Is my cam belt about to snap?????

[4lf4-155]

Help!
I have rently bought an alfa 166 3.0 v6 131k on the clock cam belt last done at 72k as per service schedule.

car has only done 12k in the last 5 years and its obviously time for a cambelt service touble is cant afford it until next month and thanks to what sounds like a tired bearing i'm nervous it will not last till then.

see picture for which pulley the noise is coming from.

am i about to have a disaster or do you think it will last?

i sprayed them all with genrous amounts of lube to see if that could quite things down and give them a chance.

[stevieturbo]

Dont know anything about those engines, but that is not your cam belt.

The pulley however could well be your water pump.

Do Alfa's even use a cam belt ? are they a chain ?

[dan19evans]

stevieturbo said:

that is not your cam belt.

This

[The Black Flash]

That aint the cambelt, it's the fan belt. The cam belt is hidden behind the plastic covers, with a separate set of pullies.

The advice these days is to replace the cam belt every 30,000 (see alfaowner.com for example). I think even Alfa changed their service schedules to reflect this, so yours is weeeeeell overdue.

Get it changed as soon as you possibly can! Broken cambelt = broken engine.

On the plus side, I've just stripped down a 150,000 mile v6 and there is almost no wear in it at all, change the oil regularly and it will go on for ages yet!

[Deva Link]

The Black Flash said:

The advice these days is to replace the cam belt every 30,000 (see alfaowner.com for example). I think even Alfa changed their service schedules to reflect this, so yours is weeeeeell overdue.

30K miles isn't much at all - is that like the VAG UK recommnedation to change at 40K miles, when VAG Germany say 180KMs in petrol engines?

The belt manufacturers say they should last the life of the engine (which with some engines could be self-fulfilling!).

[4lf4-155]

Thanks TBF

looks like my NOOB levels of spanner work have been exposed lol

belt was changed 7 years ago so i hope it lasts tillaugust when i will do belts and water pump

[shouldbworking]

4lf4-155 said:

Thanks TBF

looks like my NOOB levels of spanner work have been exposed lol

belt was changed 7 years ago so i hope it lasts tillaugust when i will do belts and water pump

Umm. dont wait till august. If that belt snaps, as it is very likely to, then your engine will be scrap metal.

[The Black Flash]

Deva Link said:

The Black Flash said:

The advice these days is to replace the cam belt every 30,000 (see alfaowner.com for example). I think even Alfa changed their service schedules to reflect this, so yours is weeeeeell overdue.

30K miles isn't much at all - is that like the VAG UK recommnedation to change at 40K miles, when VAG Germany say 180KMs in petrol engines?

The belt manufacturers say they should last the life of the engine (which with some engines could be self-fulfilling!).

This is just from what I've read on alfaowner.com. AIUI, the original schedule said every 70k, but there were rather too many failures, so they halved it or thereabouts, just to be on the safe side.
I think it's as much the hydraulic tensioner as much as the belt which is the weak point - OP you definately need to get the tensioner replaced with the belt - I think that's done as a matter of course, but best to make sure.

[perdu]

shouldbworking said:

4lf4-155 said:

Thanks TBF

looks like my NOOB levels of spanner work have been exposed lol

belt was changed 7 years ago so i hope it lasts tillaugust when i will do belts and water pump

Umm. dont wait till august. If that belt snaps, as it is very likely to, then your engine will be scrap metal.

seriously

THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Simon says]

Deva Link said:

The Black Flash said:

The advice these days is to replace the cam belt every 30,000 (see alfaowner.com for example). I think even Alfa changed their service schedules to reflect this, so yours is weeeeeell overdue.

30K miles isn't much at all - is that like the VAG UK recommnedation to change at 40K miles, when VAG Germany say 180KMs in petrol engines?

The belt manufacturers say they should last the life of the engine (which with some engines could be self-fulfilling!).

Its not just the belt you have to worry about its the plastic idlers and tensioners which often fail 1st ask anyone who works regular on Ford Zetec motors

[Deva Link]

Simon says said:

Its not just the belt you have to worry about its the plastic idlers and tensioners which often fail 1st ask anyone who works regular on Ford Zetec motors

Very true. The belts are great but they're not much use if the other parts of the system are poorly engineered.

It's a bit disingenuous of the vehicle manufacturers to say the belt needs changing - they should say it's their own bits which are crap and have probably been superceded by better parts but we'd like you to pay for it.

[Simon says]

Deva Link said:

Simon says said:

Its not just the belt you have to worry about its the plastic idlers and tensioners which often fail 1st ask anyone who works regular on Ford Zetec motors

Very true. The belts are great but they're not much use if the other parts of the system are poorly engineered.

It's a bit disingenuous of the vehicle manufacturers to say the belt needs changing - they should say it's their own bits which are crap and have probably been superseded by better parts but we'd like you to pay for it.

you don't get rich selling very little spares as the Japanese found out in the ninties

Edited by Simon says on Tuesday 13th July 14:21