This is something Alfa (and others?) are familiar with. Too many failrues below the 72k mark has meant Alfa inspect the belts at 36k. I'm not convinced by this, how do you insoect a belt with out removing it and then who would replace a used belt?
What I'm saying is that car manufacturers know 72 is VERY optimistic these days for modern highly stressed engines and are erring on the side of caution. If your belt breaks after the 36k inpsection they have done their bit....not good enough! Most people I know will change their belts at 50 at the latest and 36k to be really prudent.
I think you have an excellent case against Renault and they should help you out....be warned, they may try and fob you off with an offer to cover the parts and you pay for labour (or vice versa)...hold on for a good deal! You have maintained a FSH and have done everything you should have.
.....final note, friend of mine used to be a Vauxhall technician, they use chains in a few of the engines (diesel I think) and guess what.......yup, they came back broken at about the same mileages as the belts :O
wrinx
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hi
i have a w megane registered 29/7/00, with 3 year extended warranty. it was mot and then serviced at 59250 last week with the main dealer.
this week the cam belt failed!
the local garage have quoted 475+vat for the cam belt, oil change and cleaning the heads (they said they expect a cerain amount of damage and build that into the price)
the dealer quoted 491+vat which would have been the 72k cam belt change cost. they cannot quote for any other damage until they have stripped it off
The main dealer has adviced a get the job done by the local garage and then contact renault and nicely ask for a contribution for the cost of the parts failure (they say the price sounds too good to be true)
I am no expert when it comes to cars and feel someone it taking the mickey.
any thoughts?
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Time and time again we hear these stories of people leaving their cambelts for 65 - 72 k miles because that is what the service interval states. I am sure that most backroomers wouldn't leave a cambelt past 45k let alone 72.The general public must realise that These intervals are wildly optimistic at best and are purely aimed at fleet buyers and people who purchase cars based on how often they think they will have to service them. It would not be in renaults financial interest to give a correct cambelt change interval of, say, 45K because people will look at the service interval and choose a different manufacturer whose belts last longer, but i'm afraid that in most cases that is how long a cambelt can reasonably expected to last. I think you stand a good chance of goodwill payment from renault BTW
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My last Honda ('00 W 2.0SE) had a belt and recommended change at 70,000 miles. I asked Honda about this (thinking this was a bit much), but they replied that they'd never had a timing belt failure, and they'd pay for repairs if it did. Luckily, my 2.4 Type S has a chain, so that's one less thing to worry about.
Andy
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I've always been of the prevention is better than cure school, and changed items like cam belts at generously early intervals. This has stood me in good stead, and I've never had an expensive 'consumable item' failure in 23 years of driving.
However, the scheduled cam belt change interval on my 2003 V70 2.4T is far higher than any other car I've come across, at 93,000 miles or eight years, and even with this high change limit, I have never heard of belt failure on the Volvo five pot motor. I even have colleagues in Sweden that have exceeded the recommended maximum mileage by a handsome amount, without failure. One (850 R) is currently at 120,000 miles, and is about to be sold with the need for a cam belt change built in to the sale.
Even Volvos are built to a price, so I wonder what technique is used that allows the industry 'norm', both in terms of design life and actual life to be exceeded by such a high amount?
Even so, I will need to decide whether to trust my instinct, or Volvo's design specifications, in a few years time!
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That is interesting SjB. Why the figure 93,000 i wonder? Seems an odd number, why not just a round 90? Perhaps a similar setup to the ford zetec motor which is at 100,000 i think and rarely snaps belts.
If i were you i would stick with what you know and play safe. like you say it has not let you down yet. Or myself for that matter.(strokes rabbit foot,crosses himself and grabs nearest wooden item)
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Are you absolutely sure that it was the belt that snapped all on its own or was it helped on its way by a faulty tensioner or guide roller bearing?
A colleague had a cam belt fail on a Mazda recently at 40K miles that upon investigation was due to to the tensioner spring breaking.
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Yet another amusing cambelt thread....this backroomer never changes them. It's a gamble, but if you avoid engines with 'reputations' and have a 'feel' for machinery, you're pretty safe.
My Passat GL5 lasted till 130k, then changed only 'cos water pump failed [it looked perfect] then onto 192k.
Wife's Passat GL2.0 lasted 242,000 [whining stiff tension pulley changed 160,000ish], present A6 2.8 - 90,000 - far from being 'stressed' turns two tiny camshafts and looks strong enough to drive a motorbike. Our Focus 1.6 has only done 40,000 and I expect it will last forever if Ford says 10yrs/100,000.
