When to renew cam belts ?

[Bullnose75]

Ok guys,have had my 2003 V6 2 litre Tourer for a couple of months now and done 1500miles or so in it,handy having it run on LPG. Have had a few minor niggles that i've sorted but apart from that am well happy with it.
Cam belts were changed on it back in June 2012,about 38,000 miles ago. So the 6 years is up. How urgently should I get the cam belts renewed again ?
Have started sourcing the parts needed. As I plan to keep this car as my daily driver for the foreseeable future i'm planning to replace a lot of the parts that are prone to wear when cam belts are done,idler pulleys,tensioners,water pump,thermostat,auxiliary belt etc. I do have an engine speed related grumbling bearing type noise from cold starts so hopefully changing all the belt related pulleys and tensioners will cure that,unless it's a noisy alternator bearing that is.
Just wondering how soon I should get the job done ?

Have been having a play with the auto trans in sport mode but bit wary of revving engine too fast until i've had belts changed for peace of mind.

Guess i've just answered my own question - get belts changed asap !

PS - removing trumpet from air filter box def seems to have livened the car up a bit !

[kaiser]

Technically you could wait.
But if you are already stressing out, I would start to get the bits and plan for the change.

Now to really stress you out! I would wager that you will find it difficult to find new belts that are not past their sales date!

But let us know what you are able to get.

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by Bullnose75

Cam belts were changed on it back in June 2012,about 38,000 miles ago. So the 6 years is up. How urgently should I get the cam belts renewed again ?

Hi Paul,

I have just renewed my timing belts. They had covered 90,000 miles (the MG Rover specified figure) but they were 19 years old and guess what?
There was nothing wrong with them.
I am not the only one either.

I do have an engine speed related grumbling bearing type noise from cold starts so hopefully changing all the belt related pulleys and tensioners will cure that ...

I had something similar Paul and after dismantling I discovered that the prime culprit was the timing belt tensioner pulley whose bearings were rough and noisy. So you have hit the nail on the head here; the components which need checking and renewing if necessary are these ancillary items.

Just wondering how soon I should get the job done ?

It is interesting to note that the six year period is given only in the consumer check sheet given by the dealer to the customer. It is not mentioned anywhere in MG Rover’s official workshop manual (RAVE). That says something different. It says that a belt that has covered more than 45,000 miles should not be refitted (although the service life is clearly 90,000 miles). There is no mention whatsoever of elapsed time in RAVE and this is consistent with what I found. My belts were perfect after 19 years’ service.

Guess i've just answered my own question - get belts changed asap !

As your engine has covered 38,000 miles since the timing belts were changed and you have noticed what is probably bearing noise from pulleys then I’d say you are wise to plan to renew them. When you do so make sure that whoever does the job uses the special service tools (available from Laser, AST, & Sealey) and give them the INA instructions for setting up the tensioner properly. The new pulley will not be set correctly from the factory and there will be no details of how to do it provided. It’s not in RAVE or Haynes either. If this isn’t done, the front belt tension will be incorrect and you won’t have your “peace of mind”.

Simon

[Moonshine Mark]

Whilst some have been lucky with a risk others haven't.

If the belts were to fail can you afford to repair the damage? If not get them changed.

My TF is undergoing an engine rebuild as the belts were 2 years over due but had only covered half the mileage so I didn't bother and then the belt gave up. Not worth it in my opinion...

[Proud owner]

"(although the service life is clearly 90,000 miles)."

How is it so, what empirical evidence is there of this?

[Dorchester2]

Originally Posted by Proud owner

"(although the service life is clearly 90,000 miles)."

How is it so, what empirical evidence is there of this?

Very good point.
Do you mean that only mileage matters, provided that the car is actually driven & isn't stuck at home during ages?

[neilll]

As Simon(SD1too) has stated many times, your belts should last at least 19 years! so by his reckoning you have got 13 years trouble free motoring
As an aside I get mine changed every 6 years (or soon after buying a car without proof of belt change)!
How far away from Simon are you? He may help you do yours, but your car may be of the road for 6 months whilst he deliberates about everything under the sun!
Neil

[Dorchester2]

Originally Posted by neilll

As an aside I get mine changed every 6 years (or soon after buying a car without proof of belt change)!
Neil

@neilll I was just reacting to @Proud owner remark asking him what exactly he did mean. I understood something but wasn't sure of it.

But I don't want to be involved in any argument of any kind. That doesn't help to get things clearer and may give a bad smell to this very nice & helpful forum. I love humour but try to keep clear from distasteful irony and too strong words.

Nevertheless I don't like very much revealed truth & unshakeable theories.
I'm a practical & pragmatic person and I feel uneasy to consider that all those belts lives that lasted far longer than the so-called norm happened only by chance.

I've heard some old stories as well largely spread by a massive flock of people on forums for example about tyres too old to be safe (but on one of my car I had 13 years old ones that were in very good condition & never failed), or nonsensical assertions by self-proclaimed specialists about ethanol that was pretended to be corrosive or harmful...

On the other hand it would be absurd, damaging & pure madness to tempt fate in a suicidal game trying to last the longest possible period with the same belt, as some of us emphasized. But between 70 and 80k miles that seems - to my eyes at least - a very reasonable limit not to trespass. As long as your car is well maintain, well driven & rather regularly used, it looks safe enough - to my eyes at least - not to be obsessed by that dreadful 6 years limit. Any mechanical stuff should have by law a generous margin not to play with people security. And professional are often keen to give you self-interested advices and lucrative warnings! I'd got lot of evidences of that in whatever field.

You know as a Roverholic (!) I'm very careful and cautious with my brilliant KV6 I'm very proud of (changing oil & filter every year - 6k miles only -, changing coolant every 2 years and closely looking at everything important under the bonnet and at the wheels every week) but I'm not either a fearful & faint-hearted person. And being reasonable as well I dislike extremism & I'm inclined to think that truth often seats in the middle...

[marinabrian]

Originally Posted by neilll

As Simon(SD1too) has stated many times, your belts should last at least 19 years! so by his reckoning you have got 13 years trouble free motoring
As an aside I get mine changed every 6 years (or soon after buying a car without proof of belt change)!
How far away from Simon are you? He may help you do yours, but your car may be of the road for 6 months whilst he deliberates about everything under the sun!
Neil

You bad man I've just spat out my coffee

Brian

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by Moonshine Mark

... and then the belt gave up.

My findings apply to the KV6 engine Mark so no-one should apply them to other engines. However, concerning your MG TF, how do you know that the belt gave up? The failure might have had nothing to do with its age, rather the failure of another component in the camshaft drive train. No-one bothers to consider this because it’s easier to blame the belt.

Originally Posted by Proud owner

"(although the service life is clearly 90,000 miles)."
How is it so, what empirical evidence is there of this?

Firstly Jim, MG Rover considers that the service life is 90,000 miles (if covered within 6 years), but the empirical evidence is my engine which covered just over that mileage on the original factory-fitted belts.

Simon