Transit connect 1.8tdci wet belt replacement.

[56oval]

I have no history of the cam belt(s) being done on my van. Its a 10 plate connect 1.8tdci. Looks like its the wet belt engine which has two cambelts, one outside and one driving the pump immersed in oil. I checked the job out, i would have done it easy if it was just the outer belt but the wet belt is buried and its a proper stripping match to get to it all let alone a couple of tools i dont have to get the pulleys off.

Anyone had these done by an independant? Looking for somewhere that has good experience with these, i dont want to fire it into someone who ends up having a nightmare with it, need to get a price from Ford this week but it looks like itll be an £800 job or thereabouts.

Any info/recomendations appreciated.

Thanks.
Ben

 

[brendy7]

We have done loads in are place ARDS brake and clutch if u want I can ask for a price or call the boss urself he's not hard payed

 

[56oval]

We have done loads in are place ARDS brake and clutch if u want I can ask for a price or call the boss urself he's not hard payed

Possibly a bit far away for me ( Portadown ) @brendy7 , i'll make some more local enquiries first but thank you.

 

[Smurf.]

Portadown area id definitely give paul mc adams a shout out at birches

 

[Boabybooster]

Ni Vans? @Wild Thing

 

[Wild Thing]

big job, not enough hours in day for us at present so I will pass, thanks for tag anyway

 

[Cookie Munster]

When your getting the wet belt done, I'd put serious thought into doing the chain conversion. A lot of the Mondeo boys with the same engine do the wet belt chain conversion, never have to worry about it again.

 

[Wild Thing]

It flies in the face of common sense why a belt was ever put in there. If you plan to put another 100K plus on van I would consider chain conversion also

 

[56oval]

Apparently the wet belt went in to help meet emmissions????? Wtf!!!!

So i went into the Ford dealership today and had a chat with the service dept. They pulled up the Etis schedule from my registration. Guy said i was nowhere near needing the belts done yet. Apparently its 10 years or 150000 miles whichever is soonest.

Two words F@ck That!!!

I'm on 8 years and 105k. Its definately a job that needs done sooner rather than chancing it, i'd say its russian roulette at this stage.

Got a quote which i didn't think was too bad.

£1540

 

[stevieturbo]

It flies in the face of common sense why a belt was ever put in there. If you plan to put another 100K plus on van I would consider chain conversion also

Would love to see the notes of those meetings and how the decision came about !! And then how they followed it with....yea, lets leave it in there for 150k !!! LOL

Such a ****ing mess when they break in terms of damaged metal and cleaning bits of belt from the engine !

 

[AMG]

Sounds a bit like Audi. I asked them about timing belt when the wife's car was in for the emissions recall. First question was is it a private or company car, couldn't understand what the difference would be, but was informed if it was private the belt needed changed at 80k, and 120k if a company car! Can't remember what the price was now, was something ridiculous, so done it myself!

 

[hippyross]

We had an smax in work with less than 100k on it and it had snapped the belt lucky for the boys in work the woman got it taken away for someone else to do.

 

[Stu Beck]

WTF is a wet belt???

 

[StephenMcC]

WTF is a wet belt???

Timing belt bathed in oil, which means not only do you have a belt that may snap, it's just as difficult as a chain to get to!

 

[stevieturbo]

Timing belt bathed in oil, which means not only do you have a belt that may snap, it's just as difficult as a chain to get to!

And when it fails....makes an almighty ****ing mess ! And because it's fully enclosed..lots dont realise it is in there so never change it, and it fails.

 

[StephenMcC]

all of the downsides of both belt and chain wrapped up into one pain in the ass system.

 

[56oval]

Just thought i would update this thread.

Dropped my van in on Monday to have the belts done.

When i purchased the Focus there was an invoice for a recent timing belt replacement from David Hamilton in Tandragee.

I rang him and he came back to me with a full breakdown of costs a few days later. I took a spin over to see him and booked it in.

Picked it up today, i have to be honest , well impressed, total gentleman, easy to deal with and rang me in between the job to advise on a couple of extras that that would be worth doing whilst it was in.

I was greeted with a box of parts to show me the condition of the old stuff. The wetbelt was in bad shape. I'm so glad i bit the bullet and got the lot done. Less than a 3rd of the quote from Ford.

Excellent service and a job well done.