OT: timing belts

From: Joe R. <rigdonj_at_cfl.rr.com>
Date: Sun Dec 26 21:42:06 2004

At 10:46 AM 12/26/04 +0000, you wrote:
>Joe R. wrote:
>> At 09:43 AM 12/25/04 +0000, you wrote:
>>
>>>Joe R. wrote:
>>>
>>>> The '68 chevy didn't use a timing belt, it used a timing chain. Just
>>>>like all the REAL American cars! Personally I wish they all still did. I
>>>>hate these stupid rubber timing belts! All they're good for is generating
>>>>revenue for the delaers when they slip or break and you end having to buy
>>>>half of a new engine or a new car.
>>>
>>>Well, that's just down to stupidity.
>>
>>
>> Tell me how it's supidity when you have a factory belt installed by a
>> factory trained mechanic and it jumps timing with less than 1000 miles on
>> the new belt and destroys half the engine! I'm waiting for an answer!
>
>It's not been fitted properly. This is why I never trust garages to do
>any work on my cars.

   It WAS fitted properly. I knew the mechanic personally and I trust him
completely.

    
>>
>> A new timing belt costs a tenner
>>
>>>at the most
>>
>>
>> Hah! Just bought one for my Mitsubishi Diamonte. $170+ ! Plus 3.5 hours
>> of labor at $99/hr. The last several that I've bought have all been over
>> $100 except for the one for the Subaru and it was $80 something (ten years
>> ago!) IIRC the one for the Maxima was $120+ in 1987!
>
>Did you get that from a Mitsi dealer? I don't know how labour costs
>scale between the UK and the US, but $99/hour sounds incredibly high -
>my dentist doesn't charge that much!

   Yes that's from a Mitsubishi dealer. $99 is higher than most garages
around here but not by much and I wanted to be sure that it was done by
someone that knew what they were doing AND that the work was warrantied. I
don't want to talk about how much dentist charge around here for 10 minute
procedure but it will run $200 to $300, minimum! You can do the math to
see what it comes to per hour.


>
>> Also just had one changed on my daughter's Daewoo. They want you to
>> replace all the related tensioners, pullys, etc at the same time. Those
>> parts alone were almost $500!!! I was lucky in that the car still had 3000
>> miles left on the warrenty. The belt broke in that one at 57,000 miles and
>> the cost to fix everything was over $1200. I still have the paper work and
>> can show it to you if you don't believe me.
>
>Yeah, because on nearly every car that uses them you need to do the
>timing belt every 30,000 miles! Have you read the handbook, or the
>service guide?

   Yeah as a matter of fact I have. Strange as it seems Daewoo doesn't have
a recommended change interval! I know you won't believe me so go look it up
online. It's there. But EVERY (Mitsubishi, Nissan, Hundai, Ford) manual
that I've read specifies 60,000 miles. If they're telling you 30,000 then
you must have longer miles where you live! As far as reading the owner's
handbook I don't think I've ever seen one that told you when to change the
belt. They just recommend "service intervals" with no mention what type of
service needs to be done. I just read my BMW Z3 OM and it doesn't even tell
you when to change the oil!


>
>If the belt has broken, who knows what kind of mayhem the bits may have
>caused? A lot of engines use cheap and crappy pressed steel camshaft
>pulleys, which *do* get bent if the belt breaks and gets wedged under
>the cover.

   Go back and reread what I said. The Daewoo dealers recommend changing
all the belt pullys, tensioners, etc etc etc with EVERY belt change! Not
just when a belt breaks. The cost for all the parts, not including labor,
is over $500!


>
>Honda do a V6 engine, that is used in their own cars and in Rover 827s.
> The cars (I forget what model of Honda, possibly an Accord) are
>mechanically identical. The Honda service guide says to replace the
>belt at 30,000 miles. The Rover service guide says to replace the belt
>at 50,000 miles. Guess which make you find in the scrapyards, with
>broken timing belts and bent valves?
>
>>>on (step forward, Citroen XM 2.5TD, not nearly as nice an engine as the
>>>CX 25DTR) it takes at worst a couple of hours to fit. I can do Volvo 2-
>>>and 3-series belts in about half-an-hour...
>>
>>
>> I wish you'd come do the belt in my Mitsubishi! I'd PAY to see someone
>> change it's belt in 1/2 hour!
>>
>
>If it's as easy to get at as the Volvo, with its cavernous engine bay...

    Cavernous engine bay crammed full of engine, hoses, wiring, sensors and
many odd thingies!

   Joe
>
>Gordon.
>
Received on Sun Dec 26 2004 - 21:42:06 GMT

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