Cam belt kit - seized engine!

TiTheRev

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

why dealer. twice as much and dont know what make they use?
take to the garage and ask them for some figures to fit a gates timing kit and firstline or quinten hazel water pump.

Are you serious?

Gates I can understand, but both firstline & QH are poor parts manufacturers, unless they've changed dramatically in the last few years. OE = better quality, 2year warranty & better come back. A few extra quid, maybe, but for peace of mind and to save the situation the OP faces is well worth it.

bigjl

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

why dealer. twice as much and dont know what make they use?
take to the garage and ask them for some figures to fit a gates timing kit and firstline or quinten hazel water pump.

I would assume they will supply the OE part.

Gates may well produce decent products, but for the extra couple of quid why not buy OE spec.

Obviously if you can source OE parts from a third party then that is as good as buying the same thing in a Renault box.

However in the OP's position who knows if the use on inferior pattern parts has caused the failure.

After seeing a fair few failures of pattern parts over the years I will stick with OE, may not be a money saving option in the short term, but then again I have never had a tensioner sieze or cambelt snap, so in the longer term I have saved.

Each to his own and all that.

johnnyroper

Personally for belt kit and pump I went to dealer for my passat tdi and fitted myself.
Price wise it was only slightly more than local factor but I get 2 year warranty vice the 12 months a local factor kit had. With the !!!! poor VAG plastic impellor water pump this is a good thing.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

bigjl wrote: »

I would assume they will supply the OE part.

Gates may well produce decent products, but for the extra couple of quid why not buy OE spec.

Obviously if you can source OE parts from a third party then that is as good as buying the same thing in a Renault box.

However in the OP's position who knows if the use on inferior pattern parts has caused the failure.

After seeing a fair few failures of pattern parts over the years I will stick with OE, may not be a money saving option in the short term, but then again I have never had a tensioner sieze or cambelt snap, so in the longer term I have saved.

Each to his own and all that.

gates are OE suppliers to many manufacturers.

RishiC

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

gates are OE suppliers to many manufacturers.

Yes that is correct.

I doubt the garage will cover the damage themselves, but they should be able to apply for a warranty claim from where they bought the part from.

Strider590

RishiC wrote: »

Yes that is correct.

I doubt the garage will cover the damage themselves, but they should be able to apply for a warranty claim from where they bought the part from.

Yup, long process but essentially the cost is passed back down the line until it reaches the responsible party.

cyclonebri1

johnnyroper wrote: »

i find it hard to believe RAC diagnosis personally,if tensioner was seized then over time the belt would have melted and snapped after being dragged over the surface of seized tensioner.

I would defo wait on the diagnosis from garage as it sounds like it could be something different to seized tensioner.

did the engine turn over when trying to start the car???if so the engine is not locked up.
if however it just clicked like a flat battery then yes it is locked up.

I think you might be right

cyclonebri1

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

OP if it was the new tensioner that seized you prt of call id the garage, the will strip down the kit and send back to supplier who will then send it off to the manufacturer of the belt, if found faulty the belt manufacturer are liable to pay for any damage and part or full labour, garage will explain to you im sure.

Are those pink elephants overhead. Sorry Attrix, but justice never happens:(:(:(

Farzackerly

TiTheRev wrote: »

Are you serious?

Gates I can understand, but both firstline & QH are poor parts manufacturers, unless they've changed dramatically in the last few years. OE = better quality, 2year warranty & better come back. A few extra quid, maybe, but for peace of mind and to save the situation the OP faces is well worth it.

Bingo!
I have a Shi&e Old Toyota, but it's worth more to me as a working reliable vehicle than its monetary value, which isn't a lot.
After a bit of humming and ahhing I decided to bit the bullet and fork out the extra for genuine Toyota parts - belt, tensioners and waterpump, which came to €300 plus fitting by my local mechanic. Normally I'd do it myself, but dodgy back and really crap access put paid to that. Whatever, I've not regretted spending the money, as it provides a bit of peace of mind knowing there are good quality parts on it, rather than pattern parts of dubious quality.
I'll happily fit known good nonOE dampers, brakes, etc, but a cambelt kit is worth being sure about.
As it turned out, the previous owner had replaced the belt only, and the tensioners and water pump bearings were just about to go - lucky escape.

vindiesel34

Finally got my Clio back today... UPDATE IS...

Car fixed by a renault specialist (car taken there by RAC as the garage where i had it fitted last year wasnt open the day of breakdown) who fits cambelts for a living.

Once he stripped it down it turned out to be a snapped Belt which was faulty, which in turn seized everything up wrecking the engine!

Had recon head, new valves - all 16 of them! New cambelt with tensioner etc plus new waterpump fitted.
He said he was suprised there wasnt smoke coming off the belt... Thing is, there was when i originally had the CAMBELT kit fitted last august, i stopped immediately and rang the garage who fitted it, he said it may be a bit of oil burning off as he also did a oil change for me.He told me to bring the car back to him next day which i did, he checked it and said all was fine!!!

So a faulty cambelt will be covered by the warranty, but because the garage said it was fine after i took it back, doesnt that mean he should pay back all costs of repair? What course of action can i take?

All in, including labour £685, which i think is very reasonable, comes with a 12 month guarantee.

Thanks everyone for all comments.