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Car Forum / UK Car Forums / Car Maintenance (UK group) / January 2007Glad I did that. Cambelt change.
I bought my Octavia around 14 months ago at 90k miles, it came with a full service history, mostly at one dealer (the one I bought it from). I was told during the test drive that it had been servcied to the full Skoda spec etc. So, I wasnt too bothered about doing the cambelt, as it all looked legit. But, upon checking all the service receipts, there was no mention of a cambelt change at all - must have been an oversight.Ok, I'll change it anyway when I get a chance, just in case. That was over a year ago, and I finally got round to doing it this weekend - and I'm very glad I finally got off my arse to get it done. Firstly, when taking off the belt covers, there seemed to be an awful lot of black dust stuck on the inside of the covers. Then to get off the belt, you need to compress the tensioner. Strange, the tensioner is loose on its piston. Yep the belt was so stretched, the tensioner had no more movement available - on the slack side, the belt was well loose. Took the belt off, and the cause of the black dust was evident, the belt was cracking on all of the teeth on one side. Shite. I'm glad I dont drive like a lunatic, as a quick acceleration, or sudden engine stop may well have ripped off any of the teeth. So, the moral is, dont believe a car salesman, and when you get a new car, change the cambelt immediately if you have an interference engine. Thats a close shave I reckon. Alan.  SignatureTo reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'. >I bought my Octavia around 14 months ago at 90k miles, it came with a > full service history, mostly at one dealer (the one I bought it from). [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > Thats a close shave I reckon. > Alan. Phew. That was a close shave! After getting a new car usually I get the cambelt done or at least checked, tyres, battery all that sort of stuff if I cant verify its age or integrity. > Phew. That was a close shave! > > After getting a new car usually I get the cambelt done or at least checked, > tyres, battery all that sort of stuff if I cant verify its age or integrity. Likewise. But you can be suprised. A few years ago I bought a Micra K10 off ebay for ?100 for my daughter. No service record, been parked in a yard for 9 months so flat tyres and battery. Bit of a mess all round but it ran and I gave it a thorough service and made sure it was safe. But she kept it longer than I'd intended and the thought of the cambelt kept nagging me. In the end I decided I had to change it. Got the old one off... brand spanking new!!!! All that work for nothing!!! But my mind would never have rested if I hadn't done it. BobC > Phew. That was a close shave! > > After getting a new car usually I get the cambelt done or at least > checked, > tyres, battery all that sort of stuff if I cant verify its age or > integrity. Likewise. But you can be suprised. A few years ago I bought a Micra K10 off ebay for £100 for my daughter. No service record, been parked in a yard for 9 months so flat tyres and battery. Bit of a mess all round but it ran and I gave it a thorough service and made sure it was safe. But she kept it longer than I'd intended and the thought of the cambelt kept nagging me. In the end I decided I had to change it. Got the old one off... brand spanking new!!!! All that work for nothing!!! But my mind would never have rested if I hadn't done it. BobC In this day and age you would have thought there would be an easier way of checking it than having to dismantle things! I ran a 1.5 Nissan Sunny from 47k to 190k, bought mainly because of easy DIY. I changed the cam belt every 60k as recommended, but really it was a job to tell the difference between the old belt and the new one, as it was in such good condition. >> Phew. That was a close shave! >> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > In this day and age you would have thought there would be an easier way of > checking it than having to dismantle things! > So, the moral is, dont believe a car salesman, and when you get a new > car, change the cambelt immediately if you have an interference engine. Extremely close I would say. :o) Been there with a Rover 214 (old shape), G reg, one careful female owner. Used for pottering around in Beckenham (London), taking the kids to school. In visual good nick, looked OK, looked sound. Early K series engine, before they started using plastic dowels. Turned out to be a real stormer once some remedial work was carried out. Got the car, all the service details..... nice. Even the bills. Hmmmm, cambelt? Nowt in the bulging service folder. I usually, on getting any new car, change the cambelt as a matter of course. Good thing too, remember that the manufacturers instructions say so many miles or so many years. Well, the previous owners thinking was that it has done the so many years but had not done the so many miles, so it was OK to run like that until the miles caught up with the manufacturers recommendation. I knew the garage in question quite well (can recommend) and they poppd the cover off and found the belt on it's last leggies (silly cow, never believe the one careful female owner nowadays). Felt a lot better once I had the thing done