Puma: Crankshaft's pulley broke in a cambelt change!............MORE UPDATE !!!

Conor_3

Ah, so the rubber has given up the ghost. Quite reasonable IMO and I don't think it could've been avoided. Good luck for Monday.

cyclonebri1

Hi TB,
I've deleted my previous post as I think i got side tracked. IF I'm not mistaken the pulley you are referring to will be the belt pulley that is bolted to the actual crankshaft timing pulley. This has a rubber damper built into it. Similar on most if not all cars.
If this failed in use it would only affect such as the auxilliary drives, ie , the aircon, alternator, power steering etc. It would not affect cam timing.

The complication does come in with some manufacturers tho as the timing marks are on the outer/secondary part of the pulley and if the damper fails they will not be correct for either static igniton or cam timing purposes.;)

Thunderbird_2

Hi again

Yes, Conor, the rubber part has given up the ghost according to their description.

Well, cyclonebri1, it is the one you are describing now. It is driving the auxillary belt. The rubber bit probably is worn out from heat and dust with other bits from the atmosphere, plus, more importantly, the strain on it from acceleration and deceleration all the time, especially in this car. The gear change in it is described perfectly well in whatcar website's review as "addictive"

redux

I had a cambelt change done on a Citroen Xantia last summer - recommended interval 100,000 miles though I'd reached 120,000.

I was advised before they started by the people doing the job that they often like to change a couple of pulleys or bearings as well, and particularly that one as the rubber may age and or there can be corrosion somewhere inside it, with rustmarks creeping out at the edges showing this. Leaving it means it may start wobbling worse, and need doing later as a separate job, or waiting until 200,000 miles is a bit long.

So, depending on the recommended interval and actual age of your car, I'd ask a couple of questions but probably make no complaint at all

Thunderbird_2

redux wrote: »

I had a cambelt change done on a Citroen Xantia last summer - recommended interval 100,000 miles though I'd reached 120,000.

Hi and thank you for your reply.

The Xantia has 72000 miles cambelt change interval and recommend doing it earlier if you drive mainly in town or used in track days. As Haynes manual says it is much down to the driving style when to chang the cam belt.

I agree with the idea that is good to replace the pulley ( I have no choice in my case!)

The interval for the Puma 1,7 is 80,000 miles/5 years whichever occurs first. The 1.6 and 1.4 ones is 100,000 miles/10 years whichever occurs first.

Oh my beloved Xantia! Which one have you got?

redux

The Xantia HDI has 100,000 miles recommended interval, and mine mostly trundles along dual carriageways and motorways

Thunderbird_2

Oh, the HDI!! tell me about the mpg of the HDI!!! You lucky one!

I love Xantia, and I have got one, a very old one, 1994 2.0 8v!!! Very ancient, but I love it! What a smooth ride! Not great as yours (obviously) on fuel, but, I like working on it and fixing it myself.

Enjoy yours, and don't forget to do the citrobics at least once a week!

Thunderbird_2

Hi all

An Update

After calling and visiting several Ford dealers and places, they advised me that the pulley shouldn't break if the correct procedure was followed. If the rubber bit has gone, then it has pershid and it was the time to replace it.

I went to collect the car today from the garage. I checked the pulley and it was not broken from the rubber bit. It was broken on 3 arms and it seemed they haven't used the best way to get it out of the crankshaft. I said to them I am not happy to pay for this as it is obviously wasn;t removed correctly. They got me the mechanic to have a look at it and said nothing. Then they got the master echnician as the called him and when he saw it, he agreed it shouldn't be broken the way it was and said he will get the bill amended. I was happy and had the cheek to ask for a 10% disount which they approved and all went well and left.

After I got home, I looked at the bill and there was something called kit that I didn't recognise ( no, it was not the timing kit which was underneath this one) Anyway, I googled the serial number and it turned out to be an auxillary belt. I was ok as I asked them to replace it. Then i noticed it was Gates, not Ford belt and all the websites that have had were mentioning something about Renualt! All the websites were in a foriegn language.

This made me google the serial numbers for the timing kit and the water pump. You guessed it. The timing kit was Gates!!!:eek: How can they do this?! And no, the kit is not an original Ford's one. I found it on ebay and nothing has been mentioned here about being A genuin Ford patr. I took my car to a Ford service centre and they told they are going to use genuin parts. How on earth they use other than Ford genuin parts!!

I am thinking of calling my bank first thing in the morning to ask them to stop the transaction as I paid using my credit card. Surely I paid for a service I didn't recieve ( Not ooriginal Ford parts were used when they assured me they will do) and then dispute it with the garage. Call Ford customer service call centre may be?

Another thing I was thinking of is to check other Ford dealers and see what they use these days in the cambelt service these days. I am terrified because Ford has 12 months warranty on parts when you change the cambelt with them. What if this part fails and they say it is not original and then go through all the pain of this and that?

What do you think?

Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mr_accountant

Is there any difference? It probably is genuine, by that i mean gates make the part and it has a ford stamp on the belt, the ford stamp on the belt is not going to add to reliability!
Ford do not make timing belts, they have them supplied by the likes of gates, dayco and contitech (amongst others), and depending on what agreement they have with the belt manufacturer.

Gates are one of the best if not the best in cambelt manufacturing, personally i think they have fitted a gates kit with a ford stamp on the belt- seems normal to me.

Thunderbird_2

Hi

I realise that car companies use third party suppliers when they make their cars and spare parts. I think I need to go and confirm this with some local Ford dealers. I think I was fuming because of some threads I read in a different forum where members where bit iffy about Gates and they were recommending only original parts from Ford. They mentioned Gates cambelt kit a lot cheaper than Ford's one. I don't know if this is down to the Frod stamp pumping up the price. I think I will check with local dealers first.

But, if it was not the case, do think I have a case?

Many thanks