Had cambelt and kit replaced in late Feb 08, car did 4000 miles and then the belt failed last week. Garage claim that the rubber damper in the camshaft pulley failed and this allowed the belt to slide off the pulleys and rub away against the covers before finally failling. I'm struggling to see how this happened as the original belt was worn but not damaged so how come it all happened after the new belt, pulleys etc were fitted?
I think the garage should pay the £1300 they want to repair the damage. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
WH
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I'm afraid this (common) problem is unrelated to the cambelt change - therefore you will have to pay up.
Are you sure they didn't say crankshaft pulley?
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Wow, you're the first one to say that. The garage told me it was the camshaft pulley (atactched to camshaft) and that in 20 years, on Renault, they had never seen it before. I have to admit, I normally do my own work, unless its cam belts...
I'm still at a loss as to why it would fail now? According to the garage it must have failed from the minute the belt was changed. If the pulley was loose or faulty before replacement the old belt would have worn too, or am I being simplistic?
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There have been endless problems with the dual-mass camshaft pulleys on the 1.9 engine - so many that clued-up garages now won't touch one and send them to the dealers, so that they get hit with the financial consequences of the eventual failure.
Renault recommended fitting a new pulley [£70] with a new belt on some engine codes - but still they failed.
I wasn't aware that the G8T had a dual-mass cam pulley; but as your's obviously has, then it's no great surprise that the extra strain of a - much tighter - new belt caused the bonding to fail shortly after replacement.
As with the 1.9 saga; there's little more that your garage could have done - but they still get the blame for Renault's abysmal parts quality.
Have you actually seen the remains of the old cam pulley? What had failed; the rubber doughnut between the two steel halves?
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I've yet to see it, however I do see your point, someone else mentioned the 1.9 elsewhere, they also said they didn't think the 2.2 had pulleys with the rubber doughnut. From what I remember when I saw the work last time the camshaft pulley is a large toothed wheel, I don't recall seeing a rubber doughnut..hmmm.
I'm concerned that I have no way of knowing for sure and that i'm being asked for £1300. If the pulley was a risk as many on here seem to know why did the garage not advise me, I even asked them to replace anything at risk, which is why we had the full kit and water pump done at the same time.
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I think you need to see the exact point of failure and take it from there. There is no recommendation to replace the cam pulley on a G8T in either of my reference sources - which both show a spoked steel wheel....?
Did you not hear the howling as the belt wore through the casing? What did the garage use to set the tensioner on the new belt?
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I wasn't aware that the G8T had a dual-mass cam pulley
It probably hasn't. My question was based on some quick googling on behalf of OP which threw up some threads relating to accessory crankshaft pulleys which sound like they're also dual-mass.
From descriptions it sounds like the pulley breaks up, and either this or consequently-shredded accessory belt enter under the cambelt cover and damage/dislodge the cambelt.
www.renaultforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=46315
www.parkers.co.uk/advice/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=...3 Non clickable, rival site
www.matrasport.dk/forum/index.php?topic=1017.0
Edited by Webmaster on 19/10/2008 at 20:53
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Ok, I've seen the engine, the pulley has not broken up, indeed all pulleys look Ok, there is a rubber mounted wieght inside the rear of the pulley and this wobbles a bit when pushed, but not much more than a new one I'd say. Possibly some form of damper? Any how the belt has been stripped lengthways down to around half its width and not severed, again I'd say it must have slipped and that caused the timing to go. plastic cases have worn through tensioner pulley is covered in rubber.
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Take a very careful look at the tensioner wheel bearings. This kind of failure is often caused by a momentary bearing seizure - if it really was replaced, the makers probably forgot to put the grease in.
659.
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