Hate to break it to you, but only the Mk 3 Mondeo was chain. The new Mk 4 is belts (At least on the diesel). The Ford TDCI fitted to the Transit & Mk 3 Mondeo was chain, but the TDCI in the Focus, being a different engine, was a belt.
Pete.
Are there any 'everyday' cars without cambelts or with a 'non-interference' engine design?
Nov 12, 2007
66 Replies
Ah, I'd assumed the OP was only asking about petrol, in which case the Mondeo has used the chain-cam Duratec engine since 2000 AFAIK.
Chris
If his buying criteria is based entirely on cambelts then the car isn't the only dull thing in the equation, is it?
I doubt if any recent engines are non-interference; the performance
v6 mondeo's have always been chain driven.
saabs have always used chains (except the diesel and V6...)
I can assure you that the chain in the VR6 is very much a service item!!!
Tim..
In message , Mrcheerful writes
d'oh! my bad.
big dom ("big dom" ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
yeh, but they're vauxhalls anyway...
And the RX-7, which didn't have a cambelt either (or a cam chain or any cams for that matter). Not exactly "everyday", though.
replying to Pinman, lex wrote: yeah, in the old days there was the toyota 12R engine- no chain or belts, taxi companies in phils love it for its low maintenance.
Not many pushrod engines the last 10 years. I think newer emission control regulations made dual variable camshafts de rigeur.
Now that cam belts are rated for 150,000 miles or ten years (in some cases) the arguments against them are not so strong.
Chains wear too, and replacement is a much bigger job than changing a belt. It's also not unknown for a chain to break, or a (plastic) sprocket to shatter.
Chris
Bah this newfangled plastic, it will never catch on
:-)
[...]
Heh!
Brother had a plastic cam-chain sprocket fail on a Toyota that was less than three years old...
Chris
You'd hope so - but some makers seem to have arranged for it to be just as difficult to change a belt. On some cars, it's an engine out job.
Pushrod engines with a much shorter chain could go on for ever. But are there any pushrod designs left?
Did one on our Capri years ago, and it was a doddle. Did our Fiesta last year, and it was a complete PITA.
A very nice Chrysler V8 6.4 is in the 300 RT for Australia
Yes - I'd guess if any it would be a nice big V8. ;-)
"Everyday"?
Maybe not in the UK, but large RWD cars are still considered "everyday" in Australia. The LS3 V8 is quite common in the Holdens (rebadged as Vauxhall VXR or whatever).
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