cam belts...do they really go ping

[andy100]

My main dealer says cam belts should be changed on the 400's at 6 years or 60k miles whichever comes first. mine has been on for 5 and done 37k so im not worried yet.
my mate has just had a 2.0 mondeo one done, its first, at 88k. the mechanic said there was nothing wrong with the belt but the two metal cogs it sits on were falling apart. rubber tougher than metal?
Any cam belt horror stories? feel free to tell all...

[PNuT]

only a fool leaves his cambelt untill it snaps!

[pcdoc]

About 15 years ago my mates Sierra cam belt snapped, that left us with about 3 days work and ended up costing him 265 quid in total having new valves fitted head skimmed new gasket set etc.

The only way to be is, you buy a car 1, put fuel in take it home 2, if no proof, change cam belt.

It's also a helluva lot cheaper, 80 to 150 quid to fit a cam belt or 400 quid plus for all the damage put right. I know which way I would always go.

[Alec Dawe]

I had cambelt go on a series 2 Astra (Company Car) accelerating to join a dual carriageway.
Belt let go at 6000rpm (it was only 30,000 miles old, Vauxhalls interval was 60,ooo I think).
Result New Engine. Old engine not even worth rebuild. Valves bent, camshaft bent, head cracked, conrods bent, crankshaft out of line.

Got new engine under warranty, but was a hel of a mess, and I think we only got the engine cos it was a company car, and vauxhalls didn't want to loose the contract for about 500 cars a year, might have been different if it had been a private sale. Even then Vauxhall tried to say I had over revved it, hard to do with a rev limiting ignition cut out as standard on the car!!

My feeling now, if in any doubt, change the belt!

[alsner]

Yes they do go ping and you should always replace before the stated interval period if you work out how much £ fuel you put in and compare that to a cambelt its a small price to pay compared with if it does go PING CRUNCH MUNCH ouch!! £££££££££££££.

ALi

[4 forty]

the belt should be renewed before the recommended time if the car is doing short stop/start trips, as this puts more strain on the belt, unlike motorway miles.
paul

[Capnslippers]

Originally Posted by PNuT

only a fool leaves his cambelt untill it snaps!

I should hold my hands up then - Clio 1.2 60k, just over the service interval, it didn't go 'ping' - it just snapped and the engine died. Shiney new engine installed after handing over 1500 notes.

On the plus side a friend lent me his weekend car, a Mazda MX-6, until mine was fixed. When i got my 1200cc clio back it did not hang around long after having driven around in a 2.5 V6!! I swapped it for a Saab 9-5 that had been 'tweeked' over at Abbott Racing (are we allowed to use the 'S' word on here?!)