bangereconomics advice from fellow banger owners!

patrickc

I bought my first banger some may remember a 96 mondeo last September, anyhow the car was 700 put 4 tyres on it and serviced her twice and have done 16k on her relatively trouble free. (changed the thermostat, glow plugs, and a few hoses but all done myself so cost effective)

My question is now the timing belt is due soon, not sure of the cost of this , but is it against bangereconomics principles to get it done?

the car only has 116k on it, and whilst she may not be the nicest to look at its started everyday, and is great on diesel.

do I get the belt done or let it snap and buy another car for the same money?

mickdw

How much for the belt change? If you are happy with the car, its certainly worth spending €150 or so I would think. Then again if its the type of car that is rough as a bears arse, I would probably just keep it rolling.

patrickc

mickdw wrote: »

How much for the belt change? If you are happy with the car, its certainly worth spending €150 or so I would think. Then again if its the type of car that is rough as a bears arse, I would probably just keep it rolling.

I dont know how much the change is, the kit is 180 alone so dunno what the labour would be on that, maybe someone here knows, what the belt change costs?

it's got 1 dent on it, and the engine is spot on so wouldnt say its rough.

It's worth belting if you reckon you will be keeping it a year or two more, I'd be tempted to play Russian roulette with it though and when she next needs a service or tires have a think about getting a few hundred for it and get another cheap yoke. Decent cars can be got for such small money now it can be hard to justify throwing the value of a car at itself for a few things like that.

I Was VB

RoverJames wrote: »

It's worth belting if you reckon you will be keeping it a year or two more, I'd be tempted to play Russian roulette with it though and when she next needs a service or tires have a think about getting a few hundred for it and get another cheap yoke. Decent cars can be got for such small money now it can be hard to justify throwing the value of a car at itself for a few things like that.

Agreed, if she has a bit of tax and test left and there is no major issues with her, and you can see yourself getting a few more years out of her get the belt done.

However if her test is due and there is a list as long as yer arm book the test and drive the hoop out of it untill she goes pop.

peasant

The belt might snap tomorrow or it might last another 50 k miles ...I'd chance it.

Getting it done properly will cost a few hundred, getting it done cheap might make things worse rather than better (there is a bit of knowledge involved in getting the timing right on a diesel).
The trick with bangernomics is not to become attached and view the car from a money point only

patrickc

RoverJames wrote: »

It's worth belting if you reckon you will be keeping it a year or two more, I'd be tempted to play Russian roulette with it though and when she next needs a service or tires have a think about getting a few hundred for it and get another cheap yoke. Decent cars can be got for such small money now it can be hard to justify throwing the value of a car at itself for a few things like that.

I service it myself. 50 quid will do a full service really, I know what you mean decent cars for little money is right, plenty about.

I Was VB wrote: »

Agreed, if she has a bit of tax and test left and there is no major issues with her, and you can see yourself getting a few more years out of her get the belt done.

However if her test is due and there is a list as long as yer arm book the test and drive the hoop out of it untill she goes pop.

another 3 months tax left on it, and nct due in November. Personally I dont think she'll need a lot of work for the test, maybe rear brake adjustment thats it, but could be well wrong and the belt will be well due before the test is.

I think there is a few more years in her, 116k is low miles for that engine, and the biggest thing in my favour with it, parts are cheap and alot is easily done by me, with feck all mechanical knowledge

peasant wrote: »

The belt might snap tomorrow or it might last another 50 k miles ...I'd chance it.

Getting it done properly will cost a few hundred, getting it done cheap might make things worse rather than better (there is a bit of knowledge involved in getting the timing right on a diesel).
The trick with bangernomics is not to become attached and view the car from a money point only

I'd defo get it done proper if getting it done at all, yeh I think that my problem peasant I have become attached to it.

maidhc

The Belt on those is a complete pr1ck of a job, but tends not to cost much more than 300-400 in a back street garage. Get it done every 40k or it will snap.

It makes complete sense to do it. I just stripped down a 1995 Mondeo we had from new. I kept the head for another car, and there was very little if any wear in the engine, which is not bad considering it had about 240k miles on it.

The Mk1 and Mk2 mondeos are wonderful cars, and in my experience fantastically reliable and cheap to maintain. Once they get a sup of 15w40 a now and again they are happy. Bumpers are the weakest point of the car, they shatter with the slightest rub.

maidhc

peasant wrote: »

The belt might snap tomorrow or it might last another 50 k miles ...I'd chance it.

Getting it done properly will cost a few hundred, getting it done cheap might make things worse rather than better (there is a bit of knowledge involved in getting the timing right on a diesel).
The trick with bangernomics is not to become attached and view the car from a money point only

With a basic car like a Mondeo (or Corolla, or Vento), some routine maintenance will be rewarded with extreme longevity... unlike say an S Class where the chance of a "fear ye all who cometh" fault is always just around the corner.

Every mechanic has done the TB on the the mondeos many times, so I'd say any reasonable mechanic will do a grand job.

