Rubber bandit

My daughter has a 2003/53 Citroen C8 with 55,000 miles. The cambelt snapped with resultant engine damage. The handbook advises cambelt change at 100,000 miles or 10 yrs. The car was inspected at the Citroen main dealer who diagnosed a leaking water pump, stating that the coolant had leaked onto the belt and caused it to deteriorate and snap. Is this, in your experience, the case? Also it is impossible to see the water pump and is not in the service list of things to check. Your comments would be much appreciated

Asked on 29 May 2010 by AS, via email

Answered by Honest John
The water pump is turned by the timing belt so is completely hidden from view behind the timing belt cover. Failure of timing belt driven components or pulleys is a more common reason for timing belts coming off than the belt itself snapping. If the dealer is saying the water pump failed because the wrong coolant was used or
because it wasn’t changed on schedule then you can't hold the garage or Citroen liable for the premature failure of the belt.
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