Timing Belts ... The Kiss Of Death

Standard pinto engines were not interference so no problem with belt breakage apart from the inconvenience

 

If your lucky with ducati belts they just snap like mine did. The valves snap shut and might just kiss the piston.
If your unlucky the the belt shreds a few teeth, the timing changes and the valves get a bit more intimate with the pistons ......

 

I am sure it was the 1600 pinto that had the expensive outcome when the belt broke.

 

I like a good belt.

 

there are a few safe engines, the fiat 1100 and 1242 8v engines for example. some just break wood ruff keys on pulleys. the fiat 1900 diesels. and some just brake rockers, the 2ltr and 2,4lts alfa/fiat engines.
i did have sombody once attempt to screw me for £700 after he said i missed a faulty belt tensioner on his punto. while i never remember a name, i always remember a service history and always put it in the service history. it was noted in his service report that the tensioner was squealing (sounds like a slack alternator belt) and when i informed him, his engine was a "safe" engine you could of lit the workshop with a red hew. off he went. tail between legs. just bear that in mind if your workshop gives you the Spanish inquisition if ever there is a warranty issue. the motor trade attracts chancers.
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i have also had a fella shout at me down the phone years ago after he bought a car from a customer that only wanted his belt done on his V6 audi when it broke on the motorway. hence, the do it all or not a tall.

 

Timing chains can certainly have their problems. The BMW MINI "prince" engine has had problems with tensioners and I have experience of having to pay for chain/tensioner replacement in one of those (admittedly after nearly 100K miles). At least in the MINI design the new chain and sprockets can be installed from above, so it's not a huge job, although not easy DIY. There are some engines (e.g. Audi V6?) that have the chains at the back, and then it's an engine-out job. Apparently the modern trend towards infrequent servicing with Longlife oil has made timing chain problems more common; I've certainly resolved to change oil in car engines at least an annual job, regardless of mileage and what the computer says.

 

The Juke was a PITA on the driveway not quite engine out but engine mounts off and jacking all over the place to get access to remove the side cover - and the fekkin rocker cover had to come off too

 

Take it to a garage fellas. They train and get the tools for a reason

 

But there's no satisfaction (or blood) in that option

 

worth knowing. Integrales were similar, you'd be a total fool not to replace the water pump at the same time. Little surprise though as the the engine bay wasn't expecting a 4WD turbocharged 2 litre plus plumbing when it began with a simple 4 speed 1300.

 

I got a test drive of a 1300 4 speed in 1985 or 86 - my old man refused to let me near an Italian car due to their alleged rust issues - was a great 1300 compared to Escorts and Astras

And the Juke was a 1200 FFS

 

Rust! My old man had an Alfasud 1.5Ti in the eighties. It went like stink and stuck to the road like glue but I've never seen a car rust like it. At 6 years old the sills and inner wings were shot both sides. Even after getting it repaired he could hardly give it away.

 

Ah the alfasud, the true first hot hatch vw tried very hard to copy it for the golf gti but fell way short imho.

All cars of that vintage rotted horrifically but the Italians were ever so slightly better at returning steel to ore

 

Lotus had a better acronym, Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious

The Fiat built by robots advert (the real one, not the piss take) was really good at the time. However, I will never forget 'oi Bob, have you seen Bob' built by Roberts

 

I had an Audi A3, 3.2 (VR6 engine) on which the chain tensioner failed at 40 odd thousand miles. It was just out of warranty but after much discussion they repaired it for the price of the (due) service, having originally quoted me £1800+

Last year my Son's Clio broke it's cambelt, actually it didn't break just lost a few teeth at the crank pulley and so stopped turning whilst car in motion - bent all the exhaust valves.

I got all the parts plus some extras (special tools, manual, water pump, alternator belt & bearings) for around £250 and did the repair at home.

Turns out not long before it broke he'd been quoted £300 to replace the belt (before it broke) but didn't do it as he was too cheap, so he actually thinks he got a result and even said he'd leave it to break rather than replace it to save money...

 

Smells like teen logic

 

In my expeiriance more often than not they break at the trafic lights. ie, low RPM. thankfully you dont see it that often anymore. if ever. almost all the ones i have seen were back in the day when i worked in the city, where the interval has been run up in 2nd and 3rd gear instead of 5th or 6th out here in the sticks. nowadays when they snap quite often they aint worth fixing.
its been a wee while since i have seen one but nothing is jumping out at me regarding condtion before breaking. on renaults the idlers would fail before the belts, on the bigger alfas the waterpump would seize and take out the belt.