cambelts?

lewiswood

would someone be able to tell me if a 2001 Ford Fiesta 16v zetec 1.25 lx has a cambelt, if so any ideas of the price of one and how much to fix it? thanks

Tiexen

What do you mean by "fix it"

johann_van_der_splat

All Zetec engines have a cambelt (hardly anything has a chain these days). The cost for a routine change will probably be between £150-£200, but if the belt has snapped with the engine running then the chances are you'll need a new cylinder head and the cost of that will outweigh the value of the car.

jase1

johann_van_der_splat wrote: »

All Zetec engines have a cambelt (hardly anything has a chain these days). The cost for a routine change will probably be between £150-£200

That info is a little outdated. Manufacturers are moving back to chains in a big way -- almost all of the newer Ford petrol engines are chain-cam, as are BMW, most Japanese/Korean etc. It's only really PSA who are still sticking religiously to belts now.

That said, yes the 1.25 is belt-driven, and £200 is ballpark for the job, although I'd suggest getting the tensioner and water pump done at the same time which may bump the price to £250 depending on the car.

Stigy

As has been said, chains are coming back. Zetec is a trim level these days anyway, and not solely an engine type (as it was in the days of the OP's Fiesta!). I'd have a chain over a belt any day, as belts scare the hell out of me! Belt driven engines are smoother running if nothing else, but I really don't like the routine of changing a belt (I've never replaced one yet, and it's a cost I'd avoid unless absollutely necessary...Like not having a belt driven car in the first place!).

Ford still used the Archaic 1.3-litre Overhead Valve engine (OHV). This was a Pushrod engine and dated back to the fifies Anglia! Ford were using this until around 2003 (pretty sure they don't anymore, due to the updated Overhead Cam units I mention below), which was niether chain nor belt! Ideal, just rattly, sluggish and not particularly ecconomical in comparison to other, more modern small engines. My old SportKa had a chain, as this engine was what was used in SportKas and Kas from around 2003 to 2008 as a replacement for the OHV engine (The one in the SportKa and StreetKa were 1600cc as opposed to 1300cc in the standard car, but the same engine, just bored out). The plus side of these engines was that they were smoother than the OHV units, but still only 8-valves and not particularly ecconomical.

Anyway, this is getting far too technical now. :beer::rotfl:

asbokid

chains might not snap or slip, but they do stretch, and then they slap in the guides making a dreadful noise.

the job of changing a cam chain is slightly more involved than changing a cam belt. i once did a cam chain on an austin allegro and had to go on antidepressants afterwards.

ideally, car makers would be using non-interference engines which don't suffer damage to the valvetrain if the belt or chain does snap.

the minimal gain in the compression ratio from using an interference design is not warranted by the risk of damage.

Stigy

asbokid wrote: »

chains might not snap or slip, but they do stretch, and then they slap in the guides making a dreadful noise.

the job of changing a cam chain is slightly more involved than changing a cam belt. i once did a cam chain on an austin allegro and had to go on antidepressants afterwards.

ideally, car makers would be using non-interference engines which don't suffer damage to the valvetrain if the belt or chain does snap.

the minimal gain in the compression ratio from using an interference design is not warranted by the risk of damage.

Indeed they do stretch and slip, but the general longevity of a chain means they typically never need to be changed, unlike every 60,000 or so miles of the average belt. Obviously some cars have/had their problems. Vauxhall Senators were prone to failure prematurely. More modern cars were much better, but the odd one or two have had issues and warranted recalls etc.

jase1

The good thing about chains is that they (usually) give fair warning before they go, so can be left until knackered. Belts often just snap, and I owned a Daewoo for a while which (being a Vauxhall in essence) had a similar reputation for killing belts. Ours never did go, but I changed it religiously every four years and was always worried about it. Would always prefer a chain-cam.

That said, I have two belt-driven cars!! That said, they are a Ford 1.6 and a Mitsubishi 1.6, neither of which are prone to premature failures, so I just fit and forget every 60K or so.

Stigy

jase1 wrote: »

That said, I have two belt-driven cars!! That said, they are a Ford 1.6 and a Mitsubishi 1.6, neither of which are prone to premature failures, so I just fit and forget every 60K or so.

The missus has just got a Pajero Pinin (Grey Import...small Shogun with the only 1.6 16-valve Mitsubishi ever made...) and has 56,000 on the clock. She went in a little blind and the cambelt is not logged as ever being changed. I'm inclined to say 60,000-miles would be about righht but cant find official figures. Any ideas? It's due because of it's age anyway to be fair. The seller did see her coming to be honest....I'ver told her about grey imports with limited history!

jase1

54K on the Space Star (odd figure I know) -- but as I say they don't seem to be prone to problems. Mine was done at 54K at the main dealer and they did not change the tensioner.....

It's now at 108K and due again. This time it will have tensioner and pump done.

That said, it's an 8v engine so the 16v might be totally different.

moonrakerz

asbokid wrote: »

i once did a cam chain on an austin allegro and had to go on antidepressants afterwards.

If it was your Allegro you must have been on them before .......!