Almighty risk with bx cam belt???

hi its five yrs and 50,000miles since i last changed the cam belt on my citroen bx. cars running fine , though as its done nearly 300,000 miles it doesnt look too pretty and things are starting to wear out. The dilemma i have is that the cars not really worth spending 200pounds for the cam belt change, esp at the moment with my finances after christmas, in six months time i ll be in a position to look for another car. question// am i taking an almighty risk if i keep running it as it is , or is this changin every 50k mile a ploy by citroen and garages to get more money from us??? thanks Chezruss

Reply to
chezruss
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chezruss ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Which engine?

Two real comments :-

  1. Why not do the change yourself? BXs aren't exactly notorious for being difficult to change the belts on.

  1. Cam belts DO go ping, usually at the least opportune moment. Many other manufacturers have had large spates of them going WITHIN the interval mileage. Don't just do it on the cheap, either - it's a pain in the arse to change the belt then find it dies because of a cheap tensioner or you have to do it all again because the water pump's just started pissing out.

  2. PLEASE don't just run it into the ground and then dump it. BXs are tough beasts, and the fact it's done 300k is irrelevant. OK, so you might get a Xant that'll do you a couple of years for another £500 plus maintenance - but if you spend that money on the BX instead, it'll almost certainly do exactly the same job for the same time, but improve a bit, too. If you DO part with the BX, don't just lob it. Sell it into one of the Citroen clubs or BX community websites, instead.
Reply to
Adrian

hi Adrian many thanks for your sound advice. after which Im coming round to the idea of keeping the bx / by the way its a diesel bx17 tgd/

The other thing that has been pushing me to get rid of it was that theres a small hydraulic fluid leak. I have to top up on fluid once a month about.

back to the cam belt its actually nearly six yrs that i changed it and

60k miles ago, so it must be time to do it now. do you know exactly what citroen suggest for the interval??

many thanks Peter alias chezruss

Adrian wrote:

re

Reply to
chezruss

chezruss ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

300k miles? Nicely run in!

It's definitely due.

Reply to
Adrian
[ re cambelt change ] many thanks for your sound advice. after which Im coming round to the idea of keeping the bx / by the way its a diesel bx17 tgd/

Well, being a diesel, if the belt does break it will scrap the cylinder head, as for doing the job yourself - have you ever changed a cambelt yourself before, if not whet anyone else says that particular PSA engine either needs special tools or someone knowing exactly what they are doing. Get it wrong and at best the engine wont run, at worst, BANG - new complete cylinder head...

As for extending the change period, unless you can afford another car, the extra repair costs or can survive without a car for how ever long personally I wouldn't - also, remember that on top of any repair costs if the belt breaks you'll also have the vehicle recovery costs to pay of you're not a member of the AA etc.

Not what you really wanted to hear I suspect.

Reply to
Jerry

Thanks again for all your help. Im along to the garage now to see when it can be done. By the way motors done 182,000miles. Ive got used to saying 300,ooo as i live in france and thats the conversion in kilometre best regards Peter

Jerry wrote:

Reply to
chezruss

not helpful really but i was thinking the phrase " better the devil you know" might be usefull.

and you know that hyd' leak may just be something really minor that you just haven't spotted yet.

c'mon be posistive, tis the season to be jolly and all that

Reply to
ajsmith

yeah Im going to be positive and bite the bullet, as Ive never had such a comfortable car in my life before/ the magic carpet effect/ and for the last six years its given me trouble free cheap motoring. Its my consumer friends who ve been pushing me to change< well from now on their pleas will fall on deaf ears! I m keeping my BX , after all its only 15 yrs old and done only 182k miles.

Chezruss ps i think i could get into this positive thinking/ everyday in everyway my BX is getting better and better // ....that is with a bit of help from my mechcanic

Reply to
chezruss

thats the spirit, just imagine how long it would take a new seat to mould in the way the bx one has, lol

Reply to
ajsmith

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