Cambelt question

logan.kirk, Feb 9, 7:53pm
Ive got a 97 mondeo think the belt needs a change what is usaly involed and roughly how much one guys said 1200 plus and then grabone deals for 400? And advice?
gmphil, Feb 9, 8:02pm
watch those deals ,check they are doing or replacing wot needs be done .not just slipping a belt on and giving u the wof u weren't needing or expecting
intrade, Feb 9, 8:04pm
be carfull thes grabone deals are usually FROM 400 for a toyota corolla with just a cambelt and tensioner this price would be on the expensive side , but for a subaru 1200$ is what it will cost if all is done correctly
Also printing can be for cambelt 400$ but then come all the extras that you cant do a cambelt without , that would be another one how these grabone deals could work. meaning they do what it states as it is all on the smallprint the extras
intrade, Feb 9, 8:06pm
post engine details somone will pop in and know what a coorect servicing will cost with full details www.carjam.co.nz is where you should get engine codes from etc
mechnificent, Feb 9, 8:18pm
There's not much in those zetec engines, two simple idlers/tensioner and a belt.
Fairly easy to do, if you have the short torx bits to get the covers off.
lugee, Feb 9, 8:49pm
Safe to say $1200+gst is having a laugh on almost any engine.
tamarillo, Feb 9, 8:53pm
Variety is huge, both by region, the shop involved, the cars complexity, parts costs, other needs (often wise to replace other parts like water pump etc whilst you're there).
There are places that specialise in them and know how quick they can do them and gear up for that so a good job for less is possible. Whereas a general workshop in provincial NZ might not know exactly what is entailed in that particular model.
mechnificent, Feb 9, 8:54pm
Oh yeah. MTA condoned extortion.
mechnificent, Feb 9, 8:56pm
Lol Tamarillo. Perhaps we should leave the pricing to people that have worked on them.

From memory it's less than three hours work. I can't be arsed going to look for an invoice though.
a.woodrow, Feb 9, 10:24pm
Lol not necessarily
gmphil, Feb 9, 10:30pm
hey op ! u are not mike from the red boats , young fella ?
reb53, Feb 11, 12:49am
When I did my 97 Mondeo it had done an extra 50% on top of the recommended service schedule for the belt.
$1200 would be a good part of what the car is worth wouldn't it ?
Unless it's really overdue I'd be taking the chance, especially if I wasn't planning on keeping it for much longer.
msigg, Feb 11, 12:53am
Yes you are right there reb53, worth taking a gamble, might go a couple of years yet, my brother had a mazda astina that went another 60,000km untill it got damaged and written off.
gpmcgill, Feb 13, 4:22pm
One thing to be aware of is that the zetec engine is an" interference" engine - which means that if the tensioner or cam belt fails when the engine is running, the valves and pistons will have a not so nice "meeting" and bend/trash each other. This will result in the engine basically being - for want of a more appropriate technical term "stuffed". Delay the cam belt change a bit but not to long though and $1200 is on the high side.
monsieurl, Feb 13, 4:49pm
always budget around the $1k mark for a cambelt, any less and you can buy some decent craft beer, any more you'll be on the double browns for a few weeks. but definitely budget around that $1k.
ajm43, Feb 16, 3:14am
In 2005 I bought a I owner 1997 Forester 205,000km, then 5k overdue for belt change, drove it for 8 years, +60,000 km, gave it to daughter recently but thought I should renew belt, very little wear on old one $65, fitted myself.
There's a lot of hype about cambelts, usually at owners expense.
Good cars Subarus!
NZTools, Feb 17, 1:43am
Cambelts don't normally fail on Subaru's. The beaings in the toothed idler are usually the first to let go and stuff your engine
mechnificent, Feb 17, 1:48am
Or they jump the crank gear on deceleration.
mechnificent, Feb 17, 1:49am
Bearings we should be able to hear for quite a few months before they collapse.
brapbrap8, Jun 13, 2:57am
$400 is about right for just the belt, its when you have to touch the waterpump that things get tricky on those due to the stupid cooling system design.
They have a hose off the waterpump that runs under the engine and is very easily damaged and may be a good idea to replace with the pump.
Only thing is you have to import it from overseas for $200+ just for the hose.
Tensioners must be done with every belt change, although I have seen them fail well before the belt is even due for a change on these too,

If it had a new waterpump last time around, I would just do the belt this time, or maybe don't even worry about that.
The car is probably well passed its used by date now anyway, and the engine is probably the bit least likely to fail first on those.
Scrapped my girlfriends 03 Mondeo recently for $500 as it was uneconomic to repair at only 150,000km.
Electrical faults, transmission faults and rust EVERYWHERE!