Timing belt or chain?

artvanderlay

Hi there,

I just bought a 2004 Ford Focus Zetec 1.6 3dr a couple of days ago. Does anyone know if this has a timing belt or a chain? There's 132k miles on it and the garage selling it couldn't find out if/when the timing belt was replaced on it (although it did look as if the car has been regularly serviced).

thanks.

YbFocus

Belt I reckon, why did you buy a car with such a vague history? Focus's are ten a penny out there.

artvanderlay

YbFocus wrote: »

Belt I reckon, why did you buy a car with such a vague history? Focus's are ten a penny out there.

Thanks for the reply. I was desperate and limited to a small area (by not having a car myself!) and this was the first car I saw that I actually liked to drive. I know sweet f.a. about cars and this was best that I could get for my very low budget from a dealer. I got a 3 month warranty and they were sound enough to deal so I took a chance with them. They have said if the timing belt needs replacing in the 3 months they will do for free or else do for cost if it needs replacing after that. Do you think if it is a belt that it must have had a change then if it's got 132k on the clock? When do you think I should be looking at changing it again?

Cheers.

guil

It has a belt and they were originally 100k or 10 years.

The_Honeybadger

I'd change it now if you can at all. No point taking a chance, especially if you'll be keeping the car for a few years.

bazz26

That's the same engine that is in the Focus. 100k miles or 10 years is the interval on them. If the garage are unsure of when it was done then get them to change it or haggle on the purchase price and get it changed yourself.

Jesus.

Don't waste your money changing it OP. Its in bangernomics territory and the chances are it'll be grand.

That's what I'd do anyway.

visual

artvanderlay wrote: »

Hi there,

I just bought a 2004 Ford Focus Zetec 1.6 3dr a couple of days ago. Does anyone know if this has a timing belt or a chain? There's 132k miles on it and the garage selling it couldn't find out if/when the timing belt was replaced on it (although it did look as if the car has been regularly serviced).

thanks.

don't be fooled by a valet and steam clean even the most unloved car will polish up.
If your not looking at documented serive history its best to assume its not been done

George Dalton

It's a €225 job or thereabouts. Not worth wrecking the engine over.

Stainless_Steel

Personally id change it. Car might not be worth much but as said you should be able to get it done for less than €250.

Toyotafanboi

Jesus. wrote: »

Don't waste your money changing it OP. Its in bangernomics territory and the chances are it'll be grand.

That's what I'd do anyway.

what terrible advice. the car was probably around €3k i'd say, i'd much rather protect my investment and assure myself that i had a trustworthy car that wouldn't leave me stranded for the sake of €2-300.

edit: although if it were me i would have tried bargain it into the sale of the car... i'l give you "x" amount if you do the timing belt sort of thing. not that you should really even have to do that.

artvanderlay

Thanks for all the replies lads. I got the car for 2,000, down from 2,650, so I was happy enough with that. I think I will get the belt done after my 3 month warranty is up just for my own peace of mind, if it's only going to cost a couple of hundred quid.

Toyotafanboi

artvanderlay wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies lads. I got the car for 2,000, down from 2,650, so I was happy enough with that. I think I will get the belt done after my 3 month warranty is up just for my own peace of mind, if it's only going to cost a couple of hundred quid.

do bare in mind (as you say you aren't mechanically minded) we can already assume;
-the belt has worked for 30% longer than it's recommended life cycle
-if the belt breaks you will be left stranded where-ever it happens
-when a belt breaks it can cause much more damage and you will have more than just the price of a belt replacement to deal with. you could be looking at valves colliding with pistons and big bills.

artvanderlay

Is there any way that I (or a mechanic) can look at the timing belt that's on the car at the moment and see if there is much life left on it?

Toyotafanboi

to an extent.

if we are to assume it's on it's original belt then the timing cover would never have been removed up to now. so if the screws/ bolts in the timing cover have slightly rounded or used looking heads then you could make an assumption that the cover has been removed and it has been changed.

also, if you knew what brand belt Ford fitted from the factory, say "Gates" for example and you removed the timing cover and found a different belt, "ContiTech" or whatever, then you could make the assumption it had been changed.

these would be reasonable inclinations to a belt change, but not guarantees.

biko

artvanderlay wrote: »

Is there any way that I (or a mechanic) can look at the timing belt that's on the car at the moment and see if there is much life left on it?

This is a common question and the answer is generally no, you can't say for sure whether it has 1000 kms or 5000 kms left on it.
Besides, to inspect it properly you have to remove it... might as well change it then.

artvanderlay

A couple of final questions, just for my own education: if there is 132k on the clock, would the timing belt not have gone by now in which case it would have been replaced at some stage?

I am going to go ahead and get it changed as soon as I can. I can do without the worry of busting the engine. Last question: when I get a new timing belt is there a minimum amount of miles/time it will last? I know somebody said previously that i should change every 10yrs/100k miles, but are there different quality timing belts that mightn't last that long?

wonski

The thing with timing belt is you never know when it is going to fail. But when it does, it breaks your heart and wallet (in most cases). You got a good deal on the price, change it and forget about it for long time. This will give you an extra peace of mind.

theteal

As a fairly recent loser of the timing belt Russian roulette game. . .get it changed asap. If it goes even within this warranty, you could still be left with a problematic engine due to the collateral damage. It's a lesson I will never forget.