Cambelt Replacement

[Avech37]

Hi,

 

Apologies to all if this topic has been discussed on other threads but I am a newbie to this site..................

5 years ago, a Yeti TDI 170 Elegance was purchased for the wife. She is still over the moon about the car and I have to say, I like it very much as well. I am now at a point when I am told I have to have the cambelt replaced which I fully appreciate however, the car has travelled less than 10,000 miles!!

My question to you all is quite simply, should I replace the belt at such a low mileage? I appreciate all the arguments regarding belts degrading with time but what is the general opinion? I am led to believe that some recommendations originating from other European Skoda 'authorities' make reference to mileage only with no reference to a time based replacement trigger but I have no first hand evidence of this.

Any comments please?..............................and yes, I know less than 2k miles per annum is a bit extreme but that's how it is!

 

 

 

[Helston Hauler]

Compare the price of a cambelt change to that of a new engine, just had mine  done at UNIT 18 near Milton Keynes,good price and great service.

[Gizmo]

Yes it’s all a bit of a gamble, the UK is as far as I know the only country to put a date on changing the belt, but rubber certainly does deteriorate over time so the question really is how lucky do you feel?

[Llanigraham]

Hi,

 

Apologies to all if this topic has been discussed on other threads but I am a newbie to this site..................

5 years ago, a Yeti TDI 170 Elegance was purchased for the wife. She is still over the moon about the car and I have to say, I like it very much as well. I am now at a point when I am told I have to have the cambelt replaced which I fully appreciate however, the car has travelled less than 10,000 miles!!

My question to you all is quite simply, should I replace the belt at such a low mileage? I appreciate all the arguments regarding belts degrading with time but what is the general opinion? I am led to believe that some recommendations originating from other European Skoda 'authorities' make reference to mileage only with no reference to a time based replacement trigger but I have no first hand evidence of this.

Any comments please?..............................and yes, I know less than 2k miles per annum is a bit extreme but that's how it is!

 

If you don't replace it can you afford a new engine?

That is the risk you take.

Personally I'd replace.

[nomdeplume]

Replace it and the water pump as well. One major factor on belt wear is the number of cold starts, so a 4 year old car with (say) 100k miles is possible less vulnerable to a belt snap than a 5 year old car with 10k miles.

[rustic]

We had a citroen Picasso, 1.6hdi, it was 10 years old with 120 k miles on the clock, when we sold it, the recommended belt change was 150 k miles, but sooner if short distances, as that is classed as harsh driving.

Of course we never changed it. I understood rightly or wrongly, that it was more mileage related than time. But that depends on the manufacturer.

We did a risk assessment, and since the car was old and not worth a great deal, we were able to take a chance.

A wrecked engine and we would have sent it to the scrap yard, no worries.

However with a young car with such a low mileage, you have to consider the cost going forward, and spread the cost over the next few years that you want to keep it.

So budget the cost going forward, over the next five years, then the price doesn't look that bad.

[Gizmo]

Not to mention that you are already loosing approx. £3K + per year depreciation or a car so sit around being virtually unused,

so is £400 that much to bear for a replacement belt, pump and tensioners? (which will ‘last’ another 4 years)

[Trev96]

I used to own a SEAT Altea 2 ltr diesel. That had a fixed cambelt replacement age of 4 years regardless of mileage.

I would expect that like tyres, belts have a safe age span.

[4 wheel driver]

Owned my 170 CR  Elegance from new, purchased Dec. 2009.  Changed Cambelt , water pump. tensioner and auxiliary belt at 32000mls last December. Cost £ 356 incl. labour. I inspected all parts replaced and could see no obvious signs of wear/cracking etc.  Garage owner works mainly on Taxi's and has never experienced a belt failure on a Skoda.  I endorse all of the comments posted which repeatedly warn of the consequences of gambling if it does fail.  Not worth the risk.  I also had to replace front discs (inner face badly corroded ) and pads at 32K which I thought was poor.  Garage showed me discs from a taxi that had worn out at 80K+ and was told my low mileage contributed to their early failure.

I know all the arguments against low annual diesel mileage ownership but like you enjoy the engine and feel good factor of seeing 50mpg on occasional long runs.

[Avech37]

Hi,

I appreciate all the comments. I will be replacing the belt!

Thanks and happy motoring.

[g7eor]

I had a belt break on a Vauxhall Viva GT about 40 years ago it did not do any damage to the engine then. I would not risk it now change it is worth the expense.

[valep]

10000 miles in 5 years any DPF problems

[gadgetman]

Assume you still get it serviced annually? Low mileage does more damage to a car than high mileage so generally it's more important to get all maintenance done.

As above, a lot of depreciation you're taking a hit on for little use.