BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 24 May 20 - 05:24 PM

I'm hoping to get my car back this week, lthough no real hurry because I have the use of a loan car - only problem is that it's manual, whereas mine is an automatic.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: JHW
Date: 24 May 20 - 04:38 PM

My Skoda was booked for its MOT mid March, not quite lockdown but folks very wary. Got service done same time slightly early. Just as well.
Thanks SS for chain advice, will check.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Phillip
Date: 24 May 20 - 10:35 AM

VW Polos now come with a recommendation for replacement based on time not mileage, presumably the reasoning bewing that rubber perishes in time whether the car is used heavily or not. My car was due to have the cam belt replaced and the brake fluid changed on the day lockdown started...

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 May 20 - 08:50 AM

Generally, chains don't need replacing, but check the manual. They can break, however, but that's far less likely than a belt breaking.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: JHW
Date: 24 May 20 - 05:47 AM

I've always had belts changed at specified interval though remember manufacturers don't allow for this to be done readily. Engine mounting may need to be undone. No change dictated for two cars I've had with a chain. Is that ok?

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 May 20 - 06:09 AM

I think belts are quieter than chains too. Intervals can be very long these days. I think mine was 80 or 90 thousand miles, summat like that. Definitely something you need to find out when you buy a car, and if it's second-hand you need to know reliably when it was last done.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Gurney
Date: 20 May 20 - 10:49 PM

Timing belts and chains should be changed before they break. It is bloody expensive to repair the damage if one breaks at speed, because the pistons hit and bend the valves, which sometimes make holes in the pistons.
As you can't tell when they will go, the only thing that you can do is stick to the manual recommendations.
Belts are the modern way, and seem to be less reliable than chains, but chains wear the cogs which drive them.

Stick to the instructions, I do.
Or buy brand-new cars.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 20 May 20 - 04:01 PM

Yes, I shared a 1955 Morris Minor with my Mum in the mid-60s and having a 850cc engine which I would hammer at 75mph the big ends would start to knock every few months. I could drain the oil, drop the sump, change the big end shells and have it back on the road in 3 hours!

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: weerover
Date: 20 May 20 - 10:04 AM

I'm no mechanic, but back in the days when space in the engine compartment was much less efficiently used I could do some repairs/replacements myself. When the water pump on my old-style Skoda (butt of many a joke) failed I went to the nearest scrapyard and got a replacement for £5. Took about ten minutes to swap over, though I noticed the vanes on the replacements were about half the depth of those on the original, but it fit and seemed to work. Later, when looking up something else in the workshop manual I found it said the water pump changed in this respect in a certain year and "on no account" should one be replaced by the other. By this time I had been driving with it for over a year without mishap!

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 19 May 20 - 03:33 PM

I remember after driving home from The Minack Theatre, 300+ miles with smoke pouring out of the exhaust, and seemingly running on 3 cylinders. A mechanic suspected the timing, and when confirmed, suggested that a reconditioned engine - supply & fit, would be only £100 more than replacing the timing chain alone, and he was right. Not today though!

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 May 20 - 02:42 PM

Yep, those little lazy tensioner wheels need checking too. Sometimes it's one of those rattling that warns you of trouble ahead.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: EBarnacle
Date: 19 May 20 - 02:14 PM

I had a timing belt on my Mercury Villager fail once. No major damage but the mechanic said it was caused by the spring in the belt tensioner having given up. This allowed slack on the belt, which caused strain when the engine started up. One day, it snapped.

Around here, a belt replacement, with water pump, runs about $800, whether or not the vehicle has to be towed in.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 May 20 - 11:24 AM

"A far cry from the 6,000 miles/six months service intervals when I first started driving four-wheeled vehicles in 1972."

I had an early '70s Triumph Dolomite 1850. You wouldn't get 6000 miles between services because you could never get more than 4000 miles out of the front brake pads. :-). I got very adept at changing' em. In fact, I serviced my cars meself in those days. Dolomites had other little foibles. The exhaust manifold had a bolt that was prone to working loose, causing the manifold to blow slightly, but the only way you could get at it was to remove the starter motor. They also leaked oil on to the top of the engine block, which had shallow little drillings in it in which the oil collected. If you drove up a very steep slope, or up a ramp to get the exhaust replaced (think 12-month warranty plus a few days over), the oil flowed backwards and a little bit seeped into the clutch bell-housing, so your clutch slipped for the next hundred miles. Happy days!

