I was thinking...is it possible to get an idea of how a car has been treated from the state of the belt and components? (Obviously there are other ways of telling but these all involve actual dismantling)
I imagine a belt that has been thrashed from cold will be more worn and perished as it won't have warmed up with the engine. Just a thought. My car was leased originally and I'd be curious to know how it was treated in it's infancy...
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I very much doubt it. Looking at a belt, I don't think I could tell if it was 100 or 100,000 miles old. My last cam belt that had done 60k miles looked the same as the new one from the box, though a little dusty.
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Well that clears that up - never even seen one before so I wasn't sure how much of a stupid question this was.
Thanks.
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We've all had to put up with the risk of the rubber band breaking for long enough that if inspection could detect impending doom, someone would have offered the inspection as a cheaper alternative to replacing the belt, pulleys, tensioner etc.
Sod's Law - belt breaks on my 16v Cavalier, requiring an expensive replacement cylinder head assembly. On our 8v Nova, which can tolerate a belt failure as the valves are perpendicular to the pistons, the belt has never failed!
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I have seen worn belts. Bits of fraying on the back and edges. cracking etc.
Inspect belt is on my v70's service sheet every 20K miles.
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The problem with inspecting timing belts is that you can detect some faults. If the belt is running badly, or if tooth roots are cracking, it is obvious.
However, as timing belts are composites, they can sustain internal damage to the fibres, encased within the rubber. You can't check this.
It is not possible to assess the condition of the idler and tensioner pulleys without releasing the belt tension - at which point, you may as well fit a new belt anyway.
While I don't argue with any manufacturer's service schedule, I would recommend that if you are going to the effort and expense of looking, you may as well simply replace the belt, preferably using a belt kit which includes any required tensioners and pulleys.
Number_Cruncher
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NC
I agree in principal, however the top part of the cover is quite easy to remove on my model.
The belt itself is a bit of a pig. And I would always do tensioners etc with a belt change.
M
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Some manufacturers have changed their timing belt service intervals, eg vauvhall have halved theirs on the 16v models (circa '2001 1.6 16v astra). VW on the other hand have such long, varied, variable (from 2000) and changed schedules that it appears no-one has a grip on the correct situation. Haynes would appear to have missed most, if not all of the changes, which is only to be expected.
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In the late '90's, Vauxhall reduced their recommended interval to 40,000 miles for all models with belts - 8v, 16v & 24v - regardless of previous intervals. They are reverting to timing chains on newly developed engines.
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Have a look and see how worn the discs are a good measure on lowish milage cars
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They are reverting to timing chains on newly developed engines.
With the exception of the 1.9 diesel engines (the Fiat one) - which are belt. Their previous diesels have all been chain.
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If only it was possible to convert and engine to chain...
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DD - the 1.9 Fiat engine isn't a newly developed engine from GM!
I deliberately didn't use the term "newly announced"
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I had my '98 V6 Vectra's belts done at 60k in 2001 which was the recomended interval at the time.
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I had my '98 V6 Vectra's belts done at 60k in 2001 which was the recomended interval at the time.
IIRC, my service book (Vectra-C) has the belt changes listed at 60k. The sign in my local Vauxhall dealership still suggests changing it at 40k though.
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"If only it was possible to convert and engine to chain..."
There used to be a kit marketed to convert the original Mini from chain to belt !
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Why would you want to do that?
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Why would you want to do that?
Having owned and Allagro with an A series engine that had a timing chain that rattled like a bag full of bolts in a washing machine, I can understand why. I changed the old chain, and within 2 to 3k it was rattling just as much as the old one did.
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DD
Absolutely. Common A series problem, especially with the original rubber ring 'tensioners' on the cam pulley - yes I'm going back few years here. Chains rarely failed completely though. The later tensioners that were used seemed to improve things, but many owners switched to the duplex chains used first on the Cooper S engines. At that stage it was presumably finally recognised that the simplex chains couldn't cope.
JS
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>>There used to be a kit marketed to convert the original Mini from chain to belt !
what a bad idea,stick to chain best.would agree with Number Cruncher ie not possible to see true wear on cambelt no matter how young!
--
Steve
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When a chain snaps you'll need a lot more than a few valves to fix it.
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What happens during a chain snap that doesn't during a belt one?
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The broken chain thrashes round and causes damage itself as well as damage caused by pistons hitting valves. A broken belt doesn't cause damage itself.
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What was the last modern car a chain snapped on? Or less modern come to think of it, I've never heard of it happening.
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What was the last modern car a chain snapped on?
I can happen on the 2.2 litre Vauxhall engines, which were introduced to replace the 2.0 litre engine. Initially fitted to the VX220, and subsequently the Vectra and Astra. A blocked oilway was the cause, put down to the extended service interval of 20,000 miles.
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It's not unknown on any engine with a chain driven cam but it happens much, much less often than with a belt-driven cam.
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