Timer Belt

[jedmo]

Hi! Got my local mechanic to look over my newly acquired Berlingo.

He gave it the ?? but suggested that although it's only 8-years old and has 45000 on the clock, that it would be worth considering doing the timing belt and a water something or other??

What are people's thoughts on this? He said it was advised once 10 years old or many many more miles than mines done 

Would people recommend doing it now or waiting a year or 2?

Thanks!

[geoff]

Do it now

[jobbiejew]

Do it now otherwise you’ll end up being faced with the problem I’m still having repaired. Timing snapped and I’m having to do a complete engine rebuilt.

[cancunia]

The official time & miles for the belt are something like 10 years / 100k miles, but as you don't know how the Berlingo was used before, it's probably best to get it done now. Doing so will give you 10 years or 100k miles before you need to think about it again.
The water pump is another matter, they're normally good for 100k miles, but the cost of changing it now while the belt is off vs in a few years time might make it a better option to change now.

[jedmo]

thank everyone! I'll get it booked in...... 

[Romahomepete]

thank everyone! I'll get it booked in...... 

I would get it done, the mileage and time period dffer between engines.

They will be replacing the belt, tensioner and water pump.

On our DW8 engined Romahome the interval is 80000 miles but I changed it at 50 and then I had it done at 100000 miles, not a particularly cheap job for someone who normally does all his own servicing and repairs but cheaper than an engine rebuild or replacement.

Peter

[Sol]

There's also a difference in the belts you can buy that people overlook and just fit a "timing belt" - we have them driving the auger screw on large extrusion machines creating 500 bar of pressure on liquid plastic - there are for instance 4 levels of Gates belt, the toughest being the Gates PowerGrip GT-3 for car engines, we use the truck version GT-4 on our extruder drives. If you want the belt to last the full mileage, put a Gates PowerGrip GT-3 on.

Other stuff can snap before the mileage is reached.

GT-3 are Aramid (Kevlar) cored with PTFE outer layers and are the best you can get. We've tried every belt imaginable on the extruder drives and nothing lasts like the Gates ones. This is on a 150kW motor running 24/7 so that's equivalent to a 200hp engine at full chat, constantly.

[Lighty]

We are finding that belts fail before their “sell by date”
A reason a lot of owners don’t consider is that the vehicle may have been “clocked”
We see a lot of vehicles in our workshop, that have clearly done a lot more miles than the odo shows.
None of us want to accept this fact, but it’s a very common practice & you have no way of knowing, so it’s best to get the belt replaced regardless if you cannot be 100% sure.

[Sol]

Good point Mark. Better safe than sorry eh, the results of failure are a huge compared to the cost of getting the belt done. I must admit to being sceptical of PSA recommending 150k lifespan on the 1.6 HDi schedule.

[jedmo]

Timing belt and water pump changed today- thanks all!