Best way to post a "Wanted" for specific car

Ebay watch, or just check Autotrader every so often.

Theoretically unhelpful, but I reckon rather more likely to get what you need than a wanted advert which nobody will read.

Maybe Micra owners club of some kind, but somebody will see you coming...

do a search for nissan micra chain drive cam and tick 'follow search' then they will email you when one comes up, there is one on there now:

2004, new timing chain £745

Start with,

"I've got a Micra radio S/N 598weo8ut8u P/N ri32urow3ifu329 and I have already have the code, and know it works well and plays my Kylie Minogue CD on autorepeat, faultlessly."

"I'm looking for a matching car (Micra naturally) that this radio will fit, as the previous one was rear-ended by some nutter in a 2CV playing Motorhead, and I can't get that awful sound outta of my head..."

or similar ...

How old are we talking?

Try: Car and Classic Retro Rides whatever the Micra online forum is

Theo

It begs the question, why did they ever introduce timing belts? The belt is supposed to be quieter, but I don't hear it in my old Saab

9000. Absolutely no issue. The pre-GM saabs had timing chain, the GM derived Saab engines have belts.

belts are far cheaper at the production stage

And in general last the duration of 1st buyers ownership. After that the maintenance burden and cost only appears as a small factor in the residual value. It only becomes a major factor when vehicles value has reduced to the point where a cambelt change is a large fraction or equal to vehicle cost, usually coming up for 4th owner.

It's good (if not vital) for the dealers to have some high cost jobs coming though the workshop. Especially since the fine tip plugs required for reliable ignition at idle to prevent damage to cat last 5x as long and there are no contact points to charge for every 10-12K miles. £1000 is not unheard of for V6 cam belt(s).

When everyone goes electric there will be much less work for dealers. The hourly rate will go skyhigh.

We've done that to death on here!

A properly-designed belt can last for 100k miles plus. It's cheap to manufacture belt-cam engines. Belts are cheap to replace. They are quieter. they maintain their effective length, and hence the correct timing, throughout their life.

Add to that the fact that chain-cam engines have problems also, and when they do the repair costs are very high. Ask someone who has had the well- reported problems with the small capacity PSA diesels...

To really mix things up, the latest Ford EcoBoost engines use a belt, mounted internally (like a chain), and running in oil.

Chris

And hope it has had regular oil changes and the chain has not stretched as is very common on older Nissans

-

I can imagine.

Few would risk of going 100 miles on a cam belt. I remeber a story that the 5 cyl 2L Fiat Coupe (Ferrari style) was one of the most expensive for changing belt, you have to take the engine out. However, I still see that model around, although very rare.

Hope they use a strong belt. There are rumours in the press that Ford will produce a 200bhp version of this 1.0L 3Cyl Ecoboost.

many modern cars are specified for 125k miles (even 150k) before belt change (or 10 years, whichever is first)

the fiat you mention was a big engine shoehorned sideways into a small car, and changing it was problematic.

the amount of power the engine produces has no effect on belt life, many belted engines have 500bhp plus output, there is no extra strain on the belt as a result, it is just turning the camshafts, not transmitting all the power to the wheels.

older belt engines like the pinto needed a belt every year when used for commercial deliveries, even a poodler needed one every 4 years.

I think my car is on its third at 220K, and the last change was around 200K.

[...]

I'm assuming you mean 100,000 miles?

I ran my first Focus to 99,000 or thereabouts before changing it, and my current one to 11 years. (The change interval is 100k or 10 years.)

I know of others that have never been changed, but have not failed until after 125,000, when the tensioner broke rather than the belt.

Chris

and I know two focus 1.8 tensioners that failed at (almost) exactly ten years old (70k and 50k) The 70k one actually died at ten years three months, the 50k one I found when I changed the belt at the ten year service, the plastic was split all the way round and I picked it off with my fingers.

'Do you feel lucky?'

It is a risk going *over* recommended change intervals, but I was making the point that johannes statement that few would risk running a belt to 100k when it was within manufacturer's change interval is nonsense.

The thing is, if a chain was pretty much guaranteed to last 'forever', there would be no doubt it would be a better bet, but they're not. When the chain and/or tensioner start to fail the first problem is one of diagnosis. The 'check engine' light may come on intermittently because the crank and cam shaft sensors are not in agreement. Getting that diagnosed can take several expensive trips to a garage. You then have the cost of replacement, which will be at least three times the cost of an average cam belt change.

With the PSA diesels, lack of regular oil changes can cause the tensioner to stick; the symptoms can appear on cars before they have done 60k, and repairs costs might be 1,000UKP.

So 300 quid every 100k miles, or a grand at 60k - I know my preference!

Chris