how long should a cam belt last????

ConsumerWarrior

kaya wrote: »

"if it aint broke then dont fix it"

Its called maintenance.
I wonder, do you ever fly on aircraft, take the train or travel by bus? Would you feel happy to trust your life if the maintenance folk only fixed things when they broke???

Have you ever used a lift in a tall building?

Do you ever drive members of your family, loved ones in your vehicle?? Do you just change your brakes when they stop working??

roddydogs

Change a cam belt in 15 Mins? Seriously?
Trouble is you will never know if its been changed, its not exactly unknown for garages charging for work not done, unless it was very noisy beforehand

ollyk

mollytrundle wrote: »

i have just had my car serviced and have been advised i shouledhave a new cam belt.
my last one was fitted aug 02. i only do about 5-6 thousand miles a year.
they have quoted me about £275 inclusive.

what sort of milage can i do on a cam belt??
sorry i am not mechanically minded
thanks
molly
xx

My advice is go for it! I bought an Escort recently and when I was doing a bit of mainainence I shone a torch on the cam belt and noticed there were small splits in the notched bit of the belt! The other side was shiny too which is a classic sign of impending doom!

First thing I did was to get a quote from the local Ford garage, then from our cheap and cheerfull garage then I went to the Good Garage Scheme website to find ourselves a more trustworthy(?) mechanic and the car is now there over night (wrong belt ordered so not a perfect start LOL), of course they have supplied a courtousy car...
Now I should be paying about £200 (16valve) which is somewhere between the cheap and Ford dealership, in fact all the local garages were of similar price... It's is not always moneysaving to go for the cheapest quote

£80 and 15 minutes sounds rediculous if you ask me but I am not an expert! I do know it is generally a large job and often involves replacing more than the belt.

Check the belt yourself as mentioned above it is not difficult!

Wig

ollyk wrote: »

£80 and 15 minutes sounds rediculous if you ask me but I am not an expert! I do know it is generally a large job and often involves replacing more than the belt.

Depends what the car is sherlock, I've seen it done roughly that fast.

btw the post you replied to is a year old, I have no idea why consumerwarrior deciced to bring up this old thread.

hartcjhart

As someone with alot of experience in the trade(buy/sell)I advise ALL my customers that if the cambelt has not been changed in the last 20k to get it done(diesel cars)
on petrol I advise 30k

A cambelt can go at anytime(even new ones)

so diesel engines I would strongly recommend every 20k no matter what the manafacturer states

petrol I would say every 30k

sadly now they are a rubber material they dont give a warning as to when they are going to break unlike the old days when they were a metal chain and would get noisier

SPANIEL36

kaya wrote: »

"if it aint broke then dont fix it"

in this case a broken cam belt can do a hell of alot of damage if not changed before it breaks. if it breaks on ya then its gonna be a be a big mechanics bill

FannyHill

Can they not invent one that lasts for 100,000 miles ?

Of course the garages want the business. :rolleyes:

dilema239

I'm taking my 8yr old 46,000mls ford mondeo for a cam belt fitting at a ford dealer,T Clark & partners sheffield,I have been quoted £202.85,I think this is very reasonable indeed considering the peace of mind that if it did break due to AGE then I may need a new engine!!!!!

jeannieblue

dilema239 wrote: »

I'm taking my 8yr old 46,000mls ford mondeo for a cam belt fitting at a ford dealer,T Clark & partners sheffield,I have been quoted £202.85,I think this is very reasonable indeed considering the peace of mind that if it did break due to AGE then I may need a new engine!!!!!

That is a good price - I hope they will be fitting a cam belt kit - not just the belt, as the tensioners wear too.

As you say, its v reasonable, alot cheaper than rebuilding part of the engine

david69_2

I had a cambelt go on a golf 16v and it bent 15 valves cost me £1000 to put it right and that was 6 years ago.
It should of been done at 80k but it was overlooked by previous owners and it went bang at 104k so it had done well ,104k on 1 belt