182 cambelt change, yay or nay?

[JayR]

Right the car is due to be 5 years old come May and is obviously due the belt changes however as she is hardly used (been out once in the last month) and sits in the garage most of her life (has done for most of the past 3 years whilst under my ownership) im wondering whether its really worth forking out for the big service!?

So my reasons for not doing so are that shes only just turned 28k, has not had much of an hard life in the way of being hammerd and im probably going to keep the car as long as shes still running.

Reasons for, shes pretty mint and want her staying that way, i know the belt may have coroded (even if in a dry garage for the majority of the time!?) and i could be looking at bigger costs to fix it if it does snap.

People in the know, what would you do in my position?

Jay

 

[Mostro]

My understanding is that it's age that perishes the rubber of the belt as much as use (/mileage) so I'm sure the majority of advice would be to play it safe and get it done.

 

[jesus]

when you do sell it, you can say it's had its belts done at the right times too, you'll probably get more than if they haven't been done

 

[JayR]

My understanding is that it's age that perishes the rubber of the belt as much as use

Mine aswell mate but surely even the rubber needs to be exposed to something to rot if you like?

Im just wondering whether the fact its been in a dry garge for as long as it has and the fact i dont plan to use it much more in the future whether its relative safe bet to be left for a while more.

 

[JayR]

when you do sell it, you can say it's had its belts done at the right times too, you'll probably get more than if they haven't been done

im probably going to keep the car as long as shes still running.

Quite true mate and if i planned to sell i would do them for sure but chances are i will keep her until shes worth hardly anything anyway so its for a personal reason only.

 

[Brett]

Get it done, its extremely unwise to neglect cambelt changes.

For a start it will be very hard to sell in the future if it hasn't been done and you are risking wrecking a almost new 28K engine.

 

[Timmay]

get it done imo

 

[Mostro]

Mine