Cam belt who-har (1 Viewer)

firebird123

Free Member
Nov 9, 2013
62
8
Mansfield
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Autotrail Apache 700
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i am a newbie
I am 67 years old, and I have been driving since I was 17, I
have owned and driven a variety of vehicles, of various ages and
condition, also company vehicles, in all that time I have
never had a drive belt snap, nor have I ever heard of anyone,
friend or otherwise, had one break, so what is the big who - har
about replacing them before anything nasty happens ?

On the other hand in all my driving experience with said
vehicles, I have had a "Turbo" pack up, and that was expensive !
But I don't hear anyone saying get your Turbo checked ? (can it
be checked, and would you have a new one fitted just in case ?
How far do yo go and where do you stop ?

It is all obvious for peace of mind, like thinking "Well it
passed its MOT and it has had a thorough (?) service , so
everything must be alright" ?
 

PP Bear

LIFE MEMBER
Apr 5, 2013
7,735
28,141
Kent, UK
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Auto Trail Dakota SE
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2012
Think lots of others are also going to come along and share their experiences and woes :Eeek:

Had one go on my new car at 17000 miles, not funny :(

I've also driven for many many years and had it go just the once. My friend at work had hers fail prematurely on her Audi A3 and cost her £1000's to repair :crying:

It sound like you've been lucky so far. Also I'd say that when we drove cars in our earlier years, they had such things as push rods and overhead rocker arms and therefore not subjected to a cam belt of any kind to have to worry about. Also how do you know the company vehicles you drove hadn't had their belts changed as part of their service schedule, you'd have simply picked them up and drove. Later cars came with timing chains that ended up rattling as they got older :)

As for turbos, they are a science all to themselves and nearly always failed due to the lack of lubrication and the high speeds that they operate at. Drive an early turbo at high speeds, pull up and immediately switch off, then there's no oil supply and a turbo spinning at over 100,000 rpm and turning what oil it has into caramelised gunk. Lots of designs and modifications have reduced this as turbo technology became better over the years :)

It's like Russian roulette and take your chances with it all I guess, but it can be an expensive mistake, especially on a beloved motorhome :crying:

image.jpg
 
Feb 24, 2013
12,991
101,181
Bolsover, Derbyshire
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24,833
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Hymer S800
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not long enough
I had this really bizarre situation back in the mid 90's, probably in the height of the cam belt hype

Took a V6 Omega to Vauxhall for a 36000 mile service, at about 2 years old, got a phone mid service to say it needed a cam belt fitting

Why? said I, having never paid for one and thinking they were normally much higher mileage jobs, because it says so in the Vauxhall service schedule

Oh well you had better fit one then say I

Oh we haven't got one sir, we will need to order one

OK not very good, but if that is the case I will pick my car up today and rebook the work

if you do that sir anything happens to the cam belt and it will not be covered by warranty

Oh Please!, anyway they lent me a new Omega and kept mine for another week to do the job

Picked up and took it off to work, broke down within 50 miles, a cam belt tensioner seized and broke

They ended up writing off the car after deliberating for over a month, I got top money off another new one

So, moral is, if not bust don't try to fix it maybe :D

(y)

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Nov 4, 2011
5,888
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I've had one go on a mk 3 Cortina and a Citroen BX , luckily both went when only going slow so no damage to valves on either occasion.
 
Aug 30, 2012
4,270
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2010
I have had
One broke on a cortina all valves bent
One where water pump seized on a astra no damage
You take your chance

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scotjimland

LIFE MEMBER
Jul 25, 2007
2,086
9,025
Suffolk Coastal District, UK
Funster No
15
MH
Timberland
Had one break on a works Ford Escort diesel engined van.

Wrecked the top end of the engine.. no idea of repair cost but I did hear .... " jesssssssssusssss that much" coming from the office..
 
Feb 15, 2014
705
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cambridgeshire
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Bessacar E450
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3 years
I worked for an engineering company around 1996 they had a vw van and it was due a big service and cambelt change at 100,000 miles,they put off having it done and it snapped at about 105,000 and it cost around £5000 for a new engine, I have just had my s max done at 89000 interval is supposed to be 100,000 but it had to go in for a water hose change so got it done while it was in,water pump changed as well as it is driven off cambelt.
Timing chains can also snap and sometimes chain guides are plastic and wear out leaving chains very loose.
 

DP+JAY

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Mar 17, 2010
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since 2007, 25 years tuggin before that.
Never had one go myself, but then it's the first thing I do when I buy a car, unless it's got proof of being done.
Know plenty of people who have though. Google "timing belt snapped", plenty of sorry tales there.
 
2

2657

Deleted User
Timing belts also deteriorate with age and should be changed as per handbook/service schedule. My daughter had one go on her 2004 Clio three years ago and it has still not done the mileage for a replacement but I think the book says 4 years.
 

Wildman

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May 30, 2008
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since 1967
I had one break on a 7 year old escort 1.8D van that only had 26,000 miles on the clock, so far has cost me £700 in parts and repairs and still not sorted.

