Hi
How important is the 3-year/36k miles cambelt change interval as stipulated in HJ's car-by-car breakdown?
I ask because a friend has just bought one at 5 years old (V-reg) and 38,000 miles. He does not know the service history, so I am presuming the belt hasn't been changed. He is getting a service done this year by the selling garage, but would like to keep the belt change until next year. Is this a risky gamble with this engine? The selling garage say the cambelt is good for 60k on these engines!
Thanks in advance.
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Mike Farrow
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60k is just about OK for this (well designed) drive, although I would preferably change the belt at 50k. However, after 5 years, the rubber will have started to degrade, so I would recommend changing the belt now. At the next change, check the water pump very carefully (they are not expensive) but the tensioner roller will almost certainly be OK as it is steel and has sealed bearings made by a reputable maker (other engine manufacturers please note).
659.
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I say get the cambelt changed ASAP - a couple of hundred for a cambelt to be fitted is a lot cheaper than the cost if it snaps. If the garage are so confident it will last till 60k get them to write something along the lines of "we guarantee that the cambelt will be ok to 60k - if it fails prior to this we will repair the vehicle at no cost to the customer"
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Agree with BH. After 5 years, you are tempting fate and the consequences of failure are £000s.
No garage in its right mind would sign a disclaimer like the above. If they agree, bite their hand off..
madf
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Thanks chaps. He's got a 1-year warranty with the car, but I guess it depends on what this says in small print, especially for 'serviceable' items such as the cambelt.
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Mike Farrow
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The warranty may cover the cambelt but the disclaimer in the small print usually says something like "we will pay for the actual part that failed to be replaced but not anything that got damaged as a consquence of the failure"
So they will pay for the £20 cambelt to be fitted but not the new valves and head which will be ALOT more!
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Just to tidy up this thread, the manual (yes I know, I'll RTFM next time! :-) ) says that cambelt interval for most engines is 80k or 8 years! So it's still got a bit of life in it after all!
Thanks to all who replied, and I'll make sure, if he still owns that car in a couple of years, that it's changed before the specified interval.
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Mike Farrow
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