Forum,

So I'm about to do a cam install and I decided to call up the local shop. I asked them to give me a quote on installing cams and an intake manifold. He quoted me at 1300 bucks. I was floored. I thought the shop was pretty cool but that was crazy. So I decided to go with a buddy of mine who is a mechanic and does work at his house. Question, why is everybody insisting that I get a new water pump along with this cam install? They, my buddy and the expensive shop, keep saying that all of that stuff is right there. Um, correct me if I'm wrong but no it's not. Isn't the water pump on the evo like way towards the bottom of the block? I mean I already got the timing belt and the pulleys(lol) replaced two months ago.
The expensive shop also kept asking me if the manifold came with injector seals. What? Don't the injectors come with their own seals? Were they just trying to get money for no reason. He was making this cam install sound huge. He was also quoting for both cams separately. What? 1300 hundred dollars, jesus. I just pulled up a video from a local on the forum who went through his process of installing cams. It took him probably an hour at most. Where the f*ck did 1300 bucks come from? Is that recession pricing?
I thank God for my buddy's skillz. I can't imagine what I would pay for this install at a legit (lol) shop. BTW Moore Automotive wanted 350 for intake/throttlebody install but I didn't ask them about cams. And no Moore is not the expensive shop; that hot mess will go un-named throughout this particular adventure.

 

Well they suggested the water pump because its easy to swap and your going to have the timing belt off, so why not. 1300 seems expensive but what theyre doing is charging you for a basic timing belt job and cam installation. I suggest doing it your self, we have alot of diy threads on how to approach this and like you said, your buddy is there to do it.

Btw Im doing my cams, headgasket and headstuds right now, its not that bad if you have a page showing you how to do it

http://www.evomoto.com/tech_articles..._article_id=18

 

I took a look at that page and each of the steps seems easy enough. I don't think I have a breaker bar though. I have done things like put in a boost gauge, install an AFR gauage (including wiring), and general maintenance. I'm worried but not scared to get in there. I can get to the DIY Garage on base but I don't know how to operate the lift so that potentially embarrasing situation stops me everytime I want to go. For this install I won't need that lift though so you got me thinking about it. They have all the tools as well. Do you think I could attempt this?

 

After watching cam installs a few times I would rather pay to have it done rather than do it myself. It is a very time consuming job

Typical cam install rates are ~$250

As for the intake manifold install, it should not be anywhere near $350. That one you could easily do yourself with just a few simple tools in a basic toolset.

 

I have to admit this Forum is the sh*t. It's like extended customer service from Mitsubishi or something! I've done DIYs from here, bought stuff, and gotten piece of mind.


Evom gets

 

First of all if you are working at an on base garage normally they let you use any tool you might need. But if you want to do this at home, Harborfreight always seems to have breaker bars on sale for like $10. The guys at the shop will always be happy to explain the lift as it will take them 10 seconds and they won't have to help you again (Put the arms in the right spots under your car, push this lever/button to raise, pull that lever while pushing this lever to lower, done!) plus many times they will see an Evo and want to offer help or work through any potential sticking points with you for free. Don't be embarrassed to ask for advice/help as they do it all day and they expect you do not. There are a lot of tips and tricks they can offer as advice.

Secondly as previously mentioned the quote was for both the full timing belt job and the cams. This is mainly because when you swap cams you need to remove the cam gears which requires effectively removing the timing belt which drives the warterpump as well. Once you remove a somewhat used or well used rubber belt you should normally replace it so mechanics swap the timing belt too. Since a major cost on replacing any part driven by the timing belt (e.g. water pump) is labor/parts to replace the timing belt correctly (because its an involved time consuming process) they sugguest you do it at the same time and not have to pay for it on your next upcoming maintenance cycle.

Going even by the Stealership normal practices I wouldn't say its a basic timing belt job if the water pump and tensioners are being switched out. The FSM recommends the waterpump and tensioner pulleys for timing and balace belts are replaced ($500-700 in parts alone depending on source) but realistically (at least with the dealership near my house) even the dealer will only replace it all upon request at the 60k and will automatically do it on the 120K. Otherwise at 60k they normally just replace the belts believe it or not ($100-150 in parts). Either way labor shouldn't change too drastically (+/- $200 or so maybe)

The other part to that is the 4g63 is an interferance engine so if the timing belt breaks due to being worn, the cams stop turning and the valves stay in the spots they are in until the pistons come back up and destroy them (the interferance part). This will lead to bent valves and most likely valve guide damage but also could easily lead to damaged pistons and likely damaged combustion chambers and piston cylinder walls among other issues.


If you push your car and race at all it seems the recommendation on here is definately to do it all each time but otherwise many say you can ignore the full replacement. Its a risk vs reward decision. Do you pay a lot more and not worry or risk it for a potentially 5-6x more expensive engine repair or replacement. At 60k for most the risk is low but at 120k the risk is normally enough to warrant the cost of parts.

Mechanic labor costs can alway be avoided if you have the time and curiosity with the advances of the internet. Just do your research, take your time and do your best to stay organized. I'd say do it yourself or have your friend do it either way you choose (just cams and belt or the full job) especially with access to a shop and tools on the cheap.

 

when i was at 80K miles mechanic did cams for $350.at 100K miles i did timing belt kit(water pump included).so if you feel that your pump,belt and everything in good shape don't do it.dont know about intake manifold labor cost but injector to manifold seal you can buy for $2.50 a peace.

 

You dont NEED a breaker bar. either get a rubber mallet or buy a 2ft piece of steel pipe that will slide over your 1/2" ratchet. But like said earlier harbor freight almost always has there breaker bar on sale.

The cams are easy, the only tricky or hard part is making sure you have everything at top dead center when putting it all back together. If your not comfortable with it just get your mech buddy to help you. Save the money, learn something new that you can be proud of.