NPC: Waterpumper woes, Help on repair cost Options

[richardL]

My niece's '95 Ford Escort suddenly lost all power and rolled to a halt - the engine stayed running apparently.

The car was towed to a nearby repair shop, who did a diagnostic and decided it was the timing belt and water pump. That sounds strange to me, since why would both be the cause and if the water pump failed I would expect it to overheat before losing power.

Anyway the quote is for $480 - can someone with access to the standard pricing books let me know, if possible, the defined labor hours for these jobs on that car, please?

They also said 'and we might find something else wrong and that would be an additional $1500' - which again sounds strange, how do they know the fee if they don't know the problem. Does the Escort engine from valve overlap etc. that would be major damage in the event of a timing belt failure?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

Thanks,
R