Technical Is it REALLY necessary to change the timing belt?!

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Cam belts are not worth the risk of taking beyond their service life. Some cost a fortune to replace but its still better than a new engine/car. I wont make that mistake again.

Sister-in-law has a Rover 75 with the V6 petrol engine. She also has a Freelander as she lives in wildest Devon. The Rover seldom gets driven since her husband sadly died a few years back and she mostly drives the Land Rover. The local Rover garage advised her, some years ago that it was due but the quote was going to need a mortgage to fund it! (I never did one of these when I was in the workshop but I seem to recollect that it has belts on both ends of the engine and it's "awkward" to access. So she keeps it just for special "posh" outings - still with the original belt on it! She just can't get her head round that with the belt well over the time when it should have been changed, the car lying unused most of the time and then being needed for an "important" outing is an absolute recipe for disaster. It's a low mileage car so I keep telling her to sell it, but?????

The other one I've heard of is the 5 cylinder Fiat Coupe which, from what I hear, has to have the engine lifted to get enough working clearance - mucho dinero required?

 

[DaveMcT]

I bought a Renault Espace 2.0 Turbo with a new cam belt that had been fitted by Renault after the turbo blew up and they rebuilt the engine. I'm told the whole front had to come off the car.

But - my point - I did about 20,000 miles and sold the car with 20,000 remaining on the belt. Why so little when Renault say the belt interval is 70,000 miles or 7 years. In the small print they also say if its used on short runs or in town the belt should be derated to 45,000 or five years.


It's engine acceleration and slow speed that does the damage due to load on speed pickup and torque vibration. At higher revs it all smoothes out so the belt is less stressed. Leaving it parked most of the time is even worse as the belt "sets" and timing teeth get cracked.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

It's engine acceleration and slow speed that does the damage due to load on speed pickup and torque vibration. At higher revs it all smoothes out so the belt is less stressed. Leaving it parked most of the time is even worse as the belt "sets" and timing teeth get cracked.

Absolutely Dave. I'd be quite happy buying a (relatively) high mileage car (with service history to prove oil changes etc) that had spent it's life cruising up and down the motorway network. I would be much less happy buying a 6 year old car which had just 8,000 miles on it and been used for going "shopping". To this day an older low mileage vehicle will command a good price because so many people equate low mileage to "good condition" and will pay well over the odds for it. Of course you've got to ask if the mileage is genuine too? but you can check MOT mileages on line now - so has this reduced "clocking"?

 

[djechouk]

Hmmmmm that's like saying do I really need to put oil in my car ? YES lol

 

[DaveMcT]

The older "safe" Panda 1100 and 1200 engines do not "Need" the cam belt to be replaced because failure of the belt won't damage the engine. But they will usually do the deed at the worst possible time. e.g. on the way to a dream job interview or in the middle lane of a busy traffic island or on the motorway with your wife driving.


If you care to risk the hassle and cost of recovering he car then let the belt do it's thing.

 

[TerenceT]

Sister-in-law has a Rover 75 with the V6 petrol engine. She also has a Freelander as she lives in wildest Devon. The Rover seldom gets driven since her husband sadly died a few years back and she mostly drives the Land Rover. The local Rover garage advised her, some years ago that it was due but the quote was going to need a mortgage to fund it! (I never did one of these when I was in the workshop but I seem to recollect that it has belts on both ends of the engine and it's "awkward" to access. So she keeps it just for special "posh" outings - still with the original belt on it! She just can't get her head round that with the belt well over the time when it should have been changed, the car lying unused most of the time and then being needed for an "important" outing is an absolute recipe for disaster. It's a low mileage car so I keep telling her to sell it, but?????

The other one I've heard of is the 5 cylinder Fiat Coupe which, from what I hear, has to have the engine lifted to get enough working clearance - mucho dinero required?

To change cambelt and waterpump etc is around £500.

 

[DaveMcT]

Cars standing unused will need the cam belt replacing even more than cars that are used. The belt material "sets" then gets stressed enough to crack the drive teeth when its started. Exit one engine.

Devon is a very big county but on the off chance, maybe I'll know a garage that can help. Where in Devon is the car?

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Hi Dave and thanks for the offer. She's up in the hills behind Barnstaple going on over towards Ilfracombe. She has an excellent relationship with County Garage who do her Freelander as well. It's not really that she can't afford it, I just can't convince her to get it done! Now that her husband is no longer with us it's daft for her to keep the two cars, and she much prefers the Landy because it's automatic (she's older than us with "medical ailments"). I recon the Rover only turns it's wheels two or three times a year - usually, I think, when she runs up to near Bristol to see a friend. Last time she tried it's battery was so flat it wouldn't accept a charge so she had to get a new one. Pity because the car itself looked very nice the last time I saw it - which was about 18 months ago.

 

[DaveMcT]

Yes that is the wilds of North Devon. I'm in the Teignbridge area down to the south probably 80 odd miles away by reasonable roads.

A good local garage is like gold dust. I think she needs to be persuaded to sell the Rover. If it breaks down, the car will be scrap but more importantly an elderly lady should not be driving a car on the M5 with a time-bomb cam belt.

As it's low miles she should get a good price. The garage would help I'm sure.