and the performance was noticable. PDH >I bought my Octavia around 14 months ago at 90k miles, it came with a > full service history, mostly at one dealer (the one I bought it from). [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > Thats a close shave I reckon. > Alan. A similar thing happened a major vauxhall dealership. No mention of a water pump change when one cambelt was changed. Then no mention of tensioners and rollers being changed on the next one. When questioned I was told to look at the invoice which stated - "if required" in one clause describing work done as part of a service. Lookers were not willing to confirm or deny they had changed tensioners and rollers, or indeed the water pump, so it was done again at a different garage and they were given the bill. It was paid after Trading Standards got involved. All they had been doing was changing the belt and that was it. I think the cost was around £135. That is one place I would never go back to again as I simply couldn't trust them. Trading Standards said on their test cars they sent in - a number of faults had never been corrected, parts were never fitted but charged for and one car passed the MOT with defective brakes. On another the brake fluid was meant to have been changed but wasn't. You really have to watch who you take a car to. Never trust a sales person as in my experience they lie to make a living. > I bought my Octavia around 14 months ago at 90k miles, it came with a > full service history, mostly at one dealer (the one I bought it from). [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > But, upon checking all the service receipts, there was no mention of a > cambelt change at all - must have been an oversight. Nope. Cambelt changes are extra for a lot of servicing schedules. Whereas you think "40,000 mile service WHICH INCLUDES cambelt change" it isn't. It usually goes: "Here's your car sir. The cambelt is due for changing." "How much will that be?" "£300" "OK, is it urgent?" "No, you'll be OK for a little while yet." "Thankyou very much." ...and it never gets done because they can't see it and the car is working. SignatureConor If you're not on somebody's sh.t list, you're not doing anything worthwhile. Surprised Octavia still using a belt, not a chain, seems like the drift is to chains now. Really timing belts are 'not fit for purpose' with modern cars higher mileages. The average user isn't aware of the calamity waiting them if not checked. Unless of course belts could be improved to last the life of the car-or as covered before a dual-belt system maybe with a sensor system to detect failure (the maker would probably go for a chain instead). Manufacturers probably find them cheaper, won't fail within warranty and not a selling point for most people. (It would be interesting to see a list of cars / models with chain / belt--I think at least Nissan/Toyota moved to chains) >> I bought my Octavia around 14 months ago at 90k miles, it came with a >> full service history, mostly at one dealer (the one I bought it from). [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > ...and it never gets done because they can't see it and the car is > working. > Surprised Octavia still using a belt, not a chain, seems like the drift is > to chains now. Really timing belts are 'not fit for purpose' with modern [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > (It would be interesting to see a list of cars / models with chain / > belt--I think at least Nissan/Toyota moved to chains) I think belts are still used because: 1 They are cheap 2 Quieter than a chain >> Surprised Octavia still using a belt, not a chain, seems like the drift >> is [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > 2 Quieter than a chain & if you change them when you're supposed to they're fine. Snag is a lot of people don't. >>> Surprised Octavia still using a belt, not a chain, seems like the drift >>> is [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > & if you change them when you're supposed to they're fine. Snag is a lot > of people don't. Most of the time thats true, but when you buy second hand and the cars been driven by a prat wheelspinning and skidding every 5 minutes and when it comes to sale time its there dad selling it you think hmmm nice guy looks like he looked after it. Then snap! hehe [...] > & if you change them when you're supposed to they're fine. Snag is a lot > of people don't. Also, the change interval for many belts is now 100,000 miles. That's longer than many cars last for other reasons. Bear in mind that chain drive is not infallible; my brother's dealer-maintained 3 year old Corolla (chain cam) shredded the crankshaft sprocket with predictable results. It had less than 50k on the clock. The dealer didn't seem that surprised... Chris SignatureRemove prejudice to reply. > Also, the change interval for many belts is now 100,000 miles. That's longer > than many cars last for other reasons. Are you sure ? All the hearsay I come across suggests that recommended intervals have been coming down as manufacturers got caught by "premature" failures. The one on my Honda, however, is 72K or 75K, iirc, and a tech who hangs around these parts told me that was conservative, so I didn't worry about it before getting it replaced on time. Signature"Press all the keys at once to continue..." >> Also, the change interval for many belts is now 100,000 miles. That's >> longer than many cars last for other reasons. