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Ford Focus - Ford Focus 10 plate - when to change timing belt? - Craig Pattison
Hi,

Can someone advise when the timing belt on a 10 plate Focus should be changed? I was always under the assumption it should be on 100k (I’m on 99k now) but the Haynes manual states every 60k. When I bought the car (from a dealer) it was on 82k but I got no service history so I don’t know if the belt has been changed or not.

I’m humming and harring over doing it as I have the car in finance until January and thinking of getting rid when the finance is done and it’s worth very little to start with. Only thing in the back of my mind is I’m going on holiday to Kent in July and will be driving (I am in Gateshead) so worried of it going during the journey.

I can get a timing belt from Eurocarparts for under 20 quid due to a sale they have on. If I were to buy the Haynes manual is following the instructions relatively easy to do? I’m a competent IT engineer so I feel I could transfer my skills to working on my car depending on difficulty.

Most I’ve ever done on a car before is change plugs and HT pack.
Ford Focus - Ford Focus 10 plate - when to change timing belt? - elekie&a/c doctor
This Ford is 10 years or 100k miles. When changing the belt, you need a kit with all the rollers and tensioner and probably a water pump. IT engineers don’t fix cars. You’ll need the timing set up tools also.

Edited by elekie&a/c doctor on 29/05/2019 at 14:38

Ford Focus - Ford Focus 10 plate - when to change timing belt? - Chris M

Personally I wouldn't bother as you are not planning on keeping the car. You don't have any service history, so the lack of a cambelt change won't dramatically affect the sale price. If you were keeping it, I'd change the belt AND tensioner etc. but bear in mind that if you do go down the DIY route, you'll need a locking tool and some new bolts to do the job properly.

JohnF will be along soon to tell you the belt will last 250,000 miles and 25 years ;-)

Edited by Chris M on 29/05/2019 at 14:45

Ford Focus - Ford Focus 10 plate - when to change timing belt? - paul 1963

JohnF will be along soon to tell you the belt will last 250,000 miles and 25 years ;-)

Along with the oil :)

Ford Focus - Ford Focus 10 plate - when to change timing belt? - John F

Ho ho - here I am! The engineers who designed the cambelt set-up on the 1.6 Zetec intended it to be good for at least 150,000 miles. Time has proved them right, as amongst the hundreds of thousands of these engines around the world there are few stories of cambelt failure through negligence...but quite a few stories of engine failure following botched replacement. If I were the OP I would undo and pull back the top cover and inspect it. If it looks and sounds OK leave it alone. The original belt is a sturdy bit of kit, and does very little work, the load being spread across two small camshafts and a tensioner pulley. It does not drive the water pump. Our X reg Focus cambelt is 18yrs old (modern aramid belts do not deteriorate significantly with age, especially in our unchallenging climate (c.f. USA climates), and 139,000 miles. I have no intention of changing it unless I hear sounds suggestive of tension pulley failure.

As for oil - it really does remain effective longer than 365 days! The EP90 in the diff and some of the ATF in the gearbox (it has always had a slight leak at the shaft seal) of my TR7 is nearly 40yrs old, and still seems to be oily. However, the oil in the engine is only six years old, but I might change it this summer as it's done nearly 5,000 miles and the hand book recommends 6,000 miles.

Ford Focus - Ford Focus 10 plate - when to change timing belt? - skidpan

The EP90 in the diff and some of the ATF in the gearbox (it has always had a slight leak at the shaft seal) of my TR7 is nearly 40yrs old, and still seems to be oily

Gear oil does not get contaminated with combustion acids like engine oil thus will last longer between changes. The Ford sourced gearbox and diff in the Caterham do not have drain plugs as standard which gives you a clue about the change intervals. Having said that I fitted a drain plus to the gearbox to enable the oil to be changed at sensible intervals and since its been in since February 2009 a change is probably due anytime soon.