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: G-Force
Date: 19 May 20 - 10:44 AM

Even chains can be a problem if the lubricating device stops working, e.g. clogs up.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 19 May 20 - 09:53 AM

I assumed the OP wasn’t sure whether his car has a belt or a chain. Either way, if the service schedule says replace, only a fool would ignore it, surely?

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 19 May 20 - 09:49 AM

The OP said timing belt chain. I might point out that they are two different things, and while a belt should be replaced as recommended by the makers, a chain should not require replacing.Mention was made of a "safe" engine, and I assume this is one where the pistons and valves don't collide if a belt goes, but on engines where they do, it's mega bucks.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 19 May 20 - 08:13 AM

60,000 miles for a timing belt and water-pump change on my diesel VW Golf. Service interval is 10,000 miles or 12 months, those two usually coincide in January each year.

A far cry from the 6,000 miles/six months service intervals when I first started driving four-wheeled vehicles in 1972.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 May 20 - 08:00 AM

I've owned Hondas since the 1980s, and have the cars serviced according to manufacturer spec - every 7,500 miles. On several cars, Honda has issued service bulletins extending the time for major services- notably the timing belt, which can often go to 105,000 miles. Couldn't do that with US cars in the old days.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Mr Red
Date: 19 May 20 - 06:57 AM

Toyota Yaris - timing chain. Should I hang on to it?
Mind you I have looked at a Suzuki Swift that fits my requirement BUT is a 4X4, which is maybe a deal breaker. And those doors & keyless ignition. - The vendor hadn't heard of the excessive rise in thefts from such vehicles. Well he wouldn't would he? But he was aware of a pocket to put the keys in, strange!

Two criminals only need two RX/TX transmitters and a bit of software. And that safe distance becomes the range of the transmitters.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: banjoman
Date: 19 May 20 - 06:08 AM

When I worked for the AA many years ago, it was always the case that service intervals were strictly adhered to. I later had a belt go on a Mazda 929l. Although this had a so called "safe" engine, it still cost a bit to repair.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 19 May 20 - 05:42 AM

Interesting, my 2003 Nissan Micra was due for a timing belt change at the major service later this year, but it failed half a mile from my house 2 weeks ago and is being replaced once the part(s) have arrived.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 May 20 - 05:39 AM

And no back-street Croydonista cowboy garages, Bonzo. Get a reputable garage to do it. It's more than possible to do the job wrong...

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 May 20 - 04:43 AM

Stick to the interval. It might cost you three or four hundred quid (plus water pump, which is usually cheap). If your belt breaks it will almost certainly wipe out your engine. Dunno whether any cars come with "safe engines" these days. Many moons ago I had a Vauxhall Nova whose engine survived a busted belt. Great little car it was. Eventually the driver's seat sort of disintegrated. The main problem was the colour, best described as faecal brown. At least I got it cheap off a mate. £800 and it lasted me for years. Never let me down. Luckily, that belt busted in Bude.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 19 May 20 - 03:55 AM

Had my timing belt and water-pump changed a few months ago. Well worth the cost for the peace of mind.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 19 May 20 - 03:29 AM

And while it is stripped down, get the water pump replaced.Pumps don't cost much but replace one you have to take the timing belt off which takes time.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 19 May 20 - 02:52 AM

Having had a timing chain/belt fail when I was a long way from home, you have my absolute assurance that having it changed at the recommended interval is by far the cheapest option - both in terms of financial cost, and convenience.

The cost of Stripping, repairing, and rebuilding my damaged engine, back around 1992 or 93, was a few quid short of a grand.

Your money, your risk.

Subject: RE: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 19 May 20 - 02:48 AM

Brother, initially with a Mitsibushi garage but most of his time with a Citroen main dealer before leaving the trade (and becoming a gardener) would definitely recommend replacement. Pistons hitting valves is bad news.

Subject: BS: Car timing chain/belt replacement
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 19 May 20 - 02:27 AM

Do folks change your car's timing chain/belt at the recommended service interval or wait for it to fail - both equally expensive of course!!