Timing Belts

tinofapples

Does anyone know much about these and particular when they go wrong i.e Snap !!

Anyone with any experience of this happening ?

I suspect I'm a victim but won't find out till later today. Haven't a clue what kind of damage is done or what kind of damage is gonna be done to my wallet !!

Funny thing (Well not really funny) I was gonna get the car serviced very soon including getting the belt done

I guess as they say "**** happens !! "

JohnBoy

Ouch.

if your timing belt goes you can suffer anywhere from minor stuff (bent valve stem) right up to a completely destroyed engine, depends how hard the engine was running when the belt broke, the model of engine, the manufacturing tolerances etc etc etc

it's real easy to tell if the belt is damaged, but to see the overall effect the only thing to do is take the head off.

I've seen pics of valves passing out through piston liners, but I've had a friend who broke one while pulling a horsebox uphill and the repairs only cost £200.

It varies, like I say.

on the irony, I blew a headgasket in a rover 214 (same engine as Quigs Snr's MGF) while driving home from limerick to go to the garage at home)

as you say, poo happens

Gmodified

I got away with replacing cylinder head when my belt broke. The only problem was that is very hard to find replacement cyl. head
What car is it?

ToxicPaddy

funny you should mention that.. the timing belt in my car is due for replacement...

anyone any ideas of cost?

its a 97 mondeo btw...:)

Gmodified

I would say 300-350Euro for belt replacement

tinofapples

Toxic , get it done !!

Mine's a Vectra , a '97. I've been hearin that it could be up around €1500 to rectify , fingers crossed it won't !! The belt was done on 46k but my mechanic told me months ago that he'd be doing it @ next service.

I wasn't travelling fast at the time , probably 30-40mph but I'm sure that's still fast enough to make a balls of the whole bloody thing .

Gmodified

If this turns to be total disaster. You should ring around the breakers and see if you can get spare cylinder head for your vectra.

With bit of luck you can get one for 250-300 plus another 400 for fitting. I bet you mechanic will try to do this before he goes near rebuilding your existing unit.

Redshift

This happened to my Dad when I was younger I was with him when it happened I remember it scared the bejazus out of him and me because we were fairly tipping along when it happened. I remember a sort of bang and very violent shuddering and smoke and crap the sort of noises that make you wince. It was a few years ago now but I think the engine was pretty much destroyed well he ended up getting another Car after it so I guess it was

Red

mike65

I remember when the belt went on my old Escort, this was about 13 years ago the top end needed rebuilding
and it cost about 400 old pounds.

Ouch....:(

I got the belt done in the last service of my Corsa and the belt cost only about €40.

If not sure pay up and get it done, much cheaper than any alternative.



Mike.

tinofapples

I towed the car to my mechanic last night. He confimred that it was the timing belt that had gone . The bloody belt itself couldn't be seen !!

Anyway , I asked him how much it was gonna cost .
He replied "It's been a while since I done one of these and it was about £1000 !! "
Needless to say I think it's gonna cost somewhere in the region of €1300-€1500.

I could do without that .

tinofapples

I'm just thinking now would I better off getting a new engine for the car ??

What's that likely to cost me ?

ToxicPaddy

Originally posted by tinofapples
Toxic , get it done !!

Mine's a Vectra , a '97. I've been hearin that it could be up around €1500 to rectify , fingers crossed it won't !! The belt was done on 46k but my mechanic told me months ago that he'd be doing it @ next service.

I wasn't travelling fast at the time , probably 30-40mph but I'm sure that's still fast enough to make a balls of the whole bloody thing .

Oh its not due till 100,000 miles so i have a few thousand yet to go.. but I was just curious as to how much it would cost as Ive never had to have it done on a car thats all..

Jeez, 300 - 350 is a bit steep isnt it?

Is there much to it? Would it be something you could do yourself????

Gmodified

toxic,
You may find some local mechanic which will be willing to replace the belt for bit less but it is pricey.


tinofapples
You may ring Traynors (north) and check if they have engine for it.
You may have problem if it's diesel.

tinofapples

It's a 1.6 Petrol.

