The Importance of Cam Belt Changes

[Yosh]

I can't link pics to one of my first cars because it was uh 10+ years ago but, i once had a Cavalier MK2, fair enough they would go wrong but even when i put a piston through the side of the block and drained all the oil out on the road behind me i still drove it all the way home, they just don't build cars like that these days, i even stopped to pickup the bits of engine i had left behind!

And funnily enough the one and only cambelt that broke on me was a MK3 Cavalier, coming back from a long trip it snapped right as i got into my city, i had been told and given proof of cambelt change 2 months before when i bought it, i called the bloke and he didn't want to know but as he had links with the garage that did the supposed work i told him i would goto Trading Standards etc and after doing what they told me (i forget but calling him officially and sending a letter or something) he called back and offered to pay for the work.

[pipTheGeek]

Thats a seriously messed up engine! I've seen a few bent valves and a conrod out the side the block, but nothing like that.
I have a bent valve on my desk. Mostly because it is interesting to see which people go, "oh, that's not good" or "what's that?" It came out of a Volvo whose timing belt had broken. It managed to bend the head, break the camshaft and bend three valves. The bent head meant the car was a right off sadly.

[jon bda]

Jon, that's a really messy sump, any indications as to why the webbing failed? I'm sure you now already, but you can revert the Transit back to a solid flywheel to keep the costs down, but the they judder really badly afterwards. They do seem to last though, unlike the Vauxhall's which seem to eat clutches every 10k after being converted back to solid.

We were thinking that the rocker shafts had worked loose and fractured through the bolt holes mate, as for the rest of the devastation, take a guess. Although with the valves not opening at all on #1 i'm wondering if its hydraulic'd on its own diesel and broken something that started it all off...can't believe he'd been using it like that though...he only stopped driving it when the clutch packed in!!!

Turns out he wasn't very happy either, as 12000 miles earlier, he had handed over almost two grand somewhere for an engine rebuild!!!

And yup, we replace the flywheels for solids mate, only on the lower power models though. 125bhp or TDCi's will get a new dual mass...fitted a solid to a 125 once (guy wanted it doing the cheapest way possible) and it was only a few months later it was back with a slipping clutch.

Will see if i have any more pics of things in pieces on my 'puter...

[[GSV]Trig]

Its not just a case of changing the belt, make sure the aux belts are done as well, I took my old GSi to a Vauxhall maindealer, they changed the cambelt but not the pass belt which came off a week later and chewed the cambelt up..

[Jay]

My Audi is due I think. Its not done 50K yet but its 5 years old now so I suppose it getting to that time?

[kalniel]

My Audi is due I think. Its not done 50K yet but its 5 years old now so I suppose it getting to that time?

Yes. Audi is usually 75k or 5 years, whichever is soonest. Cam belt is a fixed price service from Audi at £350, but they might not include waterpump change with that, so ring up your dealer and check - I got everything else done with the cam belt for another £75 I think, but prices went up this year so it's probably another £100 now. Still, £450 for an Audi service for the Cam belt etc. is cheaper than what an independent quoted me for my Astra.

[Lowe]

Yup, generally there's a time limit as well as a mileage limit since the rubber in the belt perishes. 5 years is the max if memory serves.

[Jay]

just got quoted £430 for belt, pump and service from a local garage that I have been told is good. I will never go back to Audi for this as last time they where really bad and tried to charge me £1000 for a service and 2 new tires! I will miss my full dealer Service History but sod them.

[kalniel]

just got quoted £430 for belt, pump and service from a local garage that I have been told is good. I will never go back to Audi for this as last time they where really bad and tried to charge me £1000 for a service and 2 new tires! I will miss my full dealer Service History but sod them.

Yeah I'd avoid them if my local was like that! They must be stupid in these conditions to try and rip you off - mine are throwing the offers at me in an attempt to keep me from going elsewhere.

[=assassin=]

Interesting to see all the photos in this thread, I'll show this to my Dad!

[Yosh]

just got quoted £430 for belt, pump and service from a local garage that I have been told is good. I will never go back to Audi for this as last time they where really bad and tried to charge me £1000 for a service and 2 new tires! I will miss my full dealer Service History but sod them.

I read somewhere that with Dealerships you should ring around all the places within a 50 mile radius (distance willing to travel) and get quotes from them all as you might be surprised when the price could be substantially different from one to the next.

[Jay]

yes, my nearest one is in Manchester and I need to be in work tomorrow anyway so no point trying to get it there for 8:00 and then try and get 20 miles back some how to work before 8:30 then back to pick it up after work. Love my Audi hate the dealers.

[jon bda]

Think most of my pics are stuck on my dismantled 'puter at the moment...




That Transit had a rod exit stage left...straight through the side of the engine block!



Thats my bosses Land Rover...gotta little bit of rewiring to do on that one...

[DanceswithUnix]

Think you might be losing a bit of compression there Tonka

Cool pics, thanks very much for sharing.

[Yosh]

Think most of my pics are stuck on my dismantled 'puter at the moment...




That Transit had a rod exit stage left...straight through the side of the engine block!



Thats my bosses Land Rover...gotta little bit of rewiring to do on that one...

Surely it would have been cheaper to just buy another transit

[DanceswithUnix]

Whilst I'm sure a new transit is the sensible option, is it just me that thinks: no engine, and all that space in the back you could mid mount at least an Audi V8 in there

Actually that would give you an Audi white van, so you would have to cut people up *and* tailgate them