B##locks!

[Cornishbx16v]

well much as the title sais really!
Cambelt snapped yesterday whilst on my way to pick the inlaws up from holiday!
cruising along in effortless comfort just got to 50 after accelerating gently for a change out foa 40 limit (wife was with me!) and all of a sudden all the power goes! firsth thoguht is bump her back into life, but she's having none of it! so pull up at the side of the road, flashers on, turn her over and the dreaded highpitch whine instead of the normal chugg chugg vrooom! got out and checked under the bonnet but everything else was fine! Bugger htought the worts but was hoping on a bit of optimism! got her flatbedded home (£80!!!!!!!!!!!) the 17 miles i had gone and started looking at the problems! peeled the cover back and i could see all the shiny tensioner! so cover back bonnet shut car locked and fridge opened for beer!
been out today to take a pic or two after i got the cover off! (half na hour with removing the engine mount!!)


so started pricing up spares last night, and am going to get my complete spare head from the loft this weekend then start saving i think loL! used my car tax fund up to get her home loL! and tax is end of the month and i have no where off road to strore it! Nevermind! call it a challenge hahaha!
rest assured by the arrival of junior in august it will be fixed!
thought i would let you all know seeing as i posted on a couple other forums too! hehe!
hey ho, it happens!

[Way2go]

Commiserations, that is indeed unfortunate & sickening! Best wishes for the repairs.
How long & how many miles had the cambelt done by the way?

[Cornishbx16v]

had only done about 30k miles but had been on for about 4 1/2 years! was due a change next month which was sickening! (car only does around 10 miles a week if that at the mo!)

[pitman]

My deepest sympathy!

As I see that the drivebelt is off, too. Does the drivebelt has broken first and then come into the cambelt or was it the other way round?

Do you know when the drivebelt has been changed the last time?

[Way2go]

had only done about 30k miles but had been on for about 4 1/2 years!

That doesn't sound excessive at all!

Opting to have this belt job done by an independent Citroen trained guy, he told me that there are some poor quality cambelts on sale at the factors and that it is important to specify a Gates belt as their reliability is proven. I have no way of knowing if this is true but he has been right on other aspects of the car. No doubt others will have an opinion on this.

[silverfox]

Excuse my ignorance but is the 1749 TXD a "safe" engine if the cam belt goes?

[Cornishbx16v]

the alternator belt i took off to gain a bit more room with removing the cam cover! i need to have a look at the tensioner thats on the front of the engine to check it over as the one on the back is fine! also coulndt be bothered to pull all the belt out and see if its worn or just broken loL! had had enough by that stage! (aching like mad from having to walk back into the village to get the recovery company's number!)

[DavidRutherford]

Excuse my ignorance but is the 1749 TXD a "safe" engine if the cam belt goes?

The 1769 XUD7T engine isn't failsafe. If the belt snaps, say goodbye to various valves and probably the camshaft too. Very few modern engines are failsafe.

As for the 16v belt.... 4.5 years isn't excessive at all. I've often heard that a belt should be changed if it's over 5 years old anyway, regardless of mileage, but very few are.

Recently changed a belt (on a XUD9TE) which was at 72k and 7 years old. Wasn't in good condition, but it certainly didn't look like it was anywhere near failing.

Bad luck indeed. Hope there's at least some saveable bits in the head!

[mnde]

Fook. Sorry to hear that Cornish

Must get mine changed in next few months, as according to my service history it was last changed in 1997... after the belt snapped. I have a main dealer bill for over 1000 quid including all new valves, seals, gaskets etc.- so that's def what happened. Funny thing is at the top it says car in for INVESTIGATE NON-START Mileage was around 58,000...

Mark.

[Cornishbx16v]

just poped out to the car to check the front tensioner as was niggling my head haha! and its free and super slick running! which is good! but did pull the belt out and have a couple more pics!!!


checked the rest of the belt and there are no signs of wear anywhere on it! bummer really but hey ho! it happens loL!

[tim leech]

[cavmad]

Sorry to hear that Cornish, hope to hear you have it back on the road soon.

[AlanS]

had only done about 30k miles but had been on for about 4 1/2 years!

That doesn't sound excessive at all!

Opting to have this belt job done by an independent Citroen trained guy, he told me that there are some poor quality cambelts on sale at the factors and that it is important to specify a Gates belt as their reliability is proven. I have no way of knowing if this is true but he has been right on other aspects of the car. No doubt others will have an opinion on this.

Going back a few years and I was told to avoid Gates at all costs when it comes to the 16V engine due to their reputation for failing on that engine. I think in more recent times they have sorted the problems they had as I understand their profiles came into question back then, but these days they claim to be on 3rd generation belts which are of the non stretching variety. I never did agree with "retensioning" belts as some did mainly because I felt it could lead to a situation like this by doing unseen damage to the cords and causing premature failure.
Sorry to hear about it Timmo, but having a spare head eases the pain somewhat and will make the actual job a bit more straightforward.


Alan S

[Stewart (oily!)]

Commiserations Timmo, it does not sound like you contributed to that one, just bad luck I guess
Stewart

[Gareth Wales]

What a bast***d Timmo, our worst nightmare.
Hope you get back on the road asap.
Gareth