Renault Clio - Cam belt

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Tue 1 Sep 2020 21:02
Renault Clio - Cam belt - chesterfieldhouse

Hello,

the youngest daughter has a 14 plate 1.5 dci Clio with 30k on the clock. The cam belt schedule is 70 - 90k or 6 years, whichever is sooner. So time wise it's due for a change now, though mileage wise it's way off. l know this is a subjective area & for piece of mind it should be changed due to the consequences of not doing so.

Any thoughts.

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Tue 1 Sep 2020 21:41
Renault Clio - Cam belt - daveyjp

It depends if you are a preventative or reactive maintenance car owner.

Having had a cambelt tensioner fail the week before it was due to be changed I know its not convenient and expensive to fix.

It failed after I had done a 50 mile trip across the M62. It could have gone at any time during that journey, outside lane of motorway etc. Thankfully it went as I tried to pull away from a roundabout, but I still needed a flatbed to get me home.

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Tue 1 Sep 2020 21:46
Renault Clio - Cam belt - elekie&a/c doctor
Renault Cambelts have always been a weak area, very often failing before time . I would get the job done sooner rather than later.
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Tue 1 Sep 2020 22:06
Renault Clio - Cam belt - SLO76
Change it ASAP. Timing belt failures are very common on Renault engines, so much so that I’d recommend changing it every 5yrs or 60k. Otherwise this is one of their better efforts regarding durability.
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Tue 1 Sep 2020 22:16
Renault Clio - Cam belt - Ethan Edwards

The belt is essentially rubber. Rubber perishes with time. Personally I'd get it done ASAP.

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Tue 1 Sep 2020 23:15
Renault Clio - Cam belt - Andrew-T

The belt is essentially rubber. Rubber perishes with time. Personally I'd get it done ASAP.

But why do cars from other makers last 10 years or 120K miles ? Belts are belts, or presumably Renault ones are under-engineered. Or do Renault engines give their belts a harder time ?

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Tue 1 Sep 2020 23:34
Renault Clio - Cam belt - SLO76
Some engines are hard on timing belts and others seems to go easy on them, Ford’s Yamaha designed Zetec-SE for example which has a very small belt run and it doesn’t turn the water pump unlike most others. A look online at some designs will show that some are complex and use a much longer belt which has more work to do. Much is down to quality and design but a pattern soon develops showing likely failure ages and mileages and Renault’s are very prone to premature failure.
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Tue 1 Sep 2020 23:42
Renault Clio - Cam belt - pd

If you want evidence there is a lot of "making up as they go along" the identical engine when fitted in a Mercedes has a change interval of 124,000 miles or 10 years.......

Work that one out.

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Tue 1 Sep 2020 23:48
Renault Clio - Cam belt - SLO76

If you want evidence there is a lot of "making up as they go along" the identical engine when fitted in a Mercedes has a change interval of 124,000 miles or 10 years.......

Work that one out.

An attempt to make it seem like the quality product it’s price tag suggests it is. I doubt they’ve fitted a different belt or reengineered the motor. It’ll fail with the same frequency as the Renault original and Mercedes like Toyota will harm their brand image by dealing with the French.
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Wed 2 Sep 2020 10:47
Renault Clio - Cam belt - chesterfieldhouse

Thanks all.

Message received.

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Wed 2 Sep 2020 11:14
Renault Clio - Cam belt - daveyjp

Remember its belt and tensioners which are changed, If there is a failure it can be tricky know which went first as both components may get damaged.

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Wed 2 Sep 2020 14:44
Renault Clio - Cam belt - bathtub tom

If you want evidence there is a lot of "making up as they go along" the identical engine when fitted in a Mercedes has a change interval of 124,000 miles or 10 years.......Work that one out.

I replaced a Perkins Diesel cambelt with a well known, esteemed replacement and found it was too slack, it had a thinner profile than the original. The original OE part fitted perfectly.

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Wed 2 Sep 2020 18:56
Renault Clio - Cam belt - John F

If you want evidence there is a lot of "making up as they go along" the identical engine when fitted in a Mercedes has a change interval of 124,000 miles or 10 years.......Work that one out.

I replaced a Perkins Diesel cambelt with a well known, esteemed replacement and found it was too slack, it had a thinner profile than the original. The original OE part fitted perfectly.

Over the years I have read about several cases of cambelt failure a few tens of thousands of miles after the probably unnecessary replacement of the sturdy original belt with presumably a cheap and nasty one. Belts do not deteriorate much with age but Renaults did have a bad reputation for cheese-rind cambelts a good few years ago. I'd have thought they'd improved by now. If it really is the same as the MB, I'd leave it alone.

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Wed 2 Sep 2020 19:15
Renault Clio - Cam belt - gordonbennet
Some engines are hard on timing belts and others seems to go easy on them, Ford’s Yamaha designed Zetec-SE for example which has a very small belt run and it doesn’t turn the water pump unlike most others.

Japanese engineers again, belt on the 3.0 D4D Toyota engine similarly enjoys an easy life, all it drives is the camshaft, its also easy peasy to change, failure unheard of, 90k mile change interval.

Subaru camshafts on the other hand have a tortuous life, a miracle they last as long as they do.

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Wed 2 Sep 2020 19:36
Renault Clio - Cam belt - daveyK_UK
Change it and get a written receipt - will add to the value when you come to sell it
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