What is better a cambelt or a chain driven .

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intrade, Jan 9, 10:44am
OK this thread is only for this subject as otherwise other threads will be messed up.

kazbanz, Jan 9, 10:48am
Like saying apples/oranges -which is better.?
In my experience chain drive has proven to be totally reliable 99.9% of the time. Actually probably higher given the issues I've had have been with VVTi units

intrade, Jan 9, 10:49am
The thing is 5 years ago i would have said .
Cambelt for sure. But there is a thread with broken cambelt that would require to post the findings as to why the belt broke premature .
My astra opel ripped the belt after 2 years and 20,000km needing full head repair.
So what are potential problems.
Well a belt has a livespan just like tyres 6 years This livespan is unoffical and no date is on a cambelt
So in theory a belt could have been sitting if the vehicle is year 2000 since about 2006 on some shelf and sold to you as new in 2021. That would mean it will most probably fail quite quick in service.

intrade, Jan 9, 10:56am
Now to chain. We all know well maybe not all but people who research that manufacturer started to fit cheap mono chains that look like bike chains you would expect to be sold in a 2$ shop .
These chains strech no matter what you do . classic example are the volkswagen ones . and the first to have fitted them toy chains was from what i recall Nissan.
The problem is then made worse with cheap plastic guides . And there is patent designes that prevent manufacturers to use a good design so they have to engineer some abortion to not infringe on patents.
And then Comes the moron owners who think oil is oil and it only needs a service if it cant get up a hill.
With oil like acid tar and sludge Wearing the living hell out of the already inferior chain design and components.

intrade, Jan 9, 11:02am
And the along comes ford who run a rubber cambelt in engine oil instead of a chain. And if you do not use the 100% specific for engine oil the belt crumbles and blocks the oil pickup .
There is conversion kits for them engine a guy in south island made a video about fitting the upgrade to them ford engines (chain conversion)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3ZBAeMTQxg
And for vw they did upgrade the strech chain but will sell you the old one unless you know and demand to purchase the new design who does not look like a mono toy chain but more like a chainsaw chain with all different components .
The video for vw is from redhead zilinderkopf technik it be in german so i dont post that. Yo got to ask for the 2020 designe for the older vag engine as they will sell you old stock that strech if they can readhead said.

apollo11, Jan 9, 11:13am
What's better, chocolate cake or banana cake? I'd have said chocolate cake, but sometimes they use that mock cream in the middle and that's just awful. And if the chocolate cake isn't stored correctly it can go dry. So I guess the answer is banana cake.

intrade, Jan 9, 11:22am
I dont quite see how you can try and make this to be apples or oranges.
its the same engine.
What you essentially try and claim to say is that you can mare a chocolate cake with apples. makes absolute 0 sense to make such a compearion.
it also does not help the slightest to add value to this subject. its more like a poor attempt to try and troll this thread.

intrade, Jan 9, 11:27am
My opinion is "Now " a Good strong chain design is best. However This is extremely rear when all manufacturer started testing there crap on consumers.
PSA groupe is the first that seemed to have started that trend.
Post your opinion what is better and why ?

msigg, Jan 9, 11:39am
Chain all the way, On most common makes the chain will last till 200k,most of the old bombs on the road are only worth 2-3k then anyway so are for the rubbish heap unless Toyota then it will last anther 100k then the rubbish heap.
Change oil every year then all good to go.

budgel, Jan 9, 11:47am
Right now given my cambelt drama I would prefer a chain.;-)
I think chains last longer, and generally give plenty of warning before failure.
However, on sophisticated V8s with long chain runs it is usually the chain/tensioner/guide that is the weak point in otherwise good engines. BMW, Audi, Jaguar. You dont hear of many Lexus having cambelt problems, but they are expensive to replace and fall due before a BMW chain/tensioner/guide needs repair.

ronaldo8, Jan 9, 12:13pm
I dont quite see how you can try and make this not to be apples or oranges.
its the same fruit bowl.

It makes absolute 100% sense to make such a compearion. No pears were harmed in the making of this cake'o'nonsense.

it also does help greatly to have the underlying premise of the "question" questioned as not all questions are worthy of much consideration when framed in such a general nondescript fluffy way without any meaningfull terms of reference such as what "better" is supposed to mean for starters. better in cost to manufacture? Better in service life? Better ease of maintenance? Better mechanical efiecency? Better fit to predicted service interval of particular vehicle in particular market niche it occupies? Better in angular precision? As a function of lifespan? Naaa none of that. just better DUH

Bottom line, its a shit question framed as it is, devoid of terms of reference that would give it any value. If you expect better answers look to the quality of the questions you ask, like everything else in life.

likit, Jan 9, 12:19pm
I only buy my cars with a chain.

apollo11, Jan 9, 12:26pm
This thread is self-trolling.

3tomany, Jan 9, 12:41pm
I am going to say chain as 90% of the time they last the life of the car. Chain does make oil changes more important than ever though as they love good lubrication.

hkjoe, Jan 9, 12:44pm
Whichever a Toyota Camry has.
And chocolate cake over banana cake any day.

3tomany, Jan 9, 12:51pm
Toyota camry is more a vanilla cake.

apollo11, Jan 9, 12:52pm
**With real cream**

bill-robinson, Jan 9, 1:18pm
i prefer gear drive.

apollo11, Jan 9, 1:30pm
Me too, I've owned a long line of gear cam bikes. And my current one is half chain, geared top.

ronaldo8, Jan 9, 1:35pm
heh, Claytons cake, the cake you eat when aren't really into cake, you just need something to eat. I used to have one, it was very dependable. Same old cake, every day, bit stale.

apollo11, Jan 9, 1:43pm
No icing either. The line between cake and biscuit becomes blurred.

alowishes, Jan 9, 1:54pm
A shame the op’s request for sensible comments went out the window, ah well, there always some people.

richardmayes, Jan 9, 1:59pm
Our 1MZ-FE V6 has got a big badge "100,000km" on the cam belt cover.

We bought it at 128,000km and the vendor had no idea if the belt had been done, he just got it "serviced" every year because he was a gentleman who didn't cut corners.

According to the Camry forums, in the USA the belt replacement is scheduled at 90,000 MILES (145,000km) on those engines and a Toyota technician in the forum said the old belts usually look pristine when they're removed at that age.
So we're going to drive ours until 140,000km and then get the belt done just in case (because it's the nicest car we've owned and we want to get at least ten years of daily driving out of it if we can.)

A cam belt gets its strength from the woven fibrous backing strip on the back face, that has hundreds of fibres in it so if one fibre fails the reduction in strength of the belt is minimal.

Whereas chains have hundreds of links, and if any one of them fails it's all over. But the links are made of steel and we believe in our little hearts that steel is "strong."

laurelanne, Jan 9, 2:16pm
Something like the old Corollas. Cambelt with non interference valves. That means you can run em over a bit and I like the idea of replacing the water pump before it shits itself and the motor gets a fresh drink of coolant.

intrade, Jan 9, 2:21pm
#24 that's good thinking that way it wont matter if the belt fails due to what ever reason.