Guest John S Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 In view of the horrendous engine repair cost should a cam belt fail it would be useful to know which , if any, base vehicles have chain driven cam shafts. I am particularly interested in diesel vehicles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Neal Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 John The Chevrolet 6.2D and 6.5TD both have chain or gear driven camshafts. I believe this is true of the Chevy Duramax diesel also. Remember, there ain't no substitute for cubic inches, boy! Regards Neal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 As far as main European motorhome base-vehicle makers (and reasonably recent vehicles) are concerned, I believe Mercedes has always used a cam-chain. All other European manufacturers will have used cam-belts on their diesel engines up to about Year 2000 when Ford introduced the current Transit whose Duratorq range of diesel motors uses chain. More recently, Volkswagen has employed gear-driven cams on the 5-cylinder diesels fitted to the T5 chassis (T5 4-cylinder motors use a belt.) That leaves SEVEL (Citroen/Fiat/Peugeot), Iveco and Renault who continue to use cam-belts. To summarise - currently Ford, Mercedes and VW (on 5-cylinder diesels) DON'T use cam-belts, but, prior to 2000, all manufacturers EXCEPT Mercedes used cam-belts. (I'm about 98% sure that's right, but I'm happy to be corrected.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John S Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 Thanks Neal and Derek for you inputs. I don't think I can afford to run a Chevvy but when my present Fiat needs replacing I shall probably consider a Ford or a VW. John S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 Interestingly quite a few modern engines have gone to chain driven cams. The Vauxhall / Opel range including the smallest Corsa or Agila. Fiat Panda uses the same engine, SOME Transit engines have chain cams but some models still use a previous engine design with a belt, so be specific if you chose a Transit base. Toyota also have gone to chain cam on new Designs, these include the Yaris up to the Landcrusier with the 3 litre 4 cylinder engine. Alas the biggest beast the Landcruiser Amazon still uses an old design monster V8 Diesel with a cam belt. I don,t know about Toyota commercials but its worth an investigation, these are popular as RV bases in Australia and NZ. However the Merc Sprinter is making inrodes in that market over there. Like you, having had 2 cam belt related failures over many years I will not have a vehicle with one again. Its not just the belts that fail, its also the tensioners and their bearings that are "sealed for life" that pack up. Net result is the same as a belt breakage. A wallet heamorage! Even if your annual mileage is low the belts still need replacement as the material ages. This does not happen with chains that are continually lubricated with the engine oil. Oh yes, and the Morris Minor had a chain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Clive: Are you talking about the Transit petrol engine? I believed all 2000-onwards Transit diesels used overhead-cam chain-drive (at least that's what Ford claim!) Similarly, are you sure about the Morris Minor? I felt certain its A-Series motor's valves were push-rod operated (hence no overhead-cam to drive). Perhaps the MM prototypes used an OHC motor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike C Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 Cam chain failures - see Vauxhall Vectra 2.2 16v. It's not just the Belt v the Chain but how the chain /belt is tensioned and how the chain is lubricated. Chain in Morris Minor? Special fitment , pull it and the front nearside suspension collapses!!! Regards, Mike C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 Had that happen on my Scimitar GTE (similar suspension design) and, oddly enough, it was the nearside that came apart. A startling and educational experience having a 4-wheel car suddenly convert itself to a 3-wheeler! I sometimes wondered if its Reliant origins played a part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dave Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 Derek, Yes the morris minor did have a chain driven cam, just because it wasn't overhead cam didn't mean there was no cam drive system, it still needed to turn at half engine speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike C Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 Hello Dave, 10 out of 10, it was usually referrred to as the Timing Chain and I have never in all the years of owning/working on A series engine seen one fail. Regards, Mike C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 If ever there was proof my memory's going this was it. It's such a long time since I pulled a car motor apart, but am I right in thinking that, on push-rod OHV engines, chain-drive between crankshaft and cam was near enough universal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Neal Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 Derek Yes, I believe you are correct. Although Mike C has never seen a timing chain failure on an A-series engine, they DO fail on other makes. I know, I was that soldier! Neal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Yes, the timing chain was a DUPLEX chain of the same type as used as the PRIMARY CHAIN on the BSA A10 motorcycle engine and also the steering system chain of the Lansing Bagnal FRES2 fork truck and POEP3 pallet truck. Next! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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