Timing Belt Replacement

[johnA]

I currently own a 5 year old Autosleeper Talisman on a Peugeot Boxer 2.8 Diesel and have been advised by my service agent I should now consider having the timing belt replaced. The vehicle has completed 58,000 miles. I have received a quote of £596 to perform this work and am interested to know what other people's experiences are of having this work undertaken. I assume this is essential maintenance but would welcome comments regarding the timing and cost of the work. Are there any other things I need to consider when opting to have this work done? Is this a job to be carried out only by a main agent? What are other owners' experiences of timing belt replacement? I'm most grateful for any help you feel able to provide.

[colin]

I cannot coment on pug timing belt replacement, but in general I would say don't leave it to late. On many engines you need to consider replacing rollers as well as belt as these can break up, on others it is advisable to replace waterpump at same time, on our astra I replaced belt, rollers and tensioner (at 30,000miles) 2 months later I had to replace waterpump along with belt and rollers, you won't find this on service schedule but it is a known fault. Ford have had many claims against them because of extended service life of timing belt not working.

[Clive]

On older Vauxhalls at least the tensioner bearing doesn,t always last as long as the belt! I know to my cost. Good buy diesel Astra!! Later vauxhalls have chain cam drive, same as Mercedes and the new Renault. If you get a main dealer to do the work and it goes wrong you have somewhere to go back to. Fred Bloggs may not be so accomodating. Make sure (in writing) that the job comes with a guarantee that includes consequential damage. A replacement cylinder head is a lot more expensive than a cam belt and tensioner bearing.

[AlfM]

Don't know about Pug Diesels, but my timing belt failed on a petrol engined 406 well before the recommended milage but just from old age. cost of repair over £1200. I'd recommend getting some more quotes for the replacement cost, but get it replaced. A diesel engine with the timing belt breaking would have even more damage than on a ptrol engine. A good independant garage will be able to carry out the work if you do not want to use a main dealer.

[roger s]

I had our belt and rollers changed at 5 years on our 2.5td Executive. It was suggested that the rollers be changed at the same time as the belt, these in fact were the major cost of the job in our case, not the labour or the timing belt. We changed on an age basis rather than mileage - its cheaper than a new engine !

[barrie w]

good morning john i've just had a look at my motor trade technical data program. for a 2000 year 2.8 peugeot boxer the cam belt recomendations are :- belt change @ 75000 mls in normal use or every 10 years.or 60000 mls if used in adverse conditions. the labour time allowance is 2.90 hrs for normal engines or 3.4 hours if you have cab air con. in light of the £600 quote i would ask the dealers labour charge out rate & ask the price of a cam belt kit from the parts department. you should then have a better idea of if you are being offered value for money. there are many motor factors offering o e quality belt kits at a more favourable price than main dealers. hope this helps a little but in the end it's your choice & your cash. barrie.

[patrickr]

Hi John That seems excessive. Just had timing belt replaced at TB Turbo in Lancaster. Vehicle is Fiat 2.8JTD, cost £210 inc parts and VAT. Smashing service, courtesy car or lift into town included. A very satisfied customer. Tel 0152467157. Regards P

[mandsu]

Hi all, USA Legislation has placed a minimum life on cambelts when vehicles are imported. This limit is 100,000 miles. However, deteriation can take place with age as well and i believe the maximum age limit is 5 years. My MGF sportscar had only covered 31,000 miles but had received two new replacemnt belts in 10 years according to the service documents and guide. Mandsu

[colin]

[QUOTE]mandsu - 2006-05-27 3:49 PM Hi all, USA Legislation has placed a minimum life on cambelts when vehicles are imported. This limit is 100,000 miles. However, deteriation can take place with age as well and i believe the maximum age limit is 5 years. My MGF sportscar had only covered 31,000 miles but had received two new replacemnt belts in 10 years according to the service documents and guide. Mandsu[/QUOTE] This is why Ford have been having so much trouble, fleet users have found that for Focus petrol engines 60,000mile max and disel 35,000mile

[Simon]

Haynes seem to always recommend replacement at 5 years regardless what the manufacturer recommendation is. My local garage did my Ducato 2.5 TD cam belt for about £200.00. This cost is far cheaper than repairing any damage if it snaps!

[Derek Uzzell]

The problem with cam-belts is that they can break with no warning whatsoever and at no predictable interval following fitting. (I remember that the belts of Peugeot 205 GTI cars gained a certain notoriety for failing just after the warranty's expiry!) Replacement at 5 years seems to be generally recommended by experienced mechanics, even if the vehicle's handbook states a longer interval or a handbook-specified mileage has not been reached. The belt on our Golf TDI was replaced at 8 years and 41k miles as part of the annual service and (in 2003) added about £90 to the bill. Because a cam-belt change can be expensive it's often overlooked on older vehicles, so something to watch out for when buying second-hand. Hydraulic fluid should also be changed regularly (normally every 2 or 3 years dependent on the service schedule) - another task that regularly gets missed.

[ALAN G]

The recommendation from Peugeot for both my My 1.9 TD Peugeot 'van and my 406 was to change the belt at five years or 72000 miles. [similar engines] The van has 23000 miles on the clock. The 406 has 101000 miles on the clock but the belt was changed at 72000 miles, 5 years ago. At that time it was a car leased to my son and I'm sure that the leasing company would not have changed the idlers. Anyhow my local garage changed both belts and idlers for me on both vehicles with genuine Peugeot parts. Cost was 3 hours labour £120 parts £72.02 plus VAT came to £225.62 If you are anywhere near Bournemouth give Malvern Garage a ring on 01202 250986 Being interested in the state of the parts that they took out I asked for them to be left in the vehicles. Now I have in my garage two sets of slightly grubby but smooth running idlers and what appear to be perfect cam belts. My old Mk 2 Transit suffered no damage when the belt broke. The valves are well clear of the pistons. My daughters Micra water pump jammed and split her cam belt...luckily I only had to replace about £150 of valves and rockers. {The car is not worth the cost of a replacement engine but I expect to keep it for a few years yet.} Hope this helps ALAN G

[ALAN G]

I should have said that the cost of £225 I quoted was for each of the vehicles. Still a lot better than £600. ALAN G

[colin]

Our 'works' Volvo had belt replaced, not long after idler bearing broke up. We got away with replacing 4 valves, this was after volvo dealer quoted some huge sum to replace engine, which they claimed was required!