Belt shelf life

Willy · Post by **Willy** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:57 pm

Do belts have a shelf life, like tyres, before degrading?

Only I was rummaging in the boot earlier behind the trim and, other than two pen knives, found a packaged HP belt (part 1A0800). It has gone "square" tbf so I think that may answer my question...

In other news, turns out the tyres on the speedlines I bought last week have just celebrated their sixth birthday. Damn! Looks like it'll be a pricey tyre transfusion from the steelies I have on now...

citsncycles · Post by **citsncycles** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 8:17 pm

Belts, like tyres, do degrade over time, with how quickly depending on the quality of the materials used and how it's been stored.

This can be demonstrated by the service intervals on belt changes often quoting a time as well as a mileage. A demonstration of this was when the timing belt went on a mates Alpha 20k before the mileage interval, but after 9 years, resulting in a rebuild costing over a grand.

Personally, I'd be very wary of any belt where you don't know where it came from, and I only buy belts from a trusted source in the hopes they haven't been on the shelf too long!

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 9:17 pm

Good point about cambelts, they never appear to have a date of when it was made

So even if you bought one from a reputable source, how old actually is it?

Also agree with Mike about degredation, its age or mileage, whichever comes 1st, why take the risk when the cost benefits are seriously outweighed by the repair bill.

Willy · Post by **Willy** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 9:38 pm

MULLEY wrote:Good point about cambelts, they never appear to have a date of when it was made So even if you bought one from a reputable source, how old actually is it?

That's what I was thinking - with BX parts in such low demand, I imagine most belts bought could be several years old by the time they end up on an engine.

Gates website wrote:Q. What is the normal shelf life of a drive belt?

A. When belts are properly stored, according to RMA bulletin IP3-4, no significant change in performance should
be detected for up to 8 years. Proper storage, as described in this bulletin, means the belt should be protected from
moisture, temperature extremes, direct sunlight, and high ozone levels. The belt should be stored in it original
package, avoiding sharp bends or crimping that could damage the belt. Also, belts should not be bent or hung on
anything with a diameter less than the smallest recommended pulley diameter for that cross section.
Machines using belt drives sometimes stand idle for prolonged periods (6 mo. or longer). The tension on such
belts should be relaxed during idle periods and the equipment should be stored in an environment that is consistent
with belt-storage guidelines. If this is not possible, such as with equipment stored outdoors in a cold environment,
the belts should be removed and stored separately.

Kitch · Post by **Kitch** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:19 pm

Unless theres anything obviously wrong, it's not worth worrying about. So many people get fussy over the brand of part they use, or the shelf-age of the part and so on. Reality is you will never know what you're buying with a car of this age. There are only a handful of parts used on the BX which are still in production (oil and fuel filters, some bushes etc) so it's not worth worrying about. Life is too short! And as for the brands....anyone who insists on genuine parts is misguided and misinformed. That's not to say there are some cheap crap imitations out there, but overall the brand doesn't matter. One factory will have around 20 different boxes in the packaging dept, if you get me

BX Meteor · Post by **BX Meteor** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:48 pm

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:20 am

There are loads of Peugeot's out there with the exact same TU & XUD engines, so quite a lot of parts such as timing belts will be new rather than collecting dust on shelves.

What this posting was about was the age of the belt. If the manufacturer recommends that a belt is good for 50k or 4yrs, if the belt has been on a shelf for 4yrs already, how can you tell? It might be the case that they degrade very slowly over time if its brand new & has never been used, i've personally not seen any information regarding this though, so i'm quite interested in this line of enquiry. Interesting info regarding Gates though.

Willy · Post by **Willy** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 1:21 am

Interesting feedback.

Returning to the more anecdotal part of my post, six year old tyres: yes/no? Visibly they're fine, I was just alerted by the relative scaremongering in the recent alloys (on phone no hyperlinking!) thread elsewhere.

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 8:21 am

Personally I wouldn't worry about those 6 year old tyres if they look OK - a major part of tyre ageing is UV degradation so if these have been stored out of sunlight that will have helped. Tyre manufacturers tend to suggest more like 5 years, but they obviously have a vested interest...

Kitch wrote:One factory will have around 20 different boxes in the packaging dept, if you get me

Well yes, but there are different standards of production in the same factory - at QH the aftermarket parts weren't the same as the OE ones. There was even an unofficial difference between OE spares and OE parts for the engine plants - something that was slightly marginal would be sent for OE spares as the implications/costs of something failing when fitted by a main dealer were much less than stopping the engine production line while they investigated the failure!

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 6:09 pm

If the tyres are 6yrs old, there is a higher risk of them failing. Chances are that you'll be fine on a hydraulic citroen as even if you had a blow out the car would be controllable, on normal springs i wouldn't personally take the risk.

I personally wouldn't pay much money for 6yr old tyres as you might only get a couple of years out of them max, before any cracking appears, & if it does i'd then get rid of them asap. I'd also be checking them regularly to ensure that there aren't any bulges etc appearing.

KevR · Post by **KevR** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 9:52 am

FWIW, I'm still running on Michelin MXL tyres (cue horrified gasps from some members). No idea how old they are, but they're not cracked or perished, and had been stored in the dark until I bought them a couple of years back. 50,000 miles on them to date. I have another complete set of new old stock MXLs also in the dark and won't hesitate to fit those when the time comes. Yes, I'll keep a close eye on them, but then I'd do that anyway...

Prior to this set I had another set of MXLs which were probably even older. In all I've been running scrapyard tyres and old stock MXLs on BXs for 13 years and at least 160,000 miles. In that time I've had one blow-out and one deformed tyre, both a week or so after VERY heavy blows on sharp edged, water-filled potholes (the sort that make your fillings drop out and convince you you've actually broken the suspension).

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 12:09 pm

Exactly. That's the point I'm making - the tyre manufacturers' 5 year maximum tyre life (which is going to be on the pessimistic side anyway) IMO doesn't apply to tyres that have been stored out of direct sunlight without the weight of a car on them. Doesn't necessarily mean that all old tyres are OK, but then we get back to the need for regular inspections, which of course we all do anyway....

A bit academic in my case, as on the BX I'm lucky to get more than a year's tyre life anyway!

KevR · Post by **KevR** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 12:22 pm

mat_fenwick wrote: A bit academic in my case, as on the BX I'm lucky to get more than a year's tyre life anyway!

Blimey, how many miles do you do...?

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 12:47 pm

I usually do about 20k in total, most of that in the BX so above average but not massively so. It's just that I really seem to go through tyres - even the rear ones don't seem that far behind with wear (I usually swap them to the front when the fronts need changing, get a few more miles out of them and it's easier on the wallet only getting two at a time!)

The only thing I can put it down to is cornering and/or the road surface, as I never intentionally spin the wheels, and maybe only 2 or 3 times over the life of the tyre.

KevR · Post by **KevR** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 1:44 pm

I suppose the next question is, what kind of tyres do you use?