I can relax now(I think)

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:17 am

After chatting with other at the National I had to check when (and if) the cambelt had been done on my low miles (but 1990) TGS.

I've just checked: It was done as part of a 48000 mile service by Citroen Worthing less than three and a half years ago since when the car's done 5,150 miles.

I can relax now. Yes?

tim leech · Post by **tim leech** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:24 am

If it were me I would get it changed at a 4 year interval.

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:20 am

Might not have the car then

cavmad · Post by **cavmad** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:58 am

Can they perish with age though Phil? I always wondered how safe it is to rely on mileage only.

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 12:13 pm

But is 3-4 years that old? I wouldn't go beyond 5 personally, just because of the general consensus. But I bet they don't go bad until way after that. Best to be sure though.

If, as I should, I keep the TGS for the next year at least, I'll change it. around Xmas time (after four years and around 8k miles after it was last done!)...

Post by **docchevron** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:44 pm

I really wouldn't worry Philip.
It should be fine.

If it does break, just make sure it breaks at a CCC event and we'll fix it on-site!

tim leech · Post by **tim leech** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:12 pm

docchevron1472 wrote:I really wouldn't worry Philip.
It should be fine.

If it does break, just make sure it breaks at a CCC event and we'll fix it on-site!

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:13 pm

Belts do degrade over time, i also thought that if they remain unused, that can actually make them rot quicker???

DLM · Post by **DLM** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:40 am

A visual check will give some indication of general condition to give some peace of mind - it's not infallible but should only require removal of a few clips.

DavidRutherford · Post by **DavidRutherford** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 11:00 pm

DLM wrote:A visual check will

.... tell you nothing at all.

Sorry to have to disagree with you DLM, but a 5000 mile / 6 month old belt looks EXACTLY the same as a 50000 mile / 6 year old one, and EXACTLY the same as one that's on the verge of snapping.

Until you remove the belt, and bend it back on itself, you can't tell a thing by looking at it. Even then, the only visual clue will be small cracks at the root of the teeth if it's just about completely shot. Other than that, one cambelt looks very much like any other.

I've removed belts that look fine in situ, and are completely shot. Likewise, I've seen belts that are no more than a few thousand miles old snapped in two, simply because they were over-tensioned when fitted.

For instance: This belt on a 1.9D 309 looked fine. I was contemplating not changing it, but being as the engine was out anyway, it was 20 mins to change it:

Once removed, it was obviously well past it's best. You can clearly see the beginnings of root cracking on the tooth that I'm bending:

New belt fitted and tensioned:

After running the engine for a bit, and driving it up the road and back, the new belt looked exactly the same as the old one did while installed.

When it comes to a cam-belt, if you've any doubt about it whatsoever, change it. There's not only the fact that it'll be a new belt, but new belts are also invariably better quality and less likely to skip/jump/snap than an older one that may be low mileage, but been on the car for 15 years.

The other thing to be very careful of is the garage who relies on there being no visual difference between a new and an old belt, and doesn't actually change it. I know of three garages in my local area who are frightened of cambelts, so they just clean the covers up a bit, and don't actually change them. Naturally, I have no proof of this, but given that I used to work for the local motor factors, and these garages NEVER ordered cam belts, it's a bit odd that they used to charge people for having changed them......

Plus I've heard the same from other sources, so I'm willing to believe it's true. If that's 3 garages out of about 45-50 in my area, or about 5%, given that there's 400-and-odd members signed up here, statistically, 20 of them will have been to a garage like this in the past...