Focus 2008 cam belt replacement

No one can say if the cambelt will survive another ten years or ten minutes. Vehicles that only do very low mileages are actually more at risk than high mileage ones. The failure points are not the belt, but the bearings of the idlers and tensioners. I have often seen these fail at the ten year old mark on Focuses. If the failure is not discovered before it is too late then you may well have to scrap the car.

As to getting it done, I believe you will find that a Ford main dealer is not actually that expensive for this job. Most areas also have an independant that specialises in changing cam belts on a mobile basis.

On that engine I would also get the water pump plus auxiliary belt and the antifreeze replaced at the same time (even though the WP is not cam belt driven it needs the cam belt removed to change it)

Do not under any circumstances go anywhere near a Halfrauds Autocentre. They are dire in the extreme. I wouldn't even let them check the oil level on any car of mine.

Do as Mr C says.

Chris

Thanks.

And I am sorry if you thought I was looking for a forecast of when the belt might fail. I know it's all a matter of probabilities.

That sounded heartfelt ;)

I asked as I've only ever used them for tyres but IMLE they were better than average there - e.g. using decent grease on the hubs and even getting the torque setting near enough right.

Another way to think of it is how long are you intending to keep the car? If that is as long as it is economically viable (say 10 years), best to do it now. Depending where you are in the country, it might cost around £300. That's just £30 a year - not a huge amount in terms of car running costs.

If you really have no idea who to use, perhaps have a look here:

Chris