Timing belt

[marklcfc]

My car has done over 90k miles and every service I've had nothing has been mentioned about the timing belt, I even mentioned it last time as I'd read it should be every 5 years (mine is a 2016 Seat which has done more than 90k miles now) and all they said was yeah that'll be coming up but again nothing was mentioned after the service.

Just wondered what I should be doing here (given I know nothing)

 

[cairus]

There is no fixed interval for replacement. First check at 210,000km, then check every 30,000km

 

[marklcfc]

So I'm ok at the milage I am now then

 

[SuperV8]

Depends on your engine?

 

[marklcfc]

1.4 EcoTSI

 

[Walone]

1.4 EcoTSI

As @cairus said.

 

[Mr Pig]

A lot of manufacturers are doing this kind of thing now. By cutting perceived service costs they can make the cars more attractive to buyers, especially fleet users, and by the time any issues bite it's no longer their problem.

Would I leave a timing belt indefinitely? No. It's failing eventually, it's a rubber belt, and when it does you're crying.

 

[DEAN0]

Think yourself lucky - it could be a Ford Ecoboom engine where someone thought it would be a good idea to run the belt through OIL !!!

 

[Mr Pig]

Think yourself lucky - it could be a Ford Ecoboom engine where someone thought it would be a good idea to run the belt through OIL !!!

To be fair, the idea in itself is not terrible. It just doesn't take into account all the possibilities.

I worked in industry where having toothed belts of the same type as timing belts covered in oil was a common thing. Provided the belts were of good quality it wasn't a problem. I think the main issue with the Ford implementation is that they didn't count for people using oil which was not safe on the belts. Which they should have.

 

[SuperV8]

To be fair, the idea in itself is not terrible. It just doesn't take into account all the possibilities.

I worked in industry where having toothed belts of the same type as timing belts covered in oil was a common thing. Provided the belts were of good quality it wasn't a problem. I think the main issue with the Ford implementation is that they didn't count for people using oil which was not safe on the belts. Which they should have.

We have a small belt in oil in all our TDI's driving the oil/vacuum pump and balance shafts with no service interval! Have not heard of a failure - not saying it couldn't happen as they age - fingers crossed!! obviously under much less stress than a timing belt!

Something does seem poor in the implementation of the Ford and PSA belts in oil - they are even getting failure's of vehicles fully maintained by the dealer networks so i'm not sure you can blame the wrong oil used?

 

[Mr Pig]

Something does seem poor in the implementation of the Ford and PSA belts in oil - they are even getting failure's of vehicles fully maintained by the dealer networks so i'm not sure you can blame the wrong oil used?

I agree but that's their get-out clause. They've probably changed belt supplier or just used a cheap belt from the start.

Years ago I knew a guy who's family had a Nissan dealership. When Nissan was bought by Renault I asked him if they'd noticed any changes in the cars. He said yes, straight away. Renault had changed all Nissan's parts suppliers to cheaper ones so they were now getting problems with things which had never been an issue before. He specifically mentioned timing chains and washer bottles as two things they never saw a problem on but were now failures with.

It could just be that. Ford buy the cheaper option belts and they're not very good. From my industrial experience a good belt can last decades and a cheap one months. The difference in quality can be huge.

 

[DEAN0]

I agree but that's their get-out clause. They've probably changed belt supplier or just used a cheap belt from the start.

Years ago I knew a guy who's family had a Nissan dealership. When Nissan was bought by Renault I asked him if they'd noticed any changes in the cars. He said yes, straight away. Renault had changed all Nissan's parts suppliers to cheaper ones so they were now getting problems with things which had never been an issue before. He specifically mentioned timing chains and washer bottles as two things they never saw a problem on but were now failures with.

It could just be that. Ford buy the cheaper option belts and they're not very good. From my industrial experience a good belt can last decades and a cheap one months. The difference in quality can be huge.

I wonder if the Ford/PSA collaboration on engines is having the same effect.

 

[Mr Pig]

I wonder if the Ford/PSA collaboration on engines is having the same effect.

I think a lot of manufactures are trying to cut the costs on their cars. They seem to have realized that long term reliability does not matter to initial buyer. Heck, short term reliability doesn't seem that important either! Image and perceived quality is what sells. How else can you explain Land Rover?

If it outlast the warranty, good enough.

 

[SuperV8]

I wonder if the Ford/PSA collaboration on engines is having the same effect.

The 2.2 ford/PSA diesel is generally regarded as a good and reliable engine.

 

[SuperV8]

I think a lot of manufactures are trying to cut the costs on their cars. They seem to have realized that long term reliability does not matter to initial buyer. Heck, short term reliability doesn't seem that important either! Image and perceived quality is what sells. How else can you explain Land Rover?

If it outlast the warranty, good enough.

To be fair you also have to include new regulations which are driving powertrain changes - to meet these very stringent emission's requirements means more complicated tech - the more 'stuff' you have, the more chance of something going wrong!

That's why JLR/BMW/Merc/Audi generally do poorly in these customer surveys - and the companies who do well like Suzuki and Dacia just have less stuff (KISS!)- so less to go wrong!

I don't think Landrover's are any worse than other similarly complicated cars - Toyota has had to recall/replace over 100k of their new V6 engines but you don't hear much about this! - but unfortunately Landrover - and reliability have become synonymous with clickbait.

 

[Mr Pig]

To be fair you also have to include new regulations which are driving powertrain changes - to meet these very stringent emission's requirements means more complicated tech - the more 'stuff' you have, the more chance of something going wrong!

Yip, absolutely true. Cars are packed full of tech they don't need these days. What's galling is that these changes are all politically driven. Things are getting more expensive and less reliable because of ill founded political agendas the majority of people don't even agree with.