Cam belt change
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 10:41 am
At the S type Seminar in April I learned that my 2.7 Diesel had a cam belt, this was a shock as 2 years before when I asked my main dealer and a specialist I was told the engine had chains. Worse still David Marks said the belt should be changed at 105,000 miles and mine had 102,000 on the clock.
The job was done at the Preston Jag Centre last week at a cost of a little over £500, the belt and tensioner kit plus the two follower pulleys costing about £220. They kindly took some pictures of the job and I have added another to give an idea of what needs to come off to get to the belt. These are in my gallery, I would add a link but the system won’t let me ( shorthand for I can’t work out how ).
I was told the air cleaner and pipes, header tank and water pipes plus the auxiliary drive belt and pulleys had to come off, taking care of the brittle plastic push fit tangs. Then the job is pretty straightforward. The cam shafts are held by two pins pushed through slots in the cogs, the crankshaft pulley is marked to check it did not move, and the tensioner is self adjusting once it’s set using an Allen key.
My belt had two areas of edge break-up and some cracks at the base of the teeth, but basically sound for a few more miles. The two followers were in good condition just a little ‘easier’ than the new ones, but obviously would cost a lot of money to change later.
The diesels also have a low pressure pump drive belt at the back of the engine which need to be replaced at 150,000 miles but this is a simpler job and less critical since it won’t damage the engine if it fails.
The job was done at the Preston Jag Centre last week at a cost of a little over £500, the belt and tensioner kit plus the two follower pulleys costing about £220. They kindly took some pictures of the job and I have added another to give an idea of what needs to come off to get to the belt. These are in my gallery, I would add a link but the system won’t let me ( shorthand for I can’t work out how ).
I was told the air cleaner and pipes, header tank and water pipes plus the auxiliary drive belt and pulleys had to come off, taking care of the brittle plastic push fit tangs. Then the job is pretty straightforward. The cam shafts are held by two pins pushed through slots in the cogs, the crankshaft pulley is marked to check it did not move, and the tensioner is self adjusting once it’s set using an Allen key.
My belt had two areas of edge break-up and some cracks at the base of the teeth, but basically sound for a few more miles. The two followers were in good condition just a little ‘easier’ than the new ones, but obviously would cost a lot of money to change later.
The diesels also have a low pressure pump drive belt at the back of the engine which need to be replaced at 150,000 miles but this is a simpler job and less critical since it won’t damage the engine if it fails.