Cambelt Q!

capri08, Aug 1, 9:24pm
Hi all is there any other way to find out if a cambelt has been changed other than the unreliable sticker they put in the engine!
budgel, Aug 1, 9:29pm
If the sticker date is fairly recent you could have a look to see how new the belt looks.
capri08, Aug 1, 10:38pm
Its only because I asked a owner about the cambelt but he said it has a sticker but he cant read it, im guessing in other words its so old he cant see the dates.
thejazzpianoma, Aug 1, 11:16pm
Chances are its due. Cambelts on modern cars have a limited age regardless of use anyway. Usually 3-7 years, most are 5 years.
tgray, Aug 1, 11:20pm
Depends on what type of car it is, but you could have the local garage either remove the cambelt plastic cover or rocker cover to examine it. Check for an aftermarket brand name written on it or other tell tall signs that it has been done. You can usually tell if it's the original or not, but not always.
My mechanic charges me $25 for this service.
tgray, Aug 1, 11:22pm
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Might be the case with your precious Fiats, but most Japanese manufacturers are due at 100,000 K's or 10 years, except Honda which is usually 80,000k's or 5 years.
chebry, Aug 1, 11:51pm
The Italian rubbish seems to need 60k belt changes from what I see at the Euro car centre I deal with.
capri08, Aug 2, 2:53am
Its a Honda Odyssey 2000 and done 202,000kms!
mantagsi, Aug 2, 4:59am
for what it is worth, my vw golf diesel did over 180,000kms past the change date (thats near;y 300,000kms on one cambelt) before I purchased it and changed it as quickly as I could, so some euros aren't too bad on cambelts :D How do I know this! Past owners included comprehensive service records from brand new (car is 1990) and it never occured to them to have the cambelt done apart from once when they bought it 2nd hand off of original owner. The belt looked absolutely horrific but was still hanging in there