I suspect that most mechanics changing a belt at a mere 40,000 would be hard pressed to notice any wear at all compared with a new one.
Anyway, it's hardly ever the belt that fails - usually a seizing pulley which either friction-fries it or, in 'reputation' engines, breaks up.
If it works, don't mend it.
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My Sister has just had the cambelt go on her just over 31/2 yr old 50,000 mile diesel Scenic.
It was supplied by a Renault Garage with an after market warranty that apparently will only provide for the cost of the belt and not the damage caused by it snapping.
I have told her to contact Renault UK but she is not sure this will get her anywhere.
After seeing this thread I would not go anywhere near a Renault new or used.
as always
Mark
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>The cost of the belt
So about £5.99 then. Top!
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After seeing this thread I would not go anywhere near a Renault new or used.
so renault are the only manufacturer that suffers from snapped cam belts then?
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"so renault are the only manufacturer that suffers from snapped cam belts then?"
Certainly not. Mitsubishi is well known for popping belts and the massive damage caused to the engines. A brand new engine would not have cost more than what my daughter paid for repairs to hers.
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I was talking to a friend tonight who works as a mechanic at a main Ford dealership, and questioned him about my sons Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec which has now done 52,000 miles and is three years old.
He said if it were his car he would leave it up to around the 100,000 mile mark or after 5 years as recomended by Ford, justifying his statement by stating that he personally had yet to see one fail on this particular engine.
I just thought that I'd pass on this experienced source of information. I'm bracing myself for the "My Ford Focus cam-belt failed...." replys.
Reggie
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He said if it were his car he would leave it up to around the 100,000 mile mark or after 5 years as recomended by Ford, justifying his statement by stating that he personally had yet to see one fail on this particular engine.
The Ford dealers I have spoken to all said they were not aware of any failures.
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The Ford dealers I have spoken to all said they were not aware of any failures.
My 1998 Fiesta 1.25 Zetec managed 9 years and 97,500 miles on the original cambelt, still going when I sold it. It's a long time! But they rarely fail.
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You should have a look at forum.parkers.co.uk . On my first read, I thought it was for Renault owners only. It has special sections for different Renault models!
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cheers fo all your comments after my thread
i am going to pick it up tomorrow and will ask about the faulty tensioner or guide roller bearing (what ever they are, i told you i dont know about cars!)
picking up on various comments
-the guy at the local garage said he always checks the cam belt by observation the service before change, so should the main dealer
-p12.. as i don\'t know much about cars i do what they tell me, the renault dealer actually lost out as if they had looked at it and said it could fail i would have asked them to change it and paid their price! i know what you mean about reducing their risk and if you go over it fine but with a full service history and a relative novice in their hands i do expect them to give me a bit of guidance. my wife refuses to go becasue she feels like she is treated like a dumb woman and they dont actually help her keep her car. (dont go there!)
-will let everyone know how the renault discussions go as i do actually like the car and my wife loves hers and its va va voom (sorry couldnt resist)
out of interest this is the third dealership i have used for servicing, they always forget to clean it, i never use a courtesy car, i always have what they recommend done and i always feel that something will go wrong when i get it back. when this car failed its mot on its front rear being too bald, they didnt have the foresight to put the spare on so that i could legally drive it to kwikfit. they also left the bonnet open which i noticed on the m42! (it was on the latch so not closed properly)
not sure i will trust any of them work on a car again but endure them whilst it is under warranty and they have me by the proverbial sort and curlies!
cheers
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My sister with the wrecked scenic engine (above) is now a week past getting it back from the date oiginally given and the garage are promising "it will be better than new".
I spoke to her tonight and the garage phoned today to add another £50 to the bill for a "special type of oil needed to get the valves out of the head". Anyone feel a wheeze coming on?
With regards to RF I have had 6 new cars in the last 10 years and none of them (even the high risk Vauxhalls) have lost a cambelt. All them reached the change interval intact. It might be unfortunate but it seems with the diesel scenics the belt goes before the interval, if the interval was reduced I don't think this thread would be here.
But then as HJ said in his column recently " I can't recommend that anyone considers buying a Renault" or words to that effect.
as always
Mark
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hi i have a w megane registered 29/7/00, with 3 year extended warranty. it was mot and then serviced at 59250 last week with the main dealer. this week the cam belt failed!
I assume the 5 year limit applied to your car, in which case you exceeded it? I would imagine that would have contravened the warranty in that case.
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