How long can a cam belt last???

Hammyman

getmore4less wrote: »

12y 107k so far on my pug306. recommended is around 80k on that I think.

If it passes its MOT next month for < £300 I will probably get it done
Lets hope it lasts, if it goes new car, looking anyway.

Most places wanted well over £200 found a place that does loads so is cheaper at around £160.

Be very cautious. Most cars require a pulley, waterpump or tensioner replacing as well. For someone to be notably cheaper than everyone else, they might just replace the belt alone which can cause problems down the line.

Stigy

andygb wrote: »

It really is not worth risking a cambelt failure, as others have pointed out.
A lot of manufacturers now are revising their cambelt change intervals - downwards, in other words earlier.
Alfa Romeo say 36K miles (used to be 72K miles), and I would treat my Mondeo roughly the same - 40K miles, 4 years.

I was going to say just that!

I have an Alfa 145 and the book says 72,000-miles, although on carrying out some detective work with it's service history I noticed it's had two belt changes in the past (one at 36,000-miles and one at 60,000-miles). Finding this strange I looked online and found the revision. It's now on 93,000-miles and due to either be replaced or snap any time now! I would imagine Alfa revised this due to how high the engine revs at Motorway speeds, for example at 70mph it's reving at about 4,200RPM! Obviously this puts the engine under more strain!

andygb

Stigy wrote: »

I was going to say just that!

I have an Alfa 145 and the book says 72,000-miles, although on carrying out some detective work with it's service history I noticed it's had two belt changes in the past (one at 36,000-miles and one at 60,000-miles). Finding this strange I looked online and found the revision. It's now on 93,000-miles and due to either be replaced or snap any time now! I would imagine Alfa revised this due to how high the engine revs at Motorway speeds, for example at 70mph it's reving at about 4,200RPM! Obviously this puts the engine under more strain!

If you have the 2.0 litre twin cam, or indeed any of the twin cams, then I wouldn't risk ruining what is a lovely engine. The problem with Alfas, is that they sound so lovely at high revs, you find yourself constantly changing down rather than up!:D

housesitter

Depends if it is an interference or non-interference engine.

I suspect if you knew then you would not be asking, so it's safer to go with the reccommended schedule in that case.

Stigy

andygb wrote: »

If you have the 2.0 litre twin cam, or indeed any of the twin cams, then I wouldn't risk ruining what is a lovely engine. The problem with Alfas, is that they sound so lovely at high revs, you find yourself constantly changing down rather than up!:D

It's the 1.6-litre Twin Spark 16-valve which as you know is a twin cam lump. It does sound beefy at high revs, but at motorway speeds it could really do with a 6th gear!

Stigy

housesitter wrote: »

Depends if it is an interference or non-interference engine.

I suspect if you knew then you would not be asking, so it's safer to go with the reccommended schedule in that case.

Either way, the aggrovation you'll have if the belt snaps really isn't worth the hassle, as it'll obviously not run anyway. It'll just be a bit cheaper to sort out if no damage has occured!

housesitter

Since I carry a tool kit in all my cars, a couple which the cam belts are around a tenner also have those as spares, and not a hard job to do.
They are weekend cars so I maintain them for fun.
But a few spares are never a bad idea when driving around the open countryside

boyse7en

housesitter wrote: »

Since I carry a tool kit in all my cars, a couple which the cam belts are around a tenner also have those as spares, and not a hard job to do.
They are weekend cars so I maintain them for fun.
But a few spares are never a bad idea when driving around the open countryside

What car can you do a cambelt change on at the side of the road?
I'm intrigued, my Alfa has to have half the front of the car removed to do it, and the Citroen diesel is easier, but still needs to have the engine jacked up on one side to get access. My Ford SOHC Pinto would probably be the easiest, but has to have loads of bits removed for access to various bolts.