Thermal protector replacement: 2002 Honda Civic LX

[chc]

The A/C of my 2002 Civic LX has not been working for a while, I troubleshot it last weekend and found ECM/ECU doesn't send command to clutch relay. I thought maybe ECM/ECU needs to be replaced which will cost $400 for just part.

I brought my car to a local mechanic this morning, after 1.5 hours ($127+tax) they told me the thermal protector is actually bad, part will cost $75, but installation will be 2 hours/$170. Since I have ~106k miles on the car, they also recommended to replace timing belt/water pump/drive belt/antifreeze for $600. If I do it, the cost of installation of thermal protector will be 0.5 hours/$42.

I am happy that the cause of A/C failure is not ECM/ECU, but I am not sure if the installation of thermal protector will cost that much. I would like to get your opinion if it will really take 2 hours, and if I can install thermal protector by myself (not very skilled, but can do oil/wheel/brake change reasonably well). If I can't do it by myself, I might consider to do timing belt replacement at the same time.

Thanks a lot.