Chrysler Repair: 94 Eagle Summit/timing belt, chrysler jeep dealer, chrysler cars

Question
I am having someone work on my 94 Eagle Summit. The timing belt bust after he carried out a general tune up and now he is working on fixing the timing belt. Can you give me a 'roundabout' estimate as to the amount ot time this takes to fix and approximate cost?

Answer
Hi Ruth,
I have to admit ignorance about the Eagle Summit. In my "expertise" profile at the home page I disclaimed knowledge of imported Chrysler cars because I just couldn't invest in the manuals for those cars too, so I decided to limit myself to the domestic lines. In general if the engine is transverse mounted there is a extra step of having to support the engine and then disconnect the mount at the front so that a new belt can be applied to the sprockets located at the front of the engine. I would be very foolish to hazard an estimate of the time for the job. The belt is probably about $25 so parts shouldn't be that much. If you want to know whether the price he asks is fair, you would certainly have a high side to work with if you called a local Chrysler/Jeep dealer and ask the service manager for an estimate. They often work from manuals that list hours to complete various jobs with a leniency factor.
It is evidentally the case that your engine is designed to not be damaged when the belt breaks, so that is an economical feature right there compared to some other engines. I hope that you will have good luck from here on when you get the car back from repair.
Roland