Timing Belts - Shelf Life?

[beinet1]

Originally Posted by robwijnstok

Just received a SMS of my son.
No date of production on any of the belts of any brand that they sell...

I dont know if anybody ever experienced a snapped cambelt within the 6 years or 150.000km or 90.000miles. I would like to know if in such cases this was sorted under warranty.

I found a thread here: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/tec...age-issue.html

It seems that there is a number stamped on the Dayco belts reflekting its production week & year.

[T-Cut]

It's a question that's asked every now and then. This was my thought on another thread.
Thinking about the service schedule, 90K miles or 6 years which ever comes first, is the shelf life of the cam belt relevant? Car parts are sometimes in storage for several years before they get used. Do belt manufacturers specify a 'best before' date or doesn't storage figure into it? Can I fit a ten year old ('brand new') cam belt and use the standard service period or something less? Surely if age of the belt is a relevant service life factor, shouldn't manufacturer's put a 'fit it before' date on the wrapper?

When you pay a garage a small fortune to fit your V6 belts, you have no idea how old they actually are.

It seems that unlike food, cam belt manufacturers don't believe a 'fit before' date is needed. It could also be a question of economics. These belts have a relatively high production cost and no manufacturer would advise service depots to dispose of stock over a certain age. A date of manufacture doesn't really answer the question. I'm pretty sure the OEM belts (on the V6 at least) were reckoned to have an absolute in-service life of around ten years.

TC

[STUBIE]

Interesting as I was thinking about this recently.

Do I buy Rover branded parts that may have been sitting around for the last 8-10 years or possibly longer or buy Unipart say that are more likely to have been made in the last few years.

Stubs

[rov9575]

I purchased my V6 two years ago not realising the belt mileage/time issue. The car was then 10 years old and therefore due a belt change despite only 26k miles from new. The unexpected expense drove me to attempt the job myself which was succesful.
I was surprised to find the old belts looked virtually as good as new, I have kept them as proof of a belt change.
Had I known that, I would have confidently let them continue on for a year or two at least.
My only point here is that my 10 year old belts from a low mileage car as previously mentioned,(short runs etc) were far from falling apart.
I know one can't tell from simply looking but I was surprised by what I found.

[MrDoodles]

Originally Posted by whitevanman

Although they will deteriorate slightly I believe that the stresses of use and constant heat cycles, crud environment are what does for the belts, so a belt sitting on a shelf for six years is hardly the same as one that's been on a car..

Would have to agree!

[beinet1]

My KV6 had a timing belt change incl. tensioner + idler pulley + WP for 7 years/18500miles ago. I still do not know if I should have it changed this year or not and if I should replace the belts only as the other components only wear due to mileage. Hard question.... Basically I think I will wait another year and do it all then...??

[DMGRS]

Originally Posted by HarryM1BYT

I remember there was one car, a Ford I think(?), where the recommended interval was 60Kmiles of 6 years. So many broke within that interval and so many engines wrecked, that they had to reduce it to 4 years/40K.

That happened with my Fiesta 1.8D. In the end it was down to 32k! And yes, the problem did affect mine...

The belts I stock have a production date on them - they go to the supplier direct from Dayco (I queried this with them some time ago, as it was also a concern) and Dayco fulfil orders direct from the factory to my supplier, who then attach a production date.

All of the ones sat around me at the moment are well under a year old.

[kaiser]

Originally Posted by HarryM1BYT

I would suggest, like tyres, the clock starts at date of manufacture, but add say an extra year.

So 3 years on the shelf, means around 4 years of life left.

And I would say that this is not even logical.
If the life in the engine is 6 years (6 years or 90000miles), then the shelf life must be minimum 6 years.
In reality I don't think we are talking anything less than about 10 to 20 years, maybe even more.
If left at room temperature and in closed packaging, I would not even worry about it.
What is more, it might not even help. In the future if you can find a belt, you take it! They are surely not going to make many of these, if they are unique to the V6.

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by kaiser

And I would say that this is not even logical.
If the life in the engine is 6 years (6 years or 90000miles), then the shelf life must be minimum 6 years.
In reality I don't think we are talking anything less than about 10 to 20 years, maybe even more.
If left at room temperature and in closed packaging, I would not even worry about it.
What is more, it might not even help. In the future if you can find a belt, you take it! They are surely not going to make many of these, if they are unique to the V6.

The 6 year replacement, is not assuming any use of the vehicle at all - every 6 years irrespective, the belt needs to be replaced. That is a maximum, irrespective of mileage, just like tyres are also recommended for replacement irrespective of any use at all.

Tyres are very similar to belts, but they are clearly marked with a date of manufacture. The clock starts, on the date of manufacture of the tyre, irrespective of date of fitting.

[kaiser]

No, if we have to be logical here (and we do, don't we?), it will be 6 years including 89999 miles within these 6 years. That is the worst case scenario, before the 90000 miles are reached.