VolvoMan

maidhc wrote: »

The Mk1 and Mk2 mondeos are wonderful cars, and in my experience fantastically reliable and cheap to maintain. Once they get a sup of 15w40 a now and again they are happy. Bumpers are the weakest point of the car, they shatter with the slightest rub.

You have to ask though, why are nearly all of them now scrapped?

maidhc

VolvoMan wrote: »

You have to ask though, why are nearly all of them now scrapped?

Because the newest Mk2 is 11 years old?

They tend not be get the attention or money people will give to an elderly 3 series either, e.g. as per the advice above not to bother with the tbelt because the car wasn't worth it.

VolvoMan

maidhc wrote: »

Because the newest Mk2 is 11 years old?

But they haven't been a common sight for a good while now. Like the Alfa 156, many of them started disappearing off the roads when they were 8-9 years old.

Anan1

peasant wrote: »

The trick with bangernomics is not to become attached and view the car from a money point only

Financially speaking, you're dead right - personally, though, i'd feel like a vandal if I destroyed a good car through deliberate lack of routine maintenance.

VolvoMan

VolvoMan wrote: »

You have to ask though, why are nearly all of them now scrapped?

Slow as feck and not fantastically economical.

Buffman

patrickc wrote: »

My question is now the timing belt is due soon, not sure of the cost of this , but is it against bangereconomics principles to get it done?

.....

do I get the belt done or let it snap and buy another car for the same money?

Yes, I would say it's against bangereconomics principles to get it done, on a cost basis anyway.

On the other hand, it read's like you like the car and want to keep it. So in that case I'd go for it and do the timing belt.

It comes down to head over heart I suppose.

I have a 97 Almera with 190K miles on her, and apart from the routine service, all I've had to do with it is repair the heating resistor for the blower and replace the crank/cam angle sensor. Luckily they have timing chains so belts aren't an issue. If any showstoppers came along I'd probably have a go at fixing it for the challenge, but I wouldn't put big money into it.

I Was VB

Old diesels are wonderful!! They were built at a time when they werent in bed with the greens to create lower emission cars that cost a arm and a leg to fix with DMS EGR valves.

Just replaced my starter motor on my 17 year old 410k klm Diesel Corona today and ya know there's nothing stopping her now, the car has been 100% reliable.

Gary ITR

I Was VB wrote: »

Old diesels are wonderful!! They were built at a time when they werent in bed with the greens to create lower emission cars that cost a arm and a leg to fix with DMS EGR valves.

Just replaced my starter motor on my 17 year old 410k klm Diesel Corona today and ya know there's nothing stopping her now, the car has been 100% reliable.

Should get the brakes looked at next then

cadaliac

If you are happy with the car and intend to hold on to the car for more than 6 months, do the belt. No question.
If you are not going to put money into the car - i.e. undecided what you will do come NCT time, you could chance it, but according to your post, you will take option one.
As said by a previous poster, the belt will snap if it is not done. I used to have the 1.8 straight diesel engine in an old fiesta van I had. Not sure what engine is in yours but I would recommend you do the belt.

Edit: The bangernomics theory will sway towards changing the belt - in the sense that a little investment now will keep your bangernomics car running for a lot longer, which will make your original investment of €750 make even more sense and make for cheap motoring over the longer run.

Are these 1.8 diesels like Alfa engines regarding belts?

cadaliac

RoverJames wrote: »

Are these 1.8 diesels like Alfa engines regarding belts?

Yip, need to be done regularly and can be tricky (I've been told).
I asked a local mechanic to do mine at the time but he said he would not stand over it.
He wouldn't be the best of mechanics by any stretch of the imagination (rough and ready) but still.....

robtri

personally I say feck the belt.... it be nearly half the price of the car.....

have a yoke, 130k miles on her 98 corsa.... still on original belt

patrickc

have read all the comments thanks to everyone for your contribution.

in conclusion I think I will get the belt done.

The car is good on diesel , I do a lot of motorway runs and its doing well on those, I find it comfortable enough also.

It may not be refined or modern looking, but have had more modern cars that have been costly to repair and lots have gone wrong with them.

Minds made up to keep it, and get the belt done

( the OH wont be impressed mind !! )

ShadowHearth

Hehe gratz op.

I bought 98 1.6 Mondeo. Cheap as chips to run and repair. Saved me a fortune already. Passed nct last month, but got cert only for 1 year . If it will handle well all this year and pass nct without much hassle I'll keep her one more year. That's Ofc if I wount die from dullnes and boredom ...

maidhc

RoverJames wrote: »

Slow as feck and not fantastically economical.

Not that slow. If you open up the pump it will leave a lot of things standing (in a cloud of black smoke!). All jokes aside, 40-45mpg was about the go, and with 90bhp, it was, well, like most other 90bhp diesels of the era. The car is still only the size of a modern focus.

The 1.8 TD was very antiquated by 2000 with the modern HDis about. But for bangernomics that is not a bad thing.