My lovely 93 SE (170,000 highway miles) is at the mechanic having two broken studs on each exhaust manifold bank removed, manifold resurfaced, and gasket replaced for $700 parts and labor. Does this sound reasonable? My good reputation mechanic says he hears the timing chain slopping about because it is stretched and need to be changed (really two chains) with the tension guides and water pump (labor already there). Nissan dealer says they never change the timing chain on the SE but perhaps they never had a 93 SE with 170K. Anyway can my trustworthy mechanic be correct and is $1,700 too much for parts and labor for this service. And should the "Ain't Broken Don't Fix" apply here. Please advise.
Thansk
Dave Brieff