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > conservative, so I didn't worry about it before getting it replaced on > time. Absolutely sure that Fords using the Zetec E and SE as used in the Focus and others are 100k. The SE units were 100k from the beginning, the E was 80k, but Ford upped it after finding they would reliably run to 100k. However,certain Vauxhalls were originally 72k, but many early failures caused the interval to be reduced to 36k. To be fair this was mainly due to water pump failure taking out the belt - sometimes in less than 36k! Chris SignatureRemove prejudice to reply. > >> Also, the change interval for many belts is now 100,000 miles. That's > >> longer than many cars last for other reasons. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > caused the interval to be reduced to 36k. To be fair this was mainly due to > water pump failure taking out the belt - sometimes in less than 36k! Ta. Signature"If you have nothing to do, don't do it here." >> Surprised Octavia still using a belt, not a chain, seems like the drift is >> to chains now. Really timing belts are 'not fit for purpose' with modern [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > 2 Quieter than a chain 3 Give added service work to them in the future when it needs changing 4 Increase the sale of new cars following unexpected failures Am I a cynic? D >>> Surprised Octavia still using a belt, not a chain, seems like the drift >>> is to chains now. Really timing belts are 'not fit for purpose' with [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > D nah I'd say your a realist >>> Surprised Octavia still using a belt, not a chain, seems like the >>> drift is to chains now. Really timing belts are 'not fit for [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > Am I a cynic? Yes it's amazing that for something which is so imperative to replace at regular intervals, why the majority appear to be designed to be such a PIA to replace. I often used to think about my last vehicle, if only it would have had a removable plate behind the wheel arch, and a couple of precision locating holes for some locking studs, it could have been a 30 minute doddle, instead of the fiddly several hours of work (requiring special tools) that it was. > D > Yes it's amazing that for something which is so imperative to replace at > regular intervals, why the majority appear to be designed to be such a PIA [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > doddle, instead of the fiddly several hours of work (requiring special > tools) that it was. An old car I had (1981) was almost like that and also nothing would go bang if the belt did let go. All my other cars have had chains. >> Yes it's amazing that for something which is so imperative to >> replace at regular intervals, why the majority appear to be designed [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > An old car I had (1981) was almost like that and also nothing would go > bang if the belt did let go. All my other cars have had chains. According to the service history that came with my recently-acquired Ford focus, the timing belt was last changed 30,000 miles ago, by all accounts when this is done Ford stipulate that the original belt tensioner should be replaced with a modified automatic type (apparently due to instances of premature failure). However the only mention in the service history is that the 'belt' was replaced as a routine service item at 99,000 miles. Being a bit of a paranoid soul I asked my local Ford agent if they could check to make sure if the updated part had been replaced along with the belt, but they said that it involves so much work just it check it out, that they might as well replace the whole kit anyway, at a cost of £280 plus Vat!.. worth paying for peace of mind? or if the item 'was' fitted along with the belt then apparently it should be good for another 70,000 miles. > I bought my Octavia around 14 months ago at 90k miles, it came with a > full service history, mostly at one dealer (the one I bought it from). > I was told during the test drive that it had been servcied to the full > Skoda spec etc. I think the interval used to be 100k miles, but they started failing on 5 years so its now 5 years or 100k whichever comes 1st. A lot of the dealers don't seem to be aware of that though which beggers belief really. >> I bought my Octavia around 14 months ago at 90k miles, it came with a >> full service history, mostly at one dealer (the one I bought it from). [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > A lot of the dealers don't seem to be aware of that though which > beggers belief really. VW Group TDI engines are recommended to have the belt changed at 40,000miles or 4 (four) years whichever comes sooner used to be 60,000miles and I believe 6 (six) years, obviously older belts were shredding at the longer gap. Got the belt changed on the wifes car 6 months ahead of schedule as I was paranoid... ...less than 2 months after the dealership had replaced it - snap. Lesson learned there: don't EVER used dealership monkeys to do anything more than a basic oil change, and even then they'll muck that up. |
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