I have been reading the thread regarding oil change intervals and one or two contributors mentioned cambelts.
I am not sure what the manufacturer recommends (if anything) for my car so perhaps I could have a reasonably definative opinion from the techies amongst us. My car is to be run until either it, or I am dead!
Skoda Fabia 1.9tdi with the VW PD 101 bhp diesel engine.
I already change the oil & filter at around 10,000 kilometer intervals BTW - much to the surprise of the franchised VW/Skoda dealers I have used. Now it's out of warranty I am going for menu servicing from Norauto - Spanish equivalent of say, Halfords. AND free coffee & pasties while you wait!
Roger. (in the UK for 2 more weeks and then back to the sun! )
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Now here is a challenge! Apparently when fitted to Ford Galaxys, Shrans etc and some other VW models, the original change interval was 60,000 miles but when warranties were extended, this decreased to 40,000 miles. Some Skoda handbooks apparently state 60,000 mile intervals but I have heard rumours that others state even longer intervals......
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John L posted yesterday that his Passat had done 232k on the original cambelt. Yet manufacturers specify about 60-80k, and HJ seems to recommend half that. I therefore conclude that the average life for a belt is quite high, but the standard deviation is rather large. John L isn't the only person whose cambelt has gone on for 'ever'.
I'm going to make some potentially rash assumptions - if anybody has industry data, that would be very helpful. So lets guess that the manufacturer (at 80k) & John are both 3 standard deviations from the mean - which would give a 1-in-1000 chance of failure.
[Assuming only 1 in 3 cars does 60k miles in its first 3 years, a manufacturer would only have to pay for a new engine on 1 in 3000 cars - and to be honest, that's not a very high failure rate.]
So 170k (232k - 60k) is 6 SDs, making a SD 30k, and making the mean failure point 150k. So if you run your car 150k miles, you have a 50:50 chance of a failed belt. Perhaps that is a risk worth running when your car is worth only a few hundred & the belt change is going to cost half the value of the car.
Perhaps we do mollycoddle our cars. If it costs £300 to change the belt, and taking it dosn to 2 SDs (so in this guess-example 90k, not 60k) gives you a 2% chance of failure, then it's probably not worth changing the belt.
Unless you value that last 1.9% of 'reliability'. Or rather, reduced probability of failure, for a belt can snap at any age.
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My MD had the belt go on his Vectra last week. Granted it had done about 120k which is far more than the recommended interval for changing it, but the simple fact is they will fail at some point and the further beyond the point the manufacturer recommends it be changed you go, the more of a risk you are taking that the cost of replacement will be more than the cost of repairing the engine.
Other things to factor in to the decision are the cost of being without a car both in terms of providing an alternative and inconvenience and any additional recovery costs. Our MD doesn't believe in providing AA cover on company cars. When our Sales Manager's Vectra snapped a timing belt on the M5 it cost rather a lot to get it towed off the motorway and a lot more to get someone down there to recover it, on top of the cost to repair the engine.
Personally, I'd go with changing it at or near the recommended point. A specialist (other than a dealer) would be unlikely to charge much over £100-150 for the job and it's worth that for peace of mind...
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>A specialist (other than a dealer) would be unlikely to charge much over £100-150 for the job
There's a challenge, SteveH42. A bottle of Malt Whisky for you if you can find somebody within the M25 or 10 miles of the M11 to change the cambelt & tensioner for the Audi AAR engine for under £200 (incl VAT). 2 bottles for under £150. 3 bottles for under £110.
That's a serious challenge for you. In fact, for anybody. How generous am I?
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Well, yes, of course it will vary for the cars where the manufacturer has gone out of their way to make it unduly complex. Most cars should come in well under the £300 you suggest though, at least away from a main dealer. (That said, the dealer turned out to be the cheapest for my old Tipo, coming in at well under £100...)
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>Most cars should come in well under the £300 you suggest though
Sorry, I wittered on somewhere else in the last couple of days about the high cost on my car. 2.5 hours. £130 odd for the tensioner, £20 for the belt. Central bolt done up to 450 ft-lbs...
Ah well! well worth it for the fun of driving my luxury car.
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OOPs - spelling! definitive and pastries NOT pasties: the Spanish don't do pasties , worse luck!
Roger. (in the UK for 2 more weeks and then back to the sun! )
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Stupid question from the none-mechanically minded. Are the cam belts and timing belts the same thing? If not - what does the cam belt do?
Cheers
Adam
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Are the cam belts and timing belts the same thing?
Yes.
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>>>>>>OOPs - spelling! definitive and pastries NOT pasties: the Spanish don't do pasties, worse luck!
I was wondering about that. I suppose you have to make do with tapas and a few glasses of Fundador (when you get home of course!)
On thread: much discussion about mileage requirements for cambelt changes. But what about wear and tear over time as another measure?
My local Swiss garage owner recommends changing them every 3 years regardless of mileage, simply because of aging, and because (fairly obviously) an engine subjected to a lot of stop start driving would give its cambelt a harder time than one cruising long distances at more or less constant speeds. Says it's (relatively) cheap insurance, and from the horror stories of blown engines we read here, I think I'll take his advice.
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Nope - PROPER San Mig, made in Malaga, or even better, Mahou Cinco Estrellas or a nice Osborne brandy - well we have to support the firm which makes all those nice fighting bull signs one can see on the motorway routes
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Roger. (in the UK for 2 more weeks and then back to the sun! )
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Sorry Roger, ours is 5%. Your stuff isn't. Indeed the new SM Strong Ice is 6%. Any Hong Kong bartender worth his salt will ask you do you want a Hong Kong Sam Magoo or a Philippines one. Any old Far East hand will have the answer to that LOL...
www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=93
However since we must concern ourselves less with the octane rating of the amber nectar, in deference to the spirit of these columns, and more so with the mundane details of timing belt changes, I am sufficiently unnerved by what I have read about belt failures to have Herself's car done next week.
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