Honda cambelt broken within 10K miles of replacement

sshonda

This is in reference to the cam belt which had been changed on my Honda Accord Y reg ata Honda garage and at that time my car had done 70,102 miles. Unfortunately it snapped having done roughly 83,000 miles. So basically it has done only 13,000 miles since the cam belt was changed whereas it should last at least 40-50K miles after the change.

After initial analysis, i have been told by garage that some foreign particle might have entered the engine and would have caused friction between the sensor and the pulleys which caused the cam belt to get eroded. To me this explanation does not seem satisfactory at all and to get it repaired will cost £1200 as the warranty on that job was valid only for 1 year or 60000 miles which ever comes first. As i am not an expert on engines so would need some advice ??

s_b

these belts arent cheap and so only quality manufacturers normally make them
find the make of belt they fitted
contact the maker yourself ,explain and ask if they would inspect the belt for you
sounds like garage are fobbing you off because they will only get labour charges paid by supplying factor and dont want to stand the cost of what is literally your now scrap car

gerdo

You say the warranty on the job was 1 year or 60,000 miles. Do you mean the job of replacing the belt? If you've only done 13,000 miles then
you're covered by the warranty or do you mean it was replaced over a year ago?

sshonda

Thanks. It was changed by the Authorised Honda garage and charged me £220 for parts and labour.

sshonda

gerdo wrote: »

You say the warranty on the job was 1 year or 60,000 miles. Do you mean the job of replacing the belt? If you've only done 13,000 miles then
you're covered by the warranty or do you mean it was replaced over a year ago?

The garage said it was 1 year or 60000 miles whichever comes earlier so it has been 18 months since change and hence is not covered under warranty !

Tilt

sshonda wrote: »

The garage said it was 1 year or 60000 miles whichever comes earlier so it has been 18 months since change and hence is not covered under warranty !

That seems pretty unreasonable to me. 1 year or 60k dosn't make any sence at all... how are you going to do 60k in a year? Should be more like 3 years IMO. As previously mentioned, I think the gareage are trying to fob you off. A belt should last longer than 13k. How do we know that the garage replaced all the associated parts (tensioners ect) as well?

sshonda

Tilt wrote: »

That seems pretty unreasonable to me. 1 year or 60k dosn't make any sence at all... how are you going to do 60k in a year? Should be more like 3 years IMO. As previously mentioned, I think the gareage are trying to fob you off. A belt should last longer than 13k. How do we know that the garage replaced all the associated parts (tensioners ect) as well?

Hi,
Thanks for your suggestion to check the make of cambelt, but the garage says "some foreign particle may have gone inside and caused the cambelt to get ripped. The canshaft drive is not an internal engine part and as such works on toothed pulleys outside engine itself. While the belt does have cover it is not copletely sealed hence it is not impossible for a foreign object to enter causing failiure??"

gerdo

Have you had your car serviced by an authorised Honda dealer since new? If so, get on to Honda customer services and complain.

pendulum

£220 sounds a bit low for a proper job. If you asked for a cambelt change and they only changed the cambelt then that is your problem. You should have asked for a full cambelt kit. Pulleys and tensioners don't last forever but aren't normally changed unless you specify a full cambelt kit (and pay for it).

Tilt

pendulum wrote: »

£220 sounds a bit low for a proper job. If you asked for a cambelt change and they only changed the cambelt then that is your problem. You should have asked for a full cambelt kit. Pulleys and tensioners don't last forever but aren't normally changed unless you specify a full cambelt kit (and pay for it).

I agree. I recently had mine done at a mian dealer (PUNTO HGT) which cost me £350 and that was with 33% discount. Limiting a cam belt with a 1 year warranty is unreasonable.

richard734

I am in the habit of badgering MD's when I get this sort of service - [EMAIL="david.hodgetts@honda.co.uk"]david.hodgetts@honda.co.uk[/EMAIL] Be polite but ask him if he thinks it is correct that as a long term Honda owner, this sort of service is what to expect? will this behaviour keep you a loyal customer and ambassador for the brand?
I must admit, I am shocked at the attitude from Honda, I ran a P reg accord for 165k before an unisured driver totalled it, and I have had 2 CRV's as family cars with not a hint of trouble.