Cam belt costs.

SimonM said:
Whatever you do don’t go for an engine using a belt in an oil bath. One of the Fords does apparently according to my muckyneck, and fibres wear off the belt over extended mileages, and then get circulated around the oil passages. Until they stop in places that isn’t good for them. He reckons the engines contaminated like this can never be cleaned and will always have problems.
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Unfortunately it seems to be the latest craze with motor manufacturers, mainly Peugeot which a lot of fords are using their engines,
Who on earth thought that running a rubber belt in oil would be a good idea ?
I have heard of a lot of these engines expiring well before their time
 
I think it’s the 1.0 eco max Ford engine that will overheat at some stage, by then the engine cannot be repaired as it will have distorted too much internally.
 
SimonM said:
I think it’s the 1.0 eco max Ford engine that will overheat at some stage, by then the engine cannot be repaired as it will have distorted too much internally.
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I'm not enjoying this thread at all, we have a 1litre ford eco too. 😱
 
Unfortunately engines are being squeezed to generate as much power as possible, as economically, and as cheaply as possible under ever toughening emission rules. They can’t take it, long gone are the days of the 2.0 litre making 100hp as they expect the same or more from less than half the size. Big engines making leisurely power are the way to longevity.
 
It all depends on what van you have as a full coachbuilt will present a garage with a whole lot more problems with regards to access than a standard front end, if it is a standard van front end then the people who have quoted you are having a joke, I would suggest no more than £450 and that would be high!
 
Are you going into Europe soon? I had a Fiat Professional service in The Netherlands and it was €300 less than in UK. 6 years ago Fiat Professional In Lisbon chartered me €40 an hour for a repair.
 
Glass man said:
Are you going into Europe soon? I had a Fiat Professional service in The Netherlands and it was €300 less than in UK. 6 years ago Fiat Professional In Lisbon chartered me €40 an hour for a repair.
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Yep but not the Netherlands I'm afraid. I'm going to make a few calls over the next day or so and see what comes up. If I get a significant improvement over £650 I'll post.
Thanks everyone for the input.👍
 
SimonM said:
I think it’s the 1.0 eco max Ford engine that will overheat at some stage, by then the engine cannot be repaired as it will have distorted too much internally.
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Its best to get it changed ,mine went on a peugeot boxer on a trip i lost all power and it damaged the engine internals ,costing me £1700. I get it changed every 3 years and it cost me £200 for the belt and £100 for the mobile mechanic friend.
 
I've just been quoted £510 or £710incl. if I replace water pump as well in Derby. Ducato PVC 2012 2.3 150bhp. Had other quotes all north of this.
 
chrishunter said:
Its best to get it changed ,mine went on a peugeot boxer on a trip i lost all power and it damaged the engine internals ,costing me £1700. I get it changed every 3 years and it cost me £200 for the belt and £100 for the mobile mechanic friend.
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Hi, thanks for the input. What year is your van and do you know the mileage and age of the belt that failed?
 
Peugeot 2.8 HDi, last year so the motohome was 15 years old with 90,000 careful miles on it all done by me.

This was the 2nd time it`s been done, belt, tensioners, pulleys, water pump, new coolant and auxillary belt £535 all in with receipts.
 
merl said:
Hi, thanks for the input. What year is your van and do you know the mileage and age of the belt that failed?
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Hi the van is 2003 ive had it now for 15 years,when it went i hadnt had the van very long and didnt know about changing the belt so it was left ,and it had done about 7000 miles, age of the belt was about 6years old. (its a good job i keep records). Since then its been changed every 3 years with the water pump ,hasnt needed pulleys changing.
 
chrishunter said:
Hi the van is 2003 ive had it now for 15 years,when it went i hadnt had the van very long and didnt know about changing the belt so it was left ,and it had done about 7000 miles, age of the belt was about 6years old. (its a good job i keep records). Since then its been changed every 3 years with the water pump ,hasnt needed pulleys changing.
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Wow, 7000 miles and 6 years is pretty crap reliability especially considering that would have been the factory fitted belt that failed.
On Fun there is a thread that's started just a few days ago dedicated to cam belt costs which I'll be checking in on over the next few days.
 
SimonM said:
Unfortunately engines are being squeezed to generate as much power as possible, as economically, and as cheaply as possible under ever toughening emission rules. They can’t take it, long gone are the days of the 2.0 litre making 100hp as they expect the same or more from less than half the size. Big engines making leisurely power are the way to longevity.
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My VW 2.5TDi 88bhp should last forever then!:)
 
Update. Got it done at a local private garage £500 including water pump, new pulleys, VAT etc.
The belt actually looked fine, no visible signs of age at all but I guess using the naked eye wouldn't necessarily mean a lot? What exactly does a mech do when he's carrying out a belt inspection??
Funnily the water pump bearing was shot at just 30K miles so glad I got it out of the way and can travel easy now.
Thanks for the input from everyone(y)
 
merl said:
Update. Got it done at a local private garage £500 including water pump, new pulleys, VAT etc.
The belt actually looked fine, no visible signs of age at all but I guess using the naked eye wouldn't necessarily mean a lot? What exactly does a mech do when he's carrying out a belt inspection??
Funnily the water pump bearing was shot at just 30K miles so glad I got it out of the way and can travel easy now.
Thanks for the input from everyone(y)
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I can't ever recall any mechanic carrying out a belt inspection as that isn't the way they do things, they always belt changes on time or mileage which the OE manufacturer has arrived at is the safest for durability.
My own belt is being changed next week, yet it has only done 25,000 miles, but it is 7 years since the last one was fitted.
 
merl said:
Update. Got it done at a local private garage £500 including water pump, new pulleys, VAT etc.
The belt actually looked fine, no visible signs of age at all but I guess using the naked eye wouldn't necessarily mean a lot? What exactly does a mech do when he's carrying out a belt inspection??
Funnily the water pump bearing was shot at just 30K miles so glad I got it out of the way and can travel easy now.
Thanks for the input from everyone(y)
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Don't be shy of naming, I'm sure they will be pleased of the advertising.
 
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