The mechanic also the guy I bought the car off tow years ago gave me a '93 Vectra to knock about in .
Only problem with that is that it hadn't an NCT so I have to go back later today and he's giving me a 00 Rover 45 .

I'll have words with him about just changing the car it might be a better idea depending on what he'd be willing to give me for mine and of course what he'd want for any car I'd want to take off him .

I just don't know what's the best thing to do , throw €1200-1500 into a car that at best is only worth €4500 ????

JohnBoy

tough one, I'd hold out on talk of changing cars, or the engine till he's had a look.

Scrappers should have loads of 1.6 opels. a second hand head and timing belt should be doable, all in, fitted for around 600.


as for the timing belt in the mondeo...

Is it 8 valve or 16 valve?

for an eight valve it's generally not that hard (but it varies from car to car (depends on accessibility mostly)

Myself and a friend did it on a 1.6 megane coupe 8v in about two hours with some very careful reading of the trusty Haynes manual.

I'd imagine a ford should be relatively easy to do. they think most of these things out fairly well and have a very good name for DIY servicing

On a side note changing the timing belt on a rover KV6 engine is seemingly a 12 hour job (and that's assuming the engine is out of the car) ouch is all I say to that.

Timing belts cost 15 to 20 euros, some cars (opels anyway) also need a new tensioner which can bring the price up to around the €60 mark.

John

Chimaera

The cost of chagning the timing belt depends very much on the car - if the belt is easily accessible with the engine left in the car, it's a cheap enough job. If it's awkward to get at, or the engine has to come out, then you're talking big money.

An extreme example is that the timing belt change on a Ferrari F355 costs about £4500stg.

mike65

Originally posted by Chimaera

An extreme example is that the timing belt change on a Ferrari F355 costs about £4500stg.

I knew there was a reason I was holding off buying one!

Mike.

Silvera

There is a company called Engine Remanufacturing based in (i think) Ballina, Co. Mayo who supply reconditioned european engines, worth checking out.

I have replaced timing belts (also called Cam belts) before and it can be quite straightforward, depending on the car of course.
However, a lot of cars may also require a new tensioner to be fitted at the same time. I recall doing a Nissan Micra belt and it required a new water pump because the belt is tensioned from it and, for the sake of about £35, it made sense to change it at the same time.

If you are mechanically minded, get a Haynes workshop manual (Easons stock them) and read up on the subject.


Important point - If you purchase a car and don't have hard evidence of a recent T- belt change - GET IT RENEWED ASAP.

Regards,
Silvera.

tinofapples

I'll hold off alright till I hear exactly how much the repair is gonna cost me however I'm sorta prepared for changing the car.

My girlfriend has told me she'd contribute towards a new car but she's only starting to drive so I'm gonna have to get something smaller than the Vectra (Bloody women !! )

Not really a problem , costs should be reduced then i.e Tax Insurance Petrol .

I'm thinking the next car I get is gonna hold it's value and with herself in mind maybe a Golf , Corolla , Civic .

I've been looking around and am hoping that if I do change I'd like to get a 2000 reg car for around €9,500 - €10,000 including whatever I get for my own (€4000 hopefully)

What do you all think ?

Chimaera

You'll be lucky to get a 00 golf for less than 10K. Civic or Corolla might just be possible at that kind of money.

tinofapples

Well decided against changing the car , he wasn't giving me anywhere near what I thought the car was worth.

Bill is likely to be in the region of €1200 .

JohnBoy

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but i read in this months car mechanics mag that Vauxhall/opel has reduced the service interval on all ecotec timing belts from the original 80,000 miles to a much shorter 40,000 miles.

Why?

Cos too many of them break well before 80

John

tinofapples

Well , I certainly would welcome that move having just shelled out €1250 for fixing my timing belt with only 78 k on my clock !!

F***** W******

Why now ???

