I would be excessive to change them out at 45k....Everything is on the way..except the items he sugested I skip. Thoughts anyone....before I crack this thing open next week? I'll do the front wheel bearings, brake pads, and that new front cladding that has been sitting in the guest room for 6 months now....HAHAHAHA 10 years on a fan belt ain't bad either! Maybe I'll squirt the window washers (they've NEVER been squirted...not even once) I may even take the original wiper blades off HAHAHAHA...doesn't matter. The VX never has gone out in the rain....except for baths, it's only been wet twice in ten years hehehehe spoiled little bastard
Can you post the link to Bart's thread on the timing belt download? Which items did you end up ordering? My mechanic was adamant that we also needed to change the idler pulley when it comes time to replace the timing belt.