Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) cam belt gone are the days

I remember once changing a cambelt on a pinto around 2 my mate picking it up about 6 and in scruitaneering at 7 for a night event. My son has just had the wet belt changed on his transit 1400 quid plus a new sump apparently they get damaged on removal most times.Off the road for 2 days. I never realized the Eco boost engines and a lot of the foreign stuff now run this system and their having quite a lot of issues with belts breaking down long before the intended change. He changed his at 70000 miles garage said not to leave it later when the intended change was 100000 miles. Dad told him the bill would be 500 to 650 quid for a cam belt I shall shut up in future.....

There's plenty about wet belts on You Tube. Ford have been doing a lot of warranty/goodwill changes in the USA after legal threats, but have not done the same in the UK. The last I heard was that they would consider a goodwill belt change, but I haven't seen much about it lately.

I do know that its causing some early write offs when the rubber debris blocks the oil galleries, and I believe that in the USA they may just fit a new engine. It's worth searching You Tube.

Am I correct in thinking that the non-turbo Dragon engine as used in the Morgan Super 3 has chain driven cams, whereas the turbo version of that engine is wet belt?

Deejay. Never knew anything about wet belts till last week I bet someone will answer the question shortly......Em

That's my understanding Deejay, that the Super 3 is not wet belt.

https://cvwmagazine.co.uk/a-deep-dive-into-wet-timing-belts/

Not that single row timing chains are much better than dry belts as many do not seem to have decent tensioner systems.
The Peugeot derived MINI / BMW engines are a good example.

Well G, the BL A & B series were great rattlers. They saved money by replacing duplex with a single chain. A spring steel tensioner is basically a shed solution.

Son in law had the tensioner disintegrate on a VW VR6 Golf. It made a real mess, and we saw the remains. It was a gold coloured plastic moulding, and ended up in multiple fragments. He still has the bent valves on his desk.


Happened on a freezing cold morning on the A38 commute.........................

And the JLR Ingenium Engine - where they designed the engine so that the timing chain is at the gearbox end. On an Evoque, its a gearbox out job to change the chain and tensioners. Costs a fortune and the tensioners are failing prematurely. I know the 4 cylinder is badly afflicted. Not sure on the 6.

4 hours to do a cambelt on a Pinto? You took your time!

Changed a gearbox and back axle on Escort between scrutineering and MC0!

Arwyn

Arwyn. I was always a slow worker but it was 46 years ago probably faffed around doing some other things as well.. Its now a full morning job to pull the wheels off and give everything a bit of a clean. Emyr