ToxicPaddy

Just got mine done..

cost me €410 in the end.. bloody hell.. the car's only worth about €2000.. ahh well suppose i better keep it for another while now that Ive invested that much money in it.. :rolleyes:

WhiteWashMan

well ive just had to replace the water pump on an mx5 and since its practiacally built into the engine block, i took the chance to replace the timing belt, the fan belts, and the a/c belt all in one go, and got a good tune up. luckily for me my mechanic is an ex mazda mechanic and a good friend, so it was 160 sterling all in.
in a mazda garage it would be bugger all change from 500 quid.

having said that, it the timing belt went, then how much is a new engine?

tinofapples

Toxic Paddy ,
Did your timing belt go while driving , or did you just get it changed ?

mike65

Toxic Paddy ,
Did your timing belt go while driving , or did you just get it changed ?

Good question, the ammount seems much too small for a top end rebuild and far too big for a replacement belt (unless Toxic drives a an Italian exotic!)

Mike.

ToxicPaddy

oops.. sorry...

I just got it changed...

mike65

Toxic, what did the belt cost? and how many hours labour were required? and finally was did done at a Ford garage?

€410 sounds crazy....

Mike.

ToxicPaddy

Parts cost €160 plus VAT, the timing belt for a Mondeo comes with a whole kit of pullies and such to tighten it.. i knew this before i got it done..

As for the rest, well thats labour.. and it was done by a local garage back home. He's fairly good and never ripped me off before so I do trust him on that.

I rang about 5 ford dealerships to get a price and not one would give me a straight answer on price. The only thing I could get was the price for the timing belt itself but not for labour.

So all in all €410 incl VAT.. a bit pricey but its done now and I wont be doing it again.. next time something that big has to be done Im getting a new car...

********

I wouldnt mind but I had the chance to buy a 96 Merc E300 Diesel.. non turbo with 47k on the clock a few months back for €15k and I didnt as I didnt have the cash at the time..

She was in mint condition, a friend of the family owned it, he was in the UK for years a bought this over there, had it sitting in his drive way for ages as he was retiring and was finishing off selling his business over in the UK so he spent the best part of 18 months going over and back, then decided he was going to buy something a little smaller and offered it to my dad to buy..

She was an auto, had no go whatsoever but would have done me years.. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

newbride2007

Hi , I had my car in for a service its a 04 megane and it cost my 475 euro , crazy price in my book there was nothing really wrong with it need to replace the rear light but other that that a typical service , anyway the mechcanic then tells me that the timing belt needs to be done cost approx 700 euro to do this , do nayone know where i could get it done for cheaper , cant affort this i would be better off buying a new car at this rate

Darragh29

newbride2007 wrote: »

Hi , I had my car in for a service its a 04 megane and it cost my 475 euro , crazy price in my book there was nothing really wrong with it need to replace the rear light but other that that a typical service , anyway the mechcanic then tells me that the timing belt needs to be done cost approx 700 euro to do this , do nayone know where i could get it done for cheaper , cant affort this i would be better off buying a new car at this rate

As far as I know, Renault are doing a timing belt kit & water pump on petrol Renault car for 499 Euro. I saw a sign outside the Renault dealership at the start of the Naas Road that said this...

Run_to_da_hills

Timing belts are a big scam in the motor industry, they need doing and are recommended doing so by the main dealer. It can cost up to e600 depending on model such as the Hyundai Santa fe There are generally no warnings when a timing belt is worn. They just go and with catastrophic consequences. You'd be looking at a new engine in most cases. .

It's false economy not to get it done and done properly particularly at a back street garage. I would always entrust the timing belt to a main dealer or mechanic that knows his stuff and with the correct tools. and would always insist on a parts & labour guarantee.

Timing chain, Pushrod and sidevalve engines do not need any of this preventative maintenance. (Except for the odd ajustment in valve clearance or chain tensioning) This type of engine design obviously brings substantial extra revenue to car manufacturers in spare parts, labour and replacement engines.

unkel

This thread is 5.5 years old. Read the charter, newbride2007.