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I'm getting slight cam belt fear on my car having read HtS's woes.
Mine's a 2013 Peugeot 308 diesel that's done 90,000 miles - half of that with me. According to https://www.grange.co.uk/technical-data/peugeot/308/1.6-e-hdi-115-active-5dr- [sat-nav]-(2013-2014) the belt life is 10 years / 140,000 miles. Other sources agree with the 10 years and most suggest 100,000+ miles.
I've got a handbook but no service book and the handbook doesn't give the service intervals.
This is the first car I've owned that I've put decent miles into. I've been commuting in the car for a few years but I've just changed where I work and won't be doing high mileage anymore - so it probably won't get to 120,000 miles on me let alone 140,000.
Any thoughts on when/if I should change it?
If it has a leaky cam/crankshaft seal, the oil contamination might reduce the lifespan. Is it easy to inspect?
I had an Expert van with that that basic engine in it. 100k belt replacement interval on that, and also 10 years. Really not worth risking going longer, (and I'd probably do it a bit shorter TBH) on a car of that age, you're far from Bangernomics territory yet.
Yeah our old C4 Pic (2.0 HDI) apparently says 120k and it's just gone over 81k.
I was worrying a bit during our Scottish road trip last week, just shy of 1400 miles in one week, with a car full of family and stuff. Thinking I might get it done in the next couple of months just for peace of mind.
Thanks for your thoughts.
I've no idea if it's easy to inspect I'm afraid. I'll ask the garage to have a look at the next service. Issue with the garage's view I guess is that it's safer for them to say 'get it changed' otherwise if they say it looks OK and it then fails I might moan at them.
I'm minded to leave it for another few years. I won't go beyond 10 year / 120k but that's still a way off from where I am. If the car failed for another reason before then I'd have wasted money getting it changed now.
It's a couple of hundred to get it changed, and Harry's engine is knackered to the tune of 3 grand. Why would you risk going beyond 100,000 miles? Look after your car properly, it'll last a lot longer (unless you are unlucky, but often you make your own)
Similar question on my my mind about my T5. It is 4 years old and only done 30k of easy holiday miles but Volkswagen say the belt should be changed at earlier of 4 years or 80k. Any thoughts?
Any thoughts
Don't come whinging on here when you are landed with a £3k bill.
If you can't afford to look after an expensive vehicle properly, buy a beater.
Those are my thoughts.
It is 4 years old ... Volkswagen say the belt should be changed at earlier of 4 years.... Any thoughts?
change the belt?
Just changed the belt on my T5 at 5 years & 40 000 miles.
I like to live on the edge.
I’m in a similar dilemma with my be van where i’m at the calendar limit of 4 years, but nowhere near the mileage limit. On previous cars i’ve stuck rigidly to the schedule, but they have always be far more sensible limits than the 4 years which is ridiculously short especially when apparently VW Deutschland don’t give any calendar time (not confirmed that). These belts are all made by the same manufacturers or a small handful of them and used across many males and models of cars and vans and I can’t believe the duty in a VW engine is any worse than a similar engine in a Ford which has twice the calendar life on it. I’d love to know how they arrive at these recommendations. My mechanic who I trust says not to bother with calendar limits and in his experience he’s never seen one fail before the mileage limit, but i’ll probably Blink and replace it in a few months time. The limits are going to be conservative so going 10% or so over isn’t going to increase your risk factor significantly. So Probably best to get it done then it’s not a worry though i’m Deeply sceptical about the VW calendar schedule, 4 years isn’t a ridiculously short time. They must be laughing at us as we roll our vehicles in after 4 years for a belt change.
The belts have to live in varying conditions including heat and dust , as well as application variance which is considerable , engines are far from the same, anybody who remembers the Alfa twin spark cambelt risks can testify to that, I think it was 40k but if you went over 38k you were on a prayer.
I would tend to obey the manufacturer, but at 10 years I might (As others) be getting a bit worried about any leaky seals degrading the belt.
Probably best to go for the motorsports look with cambelt cover removed and anodized (timing adjustable, of course) cam pulleys for ease of inspection.
I was was quite reckless with our old Mazda 323 1.8's cam belt, but I knew it was a non-interference engine, so the worst that would happen is it would spazz out and not go.
As it happened the tensioner spring went and it jumped a few teeth, my OH amazingly managed to coax it two miles to her mothers and dump it there. I couldn't even get it to start!
Tow home and an couple of evenings work to replace the water pump whilst I was at it. Job done! Still going strong now having sold it to a mate, 6 years later, although rust is probably going to hasten its demise at 20 years old this year!