Focus....what engine do I have?

The fact that they reduced the interval points to a need for earlier replacement rather than late. I would change it at 125k just in case.

I'd change it now, personally.

For the cost of a replacement, is it worth trusting a 7-8 year old belt?

they do give a change every ten year caveat, so provided it is under ten and under 125k there is every likelihood it will be OK

Just can't make myself trust those kind of intervals, having grown up with 36k intervals on old CVH Fords and Alfa Boxers.

In message , Mrcheerful writes

I'm sure that in the past (Mk2 Mondeo TD springs to mind), Ford have reduced the cambelt interval for all engines regardless of year, not just from the point they identified a problem.

It will be changed early in any case. The 112.5k service is due next month and I'll get it changed then if its due at 125k but if it was not due till 150k then I'd rather wait till the 137.5k service.

And we all changed our oil every 3k then. Look at things now... oil changes at 20k and engines running happily to 250k..... unlike most CVH Fords and Alfa's. Technology changes and things move on.

Don't over trust it. Fords have some bad habits with cam belt tensioners. A slipped belt will write the car off.

Not quite - 12k oil interval on the boxers, 6k on the CVH. And boxers will happily run to 200k miles.

It' not so much the belt - but things like water pumps and anything else that has bearings. You're putting a lot of trust in a few balls of metal and some grease.

Either my dad was very lucky or the CVH and Pinto engines were non-interference, because in those days he used to just wait until the belt failed before replacing one. He even let one go on an Astra diesel and had to replace some bent valves that time, but nowadays he uses the services of professionals and gets them changed on schedule (except he's now got a Mondeo TDCi with a chain).

Nope. Mk1 Focus (petrol) was 80K/8years at launch, revised later to

Chris

Like I said, I was referring to the Mk2 Mondeo TD, not the Focus.

Pretty sure you are wrong about the Focus anyway. It was only the Silvertop zetecs in the Escorts and Mondeos that were 80k/8 years. Blacktop Zetecs in the Focus and Mk2 Mondeos were always 100k/10 years.

Pinto and CVH belt changes cost peanuts, though, so it really didn't make a lot of sense to leave them.

The only change I ever did myself was on a Fiat FIRE lump - technically very easy, but restricted access made it tricky. I wouldn't like to do a change on a modern engine, though.

the 1300 cvh and pinto 2 litre were both non interference. The astra he was lucky to be able to repair it economically. Modern 4 valve engines are not so forgiving.

Apparently the earlier Mazda MX5 engines are non-interference - ie. those used in the Mk1 and Mk2 - newer engines are Ford Duratec derivatives, though.

Just those sizes? The CVH he had was a 1.3 Escort van, but one of the Pintos was a 1.6 (Cortina Mk4). It was detuned for 2-star though, so perhaps it had a modified head for something like lower compression that would make a difference? When it blew a piston ring he replaced the engine with one his friend had lying around in his garden and the car accelerated a bit better after that :).

Yes, if he hadn't been a keen DIY mechanic back then I think it would have been scrap.

Nope. I still have the handbook and service schedule for my written-off Focus T-reg; it lists the cam belt interval at 80K/8 years.

Chris

Yep.

Chris

That's odd because I also had a 98 Focus from new and my handbook and service schedule stated it was 100k/10 years. I also had a 98 Mk2 Mondeo with the first of the Blacktop Zetecs and it also stated 100k/10 years.

The reason the interval increased from 80k to 100k when the Blacktop superceded the Silvertop was that the Blacktop had a revised cambelt and tensioner arrangement.

You will be wincing over replacement DMF, injectors and high pressure pump, plus the odd EGR valve thrown in long before 250k!!!

Current 1.8 or 2.0 Foci are the only cars I'd trust to be doing a big mileage in 'on the cheap' now, the Derv's are too much of a risk. The 2.0 TDCI is fine early on, the 1.6 utter chocolate throw away motors.

Tim..