Focus 1.6 Ti-VCT cambelt replacement

Generally speaking, Ford's change intervals are conservative if anything.

I certainly wouldn't do it until very near the official interval; YMMV of course!

Autodata gives 3 hours labour for a cam belt change, and lists 6 special tools. At least some of these will be essential; this engine has no key for the crankshaft pulley, it's just a taper fit, which is a big trap for the unwary. It is also necessary to remove the RH engine mount.

As Ford have such a large mileage between changes, it's likely that most owners will only need this doing once. It might be worth trying to find a reliable independent or mobile to do it for you.

Chris

That's encouraging to hear. My experience of Ford cambelts comes from years ago when I used to drive round in transits a lot. I had the belt go before the 60k interval on two occasions and this experience has made me wary when it comes to this first Ford of my own. Of course, this engine is a very different animal, with a lot of the development having come from those clever chaps from the land of the rising sun. ;-)

I've seen the procedure in my own copy of autodata. I'm not put off by having to remove a mount and a few ancilliaries, but I'm coming to realise that the locking kit will be needed to make sure it's timed up absolutely right. I'd also need the flywheel locking tool to have any chance of getting that crank pulley bolt undone. Why is the fact that it's keyless a problem? Does it have to be kept at a certain orientation when refitted?

Quite true in my case. However, about £70 worth of tools, minus their resale value on eBay, won't come close to the cost of 3 hours professional labour. It all comes down to how much my time is worth and how sanguine I feel about tackling the job myself. I'll make that decision when the time comes and I've gotten to know the car better.

Thanks for your help,

Stu

for a one off job you would be best to get it done professionally. the keyless pulleys mean that there are no marks to line up, which is why you need the aligning tools, you also need the pulley remover kit. you also need a new pulley bolt, I would also usually do the water pump while I was in there.

I think the penny has dropped now. It isn't just the pulley that's keyless, but also the cambelt sprocket behind it, yes? So the pin is required in order to ensure that the relationship between belt position and crank angle does not change.

I saw no mention of a removal tool in autodata, would a standard 2 or

Believe me, I do understand that the sensible thing is to go to a garage. I don't care about the cost, the problem for me is that I started doing my own maintenance some years ago and I've never let anyone other than myself touch my cars or bikes since. I find the prospect of entrusting the job to a stranger quite daunting. I do have one friend, currently working for a Subaru dealership, who has 25 years experience in the trade, and he's about the only mechanic I feel able to trust. I think the best solution is to source the tools and then get some assistance from him with the work.

Any further opinions on when I should get this done - is it really quite safe to leave the original belt in until the specified 8 years?

Thanks for the advice,

Stu

The interval was actually reduced for the engine you have, presumably because of the higher loading on the belt with the VCT; other similar Ford lumps are 10 years/100K.

I had the same dilemma with my last Focus. I eventually left it the 10 years before it was changed, with no problem. The mobile guy, who has worked in this area for a number of years, said Zetec cambelt failure was rare, even if mileage was exceeded. A "friend of a friend" had one fail on a 2.0 litre Mondeo, but that car was very poorly maintained generally, and it didn't fail until it had done 124,000 miles.

A lot will depend on how long you are going to keep the car, and your anticipated mileage. Clearly, you want to avoid doing it more than once if you can!

Chris

I have not yet seen one fail due to mileage, I recently changed a mondeo one that was original from 1995 with 140k on the clock, it still looked like new. I did see one taken apart for a new set of valves after a ham fisted mechanic changed the belt.

I found that a puller is essential 'sometimes' when the crank pulley is tight to come off it is really tight and sometimes this is what defeats the home mechanic, he then tries to do it all up again and the belt pulley moves a bit in the process and bent valves result.

Thanks very much to you both. I've decided to leave it until the 8 year age limit, by which time it will still be well under 100k, so I should still be on the conservative side. ;-)

Thanks again.

We have had this discussion before; I have had premature failure on my

YMMV, as your engine is different (but are the belts and tensioners different? I don't know).

Some early 1.8/2.0 (Zetec E) engines suffered from early failure of the tensioner, but it was easy to predict as they squeaked from cold long before they failed. Perhaps this is why your garage advised early replacement?

The belt arrangement is totally different on the OP's car.

Chris

No, there was no squeak. He just advises 60K replacement on Fords, as he has had to repair failures on a few. Maybe his view is outdated, but he got it right on mine.

Cheers, this may make material difference.