Car Maintenance - CAM Belts

jlh_2

This is the first time I've asked a question on this, but here goes. I've found a car - Ford Fiesta - H Reg, 1 litre - at £300 ono - with a mileage of approximately 70,000 miles. I don't even know if Ford Fiestas have cam belts!!!! but if so, do you think the car will be in need of one now, or very soon. The car's for my 17 year old son, so not much money around for carrying out different things on the car. Any advice would be much appreciated. By the way its taxed til the end of the month, and mot for 7 more months. Thanks to anybody that even reads this. Look forward to hearing from somebody maybe. jlh:o

polybear

Yes, Fiestas definately do have cam belts. And if there's no good evidence that the cam belt has been changed (eg a proper receipt from a reputable garage) then it needs changing. Budget for the wrong side of a hundred quid or more....

ps Don't skimp on this - if the belt breaks then you'll have wasted 300 quid on the car, as it won't be worth fixing (it wrecks the engine).

polybear

Nile

Hello jlh

Your thread will be better placed in the 'Motoring & Public Transport' board, so I'll move it across.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Regards

Nile

northern_munky

Some bigger engined Fiestas have belts but these 1 litres have timing chains, they don't need to be changed like a belt unless it starts rattling loudly.

cheekychappy

albertross wrote:

If the car is only worth £300 (offer £250), I wouldn't bother.. if it goes, it goes..

I could not agree more. My wife had one of these years ago and it went on forever. Only negative was that it used a gallon of oil each month, which was when we p/x'd it.
I'd offer £200...then it doesn't matter what happens.

flang

my old mans got a chrysler neon thats got 90k on the clock and thats only just had a timing belt changed! ive seen belts with only 50k on the clock snapp before its just luck of the draw but for £300 you cantgo wrong!

moonrakerz

northern_munky wrote:

Some bigger engined Fiestas have belts but these 1 litres have timing chains, they don't need to be changed like a belt unless it starts rattling loudly.

I think you'll find those Fiestas have a push rod engine. They may rattle but rarely break !

northern_munky

moonrakerz wrote:

I think you'll find those Fiestas have a push rod engine. They may rattle but rarely break !

Yes I know, but they still have a timing chain to connect the crank to the cam.

ariba10

moonrakerz wrote:

I think you'll find those Fiestas have a push rod engine. They may rattle but rarely break !

Push rods need a cam to operate.

moonrakerz

northern_munky wrote:

Yes I know, but they still have a timing chain to connect the crank to the cam.

Confusion reigns again !

Most modern car engines have an overhead camshaft(s) for valve timing. This is driven by a belt or chain from the engine crankshaft (bottom of the engine). This tends to be relatively long because it has to go from the bottom of the engine to the top. Plus, of course, as it's there, you can use it to drive other things which makes it even longer.
Belts will break, chains rarely do - belts are cheap. Some belts break easily (Vauxhall), some don't (Ford). When I say "belt" I include any rollers the belt moves over.

Old engines had pushrods to operate the valves, these were operated by a cam at the bottom of the engine attached to the crankshaft by a chain, called the timing chain. This chain is relatively short as it goes from the bottom of the engine to the bottom of the engine. Timing chains never break (well, hardly ever !).

The timing chain and the cam belt do the same job, in effect, but the reliability of a timing chain is much, much better because it is driving something two inches away rather than two feet.

Replacement of cambelts/chains is a routine service item because they have a finite life. Replacement of timing chains is not a service item because they are considered to have a life as long as other major mechanical parts of the engine.

Now to return to the OP:- an H reg Fiesta has a pushrod engine, therefore it has no cam belts. It does have a timing chain, but that is not a service item - so don't worry about it.

Quinny_2

I had an 84 1.1 Festa a few years ago,which I used to thrash to death in road rallies.

You wouldn't think that an engine could take so much stick on a regular basis and not break,but I've got the trophies to prove it!!!!

This was a pushrod engine with a timing chain,so no change of belt needed,and the engine design carried on for a good few years after the MK1 was updated.Indeed iirc,the engine in yours will be the same,so don't worry.

Ken.