How long does a cam belt last?

[Evoluzione]

Not mileage, but time unused and on the shelf?

Faced with a belt change on a cheap car I'm running I found some on Ebay which were 3yrs old for a tenner V £25 for the same one from a local parts outlet.
Sensibly I chose the more expensive and 'fresh' one, but it made me wonder....

[stevieturbo]

3 years in dry warm storage wouldnt be a concern to me.

But belt change intervals are based on mileage, or years, whichever comes soonest. But that would be installed and tensioned on an engine.

Not sure at what age I'd start to get concerned though.

the same question was asked a few months ago here, not actually sure what the outcome was.

[m8rky]

Interesting question that.Obviously they are lifed in miles and time when in service but how much that changes when not in use would depend on several factors,mainly in what conditions it has been stored and what is to say a belt from a reliable source is not that old.I have never seen a date stamp on a cambelt.

[Nick1point9]

It's only £15 difference! Whilst I doubt there is any significant effect due to 3 years storage, I can't see the point in going to all the trouble to change the belt and then scrimp on £15.

[mbtech01]

Whether its £15 or £30 i'd still rather by a brand new cambelt. At the end of the day regardless of how the belt has been stored etc its still a rubber belt & will perish with age & would you be happy having to fork out for an engine rebuild if the belt were to snap. At least if you fit a new belt & something did happen you have a better chance of seeking compensation !

[DaveL485]

mbtech01 said:

Whether its £15 or £30 i'd still rather by a brand new cambelt. At the end of the day regardless of how the belt has been stored etc its still a rubber belt & will perish with age & would you be happy having to fork out for an engine rebuild if the belt were to snap. At least if you fit a new belt & something did happen you have a better chance of seeking compensation !

But how long has the 'new' belt been on the shelf? I buy a lot of Renault 21 Turbo cambelts, and i'm pretty sure stock would be several years old at any one point between manufacturing runs due to the low volume consumption.

Personally, if it's been stored dry and dark, five years old (from manufacture) wouldn't phase me for fitting it, and thats on a service interval of five years or 72,000 miles.

[Evoluzione]

You would have less than 0% chance of claiming any kind of compensation on a broken cambelt...

[MGJohn]

DaveL485 said:

But how long has the 'new' belt been on the shelf?

Nailed it logically.

I think the age related aspect is whilst it is fitted to the car and thus always under tension. Even a ten year old car covering light mileage say only 2,000 miles per annum like that used by my aged cousin. That would need the Timing belt changed within the age parameters rather than that low mileage use.

I have bought several new spare Timing Belts for my cars over the years and some have been carefully stored on my garage shelf for up to ten years. I would have no hesitation in using any of those on my cars. In fact I used an aged new one within the past month on a Rover 25. This one :~



Rather use old Original Equipment and 'Known' brands rather than cheaper newly imported stuff more commonplace today.

[Old Merc]

Any "economies" or short cuts defeats the object of changing a cam belt.Always fit top quality O/E parts,supplied by one of the big networks.

[Evoluzione]

I recently got supplied some timing belts from a seemingly reputable outlet, the boxes looked really old, faded, tatty, some were even taped up, they were also of a type the manufacturer doesn't use anymore.
I took the lot back and contacted Dayco, they said they hadn't used that kind of box for 8 - 9yrs! I've seen these for sale on Ebay too.

So I asked the question about shelf life, his answer was 8yrs.



Old box:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9-NEW-DAYCO-CAMBELTS-FOR...

Current box:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAUXHALL-16v-ECOTEC-CAM-...

[Mr2Mike]

Evoluzione said:

You would have less than 0% chance of claiming any kind of compensation on a broken cambelt...

About the same as if you'd bought a brand new timing belt and fitted it yourself then.