156 GTA Cambelt - should I change it?

[Alfahorn]

Viper_Larry said:

Decided on Marshall's (Liles) in the end as they matched the independent price and my car has been there since new. Dropped £350 on their original quote!

Good result all round.

[velocemitch]

What's the bill in the end then Viper?

[Viper_Larry]

velocemitch said:

What's the bill in the end then Viper?

Cambelt + water pump, all in £562

[velocemitch]

Ouch.. oh well could be worse I suppose.

[Alfahorn]

Getting my twinny down in 2 weeks.

All the belts, variator and water pump for £400.

[pdV6]

Alfahorn said:

All the belts, variator and water pump for £400.

That's a good price!

[Alfahorn]

pdV6 said:

Alfahorn said:

All the belts, variator and water pump for £400.

That's a good price!

Yep, I'm delighted with it.

[Drewtastic]

My dealer recommend I got mine done as a matter of urgency on a 2004 '54 JTD m-jet. Do I take it from reading some replies to this post, that it was unnecessary for this model?

[pdV6]

Drewtastic said:

My dealer recommend I got mine done as a matter of urgency on a 2004 '54 JTD m-jet. Do I take it from reading some replies to this post, that it was unnecessary for this model?

That's 3+ years and how many miles?

[Drewtastic]

It was changed at 40k born 09/04

[sjg]

Diesels are 72k miles or 5 years.

[Drewtastic]

Marvelous

[Alfahorn]

Drewtastic said:

Marvelous

I take it your close to 72k then.

[JR]

Alfahorn said:

Drewtastic said:

Marvelous

I take it your close to 72k then.

Changed at 40K so he needs to be close to 112K.

[Drewtastic]

It's now done 44k my point was my dealer gave me the bullshit card to make me spend £300 that I didn't need to.

[Zombie]

36k that the stealers refer to is for t-sparks.

2.5 v6's are generally safe to 60k.

But, I think the GTA inlet cams but more stress on the belt and it should be changed at around 47k max.

ALL should be replaced ever 3 years REGARDLESS OF MILEAGE.

[Zombie]

Forgot:

Its worthwhile having the waterpump changed. All of the GTA's I've worked on have had a plastic impellor. These ultimately fail, the solution is to have it replaced with a metal type one from a 3.0 GTV.

[Viper_Larry]

Good grief - try as they might, the dealer cannot get hold of the 'special' tool required for the GTA. To be fair, they seem to be trying (including borrowing) and have one on order, but no-one can advise when it will come in. They've postponed twice and now recommended I go elsewhere or wait until they get the tool.

So what would happen now if the cambelt went tomorrow? Would Alfa shoulder the blame?

[JR]

Viper_Larry said:

So what would happen now if the cambelt went tomorrow? Would Alfa shoulder the blame?

I very much doubt it. You appear to have a good price there. Sad to say but I'd consider leaving it at the dealer :-#

[JR]

To clarify: For a three year old belt you'd probably get say 85,000 miles so driving it for a few weeks at 55,000 is a low possibility of failure; maybe less that 5%. The consequences would not be good however and it depends how cautious you are with your wallet.