Vauxhall Zafira cambelt change advice needed

s_b

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

be carefull with dealers saying belt change only £199 this can only be the belt and the catch is you have to pay extra dollar for the kit and water pump.

as it stands most zafira's have chain driven engines, but i have come accross some that have the belts. easy way to tell is to call VX and give them your reg they will confirm it has or hasnt got a belt engine.

what works for me is that i know how to change a veriety of cambelts myself, i get a cost plus 10% with my BIL who's manager of a motor factor so parts tend to be cheap for me unless its special order items.

being unwell i rarely do my own work these days, but i hover over my prodege learning him the ropes on his own or my car when it needs doing.

http://www.mytimingbelt.com/Results.aspx?ModelId=519




found this site tonight

atrixblue.-MFR-.

s_b wrote: »

http://www.mytimingbelt.com/Results.aspx?ModelId=519




found this site tonight

would you trust a belt to last 100000K? i'm assuming that is a recomended level for the chain?????

when early models are recomended for 40k wich is pretty poor by vx standards.

jase1

I wouldn't be extending a late 90s/early 2000s GM cambelt by a single mile over the stated limit.

16V engines known for premature failure of tensioners.

useless_git_requires_wife

How much did you pay for the car?


It often surprises me that people spend fortunes changing timing belts on older cars that don't have a great value. The 'risk-reward' calculation just doesn't stack up in most cases.


Amazing how often timing belt failures occur shortly AFTER a change, too.

TrickyWicky

While they may not of paid much for the car, sometimes its all you can afford. Sure another £3-400 a couple of months down the line may not make much sense but if you didn't have that much at the time you were looking for a car then it DOES make sense to try and prolong the life of your cheap car.

@atrixblue.-MFR-. I knew a bloke once who had a car that was on 180k on its original belt. He bought the car at two years old with 13k on the clock and had continued to run it ever since. I would never run the risk but he wasn't bothered by it (though at 78 and having a young wife with a 4x4 I don't suppose he cared much!)

useless_git_requires_wife

TrickyWicky wrote: »

While they may not of paid much for the car, sometimes its all you can afford. Sure another £3-400 a couple of months down the line may not make much sense but if you didn't have that much at the time you were looking for a car then it DOES make sense to try and prolong the life of your cheap car.

@atrixblue.-MFR-. I knew a bloke once who had a car that was on 180k on its original belt. He bought the car at two years old with 13k on the clock and had continued to run it ever since. I would never run the risk but he wasn't bothered by it (though at 78 and having a young wife with a 4x4 I don't suppose he cared much!)

Doesn't really answer my point which is risk v reward.

Chances of timimg belt going are slim, so you can keep on driving and you'll have that £250 to go towards your next car or on essentials like tyres and brakes. Expensive repairs and maintenance on bangers makes little economic sense.

Strider590

useless_git_requires_wife wrote: »

Doesn't really answer my point which is risk v reward.

Chances of timimg belt going are slim, so you can keep on driving and you'll have that £250 to go towards your next car or on essentials like tyres and brakes. Expensive repairs and maintenance on bangers makes little economic sense.

Until the next buyer asks "has the cambelt been changed?" and subsequently wants £300 knocked off the asking price..... And then may possibly be alerted that the owner was a bit tight when it came to maintenance, they wander around the car picking even more faults and either walk away or knock you down a fair whack. Hey it's also a big car, buyers aren't going to be falling over each other to get there.

So risk v reward.... Risk = belt snaps, costing £1000+ for new engine = scrap car or fork out.

If a cambelt is due changing, you should always do so and it's purely common sense to do the full kit + waterpump.

useless_git_requires_wife

Strider590 wrote: »

Until the next buyer asks "has the cambelt been changed?" and subsequently wants £300 knocked off the asking price..... And then may possibly be alerted that the owner was a bit tight when it came to maintenance, they wander around the car picking even more faults and either walk away or knock you down a fair whack. Hey it's also a big car, buyers aren't going to be falling over each other to get there.

So risk v reward.... Risk = belt snaps, costing £1000+ for new engine = scrap car or fork out.

If a cambelt is due changing, you should always do so and it's purely common sense to do the full kit + waterpump.

You think that a banger's value is increased by £300 by paying £300 for a timing belt change? I'm not at all convinced.

For every future purchaser of the car the feels that way, there would be plenty more who don't care and are just concerned to buy a cheap car that goes. Remember, we're talking about cheap cars here.

And to repeat another point.....it's quite uncanny (if you ask people who had a timing belt snap) how many of them had it changed relatively recently.

colino

Thanks for that site SB but it is quoting the OEM mileages/dates. Remember when Ford boasted that their revolutionary Zetec engine only needed attention every 100,000miles?

Strider590

useless_git_requires_wife wrote: »

And to repeat another point.....it's quite uncanny (if you ask people who had a timing belt snap) how many of them had it changed relatively recently.

Posted, but seems to have disappeared....

At any rate, you'll find that's not uncommon along with water pump failures. It's also not uncommon for less knowledgeable people to be tight and only replace the belt.