Wet timing belts

stcyrus

I own a Peugeot 3008 .it has a 1.2 puretec engine .last month while on the motorway the car dash flashed up a warning about oil and went into low power mode .So 75 miles an hour to 20 miles a hour with traffic.
Got it recovered back to my local garage .I assumed it would be a sensor fault .The mechanic even before opening the bonnet said it'll be the wet timing belt .The cars only done 53000 miles .
I now know that the stalantis 1.2 puretec engine is a basket case.
The timing belt made from a rubber / fiber material circulates in the hot engine oil .as you can image hot oil and rubber air t a great idea .
The belt degrades and as it does it sheads particles which choke oil filters , oil strainers and all the channels that ain't supposed to be choked up .
I purchased the car from Arnold clark who now have it back with them .to fix the fall out it looking like £1600 plus pounds .
Now arnolx clark sold me this car knowing but not mentioning  the wetbelt issue. They even serviced it twice without as much as a cautionary tale of the wet timing belt rotting away within the engine .
Just interested in seeing how many others have has similar experiences. 
For me the wet timing belt design has proved to be a poor unsuitable and costly one .

GLab

Hard to avoid buying a cheap older car with a wetbelt / timing belt, unfortunately. The only way to stay on top of this is to get evidence of when the belt was last changed before buying the car. If it's due, usually every 50k miles / 10 years (which ever comes first) costs about £400-600 at a garage (If based near London). 

Can I ask how much you bought the car for?

flaneurs_lobster

How old is the car? 

paul_c123

How long ago did you buy it?

stcyrus

The car is 4 years old and done 53000.the recommended change of a timing belt is between 80000 and 100000.i know that stalantis have set up a compensation scheme but interested in seeing how wide spread knowledge of the wet timing belt is and how many affected.not sure how the purchase cost is relevant but it was market value 

flaneurs_lobster

Would have thought that Stellantis are a bit busy swapping anti-personnel mines for airbags at the mo' but they have indeed set up a compo scheme for timing belt victims.

This stuff is all over the Peugeot / Citroën etc user community websites and reddit, probably there is the place to check how many others are affected. 

Altior

Everyone in the industry knows about wet belts, so consequently that is factored into the retail market price for used ones. Many dealers won't touch them. Same as anything running an ingenium for example. 

Of course, many regular punters won't know.

Lesson learned isn't it, but there is so much information available on the internet, researching a model for known faults before pulling the trigger is critical. 

Mildly_Miffed

The big cause of early failure of Puretech wet belts is neglected oil changes - too long between changes, wrong oil used.

The change of belt is quick and easy - about a 2.5-3hr job - unlike the 10+hr for the Ford EcoBoost.

The concept of wet belts is not scary or new - VW diesels have been using them for the oil pump drive, with no change interval, for decades.

Altior

There'll be loads out there, but a couple of good vids on wet belted engines:

JUNK Ford Ecosport 1.0L 3-Cylinder Ecoboost Teardown. LAWSUIT ENGINE!

DESTROYED ENGINE - I BUY A WET BELT CITROEN

flashg67

Unless you're connected to the trade or interested in vehicles in general then it might not be common knowledge, but I'm pretty sure it's been highlighted on consumer TV programmes