Timing belt

Use only Ford or Gates. Replace tensioner and idler.

Chris

Is this the same as on the 2000 Focus 1.8? Mine went at ~60K. The garage had advised me to change it 6 months before it went (no visible signs, just precaution and experience) but I did not heed. Thankfully it was just idling when the belt let go, so no damage.

Kostas

Yep, Focus is the same.

Are sure it was the cam belt that failed? Only I can't see any way at all that this could let go and not cause some damage, even at idle. Of course, it may have been the auxiliary belt that went?

I did the cambelt on my Focus at 96K/10 years; the belt, idler and tensioner were like new.

I did the auxiliary belt at the same time, and that too was in good condition. I changed the tensioner and idler on the auxiliary a bit later on because the bearings were a bit rough.

Of the couple of dozen or so Zetec engined cars that I have owned, or have knowledge of, the only cambelt failure was on a hard-driven, poorly maintained 2.0 litre Mondeo. Oh and that got to 124,000 before it let go.

Chris

Bent valves are guaranteed on those engines after cam belt failure.

I have not seen one with premature failure, but have heard of them.

My neighbours mondeo went well over 120 k and 12 years before I insisted on changing the belt, it still appeared to be perfect!

Another neighbour has a vauxhall with the ecotec that is known for early failure and he won't have it changed (60k, should be done every 40k) I am actually a bit hopeful that it will break before being changed just to teach him a lesson !!

we had a 53 plate astra 16 8v dragged in yesterday, belt completely shredded, took all the covers with it as well, took the rocker cover off , no snapped rockers, so i thought it was in with a chance of being ok, re timed it, temp put a new timing belt on turned it over by hand twice all lined back up & no "jamming" of valves, fired up on the button, one very lucky customer !

petrol 8v have been ok for me too. most amazing one was a peugeot diesel that had shredded the belt but only slipped a few teeth and kept turning, you could have knocked me down with a feather when a new belt brought it back to life, ran as sweet as the proverbial.

I got the head off the16v renault megane today, 53 plate 26k on the clock, all 8 ex valves mullered pushed sideways into the head, cause of the snapped belt was a siezed water pump, come to think of it says the customer, i did hear a grinding noise, been doing it for a while, why the hell didnt you get it checked arggggggggggh

On Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:54:10 +0000, Mrcheerful yelled loudly:

Years ago we bought a 1.8 Mondeo with 72k on it. I gave it to my ex when we split up. She kept it until 155k and it never had a new cambelt.

Mike P

Dunno, I got away with it. Actually it might have been at startup rather than idle (sorry, going by memory here).

Um, timing belt is what I was told. The starter would turn very fast without any inclination to start the engine. Is the auxiliary belt the one that goes to altenator etc? Not that.

Kostas p.s.: Haven't we had this discussion before? :-)

There are a lot of Zetec's that are starting to let go just past 80k. I'd personally, especially if you are going to DIY swap them at 60k. It's not the belt that fails but the tensioner - the original ones were not especially brilliant. For the diesels, 60k is about the limit as well - the tensioners that I have pulled off most of them at that mileage have totally shot bearings with massive amounts of play in them