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Feb 15, 2014
705
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I had one break on a 7 year old escort 1.8D van that only had 26,000 miles on the clock, so far has cost me £700 in parts and repairs and still not sorted.
did it break the cam bearing housing, it did on a sierra diesel engine my mate had to rebuild
 

Geo

Trader - Funster
Jul 29, 2007
11,757
14,563
Mansfield,Notts
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MH
Autotrail Tracker FB
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45 +years with breaks
You sir are my bestest friend forever.I am more than very happy for you to continue with your school of thought
I make 10 x more profit repairing the damaged engines than I do from preventing the damage in the first place Carry on camping;)
Geo
Purely for your peace of mind NO amount of servicing will or can prevent a cam belt failure, they are always sudden and catastrophic with the very rare exception of non contact engines.
Only periodic changes of belts and pulley can achieve this.
The MoT contributes nothing to engine condition or reliability.
7 out of 10 failures its not the belt that fails, usually a pulley or tensioner followed by water pump bearing failure, none of which can be assessed visually
very often the presence of any noise is just to late:eek:
 

mike mcglynn

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Jan 6, 2008
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Hi, I had the timing belt go on my motorhome whilst in France 2 years ago cost me over£8000 to put right which as you may think was expensive, however I had the cambelt full kit changed less than 1200 miles previous to my France trip that made things a little hard to swallow as the french fiat mechanic said Mister there is one bolt missing from the assembly which would have caused the problem so next time round I will be having it changed by someone who knows what they are doing .So you pays your money and makes your choice .

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May 16, 2014
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I had one go on a Hyundai sonata a few years ago when I was towing a caravan in France. caravan Club Red Pennant were excellent - got the car van and us back to UK. Luckily for me, the Hyundai had a "safe" or "non-contact" engine as Geo describes it and the bill was "only" a couple of hundred quid.

Lesson learned - rubber cam belts alwways changed at recommended intervals or, where second-hand vehicle is involved if the mileage is anywhere near that recommended interval and there is no receipt available to prove the work.
 
Jan 22, 2013
1,246
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since 1971
I have just retired from the motor trade after 50 years and have lost count of the many motors effectively written off because of timing/ cam belt breakage,
The modern Diesel engine has mm clearance from valves to Pistons tops and even
A slack belt let alone a broken one will cause considerable damage.
Over the years I have seen broken camshaft/ camshaft carrier all 16 valves so compressed by the impact that has rendered the head as scrap,
And on the bottom of the engine, holes in piston/ bent conrods/ bent crankshaft ,
Basically anyone who neglects mileage/time/ condition of a timing belt is living in a fools paradise,
Additionally an oil/ fuel leak or antifreeze leak onto a timing belt will reduce its lifespan to the extent that the belt could fail immediately ,
As said before you pays your money or take a choice!
 

DuxDeluxe

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Jul 10, 2008
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So, not worth bothering to change the timing belt, then........:whistle:


Had one let go on a Vectra about 15 years ago. Lease company changed the car........
 
Jan 24, 2010
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Blimey Geo, scary picture that says it all :Eeek:
darned right its scary...its a work bench - whys it so damned clean

back to OP...had one fail on a sierra in the 90's...engine was completely knackered as a result

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Feb 24, 2013
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Based on a totally unscientific poll of these replies, it appears to not happen as much if at all on newer vehicles, with the exception of poor old Mike in his MH

Are cars built better / stronger these days? or do we now scrap them before they have done 100K miles, we regularly comment on how few older cars you see, or rather just how many nearly new we do see

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Bertie Bassett

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Jul 25, 2014
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Based on a totally unscientific poll of these replies, it appears to not happen as much if at all on newer vehicles, with the exception of poor old Mike in his MH

Are cars built better / stronger these days? or do we now scrap them before they have done 100K miles, we regularly comment on how few older cars you see, or rather just how many nearly new we do see

My first car was a Singer Vogue Estate, my last before the van a SAAB Aero. Even average costing cars are definitely better built now imo. (y)
 
Feb 24, 2013
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Agreed but when my 1966Vauxhall 101 estate got rear ended by a brand new (1975 Marina) only one drove home

some things are relative :D
 

TheBig1

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Nov 27, 2011
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many many years! since I was a kid
the fact that many engines including the ducato 3.0l are chain driven should be a clue. all that power through a perishing rubber band was never a brilliant idea

if your motorhome (or car) uses a rubber cambelt, always have it replaced within the service schedule, especially if your vehicle sits for long periods of time unused. otherwise expect to be paying a kings ransom to get the engine rebuilt or replaced when it snaps or the teeth shed

yes over the years i have seen many timing belt failures. i wouldnt buy a motorhome without a service record showing the cambelt was replaced in time. in fact i recall one where i made a cash offer dependant on the seller getting the work completed first. the seller said no, so i left it and spent my money elsewhere

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Scattycat

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Jan 3, 2013
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My daughter had a cambelt break on her Renault Megane. The repairs to the engine cost over £1,000.
I had a timing chain break on a Vauxhall viva and that required a complete new engine.
 

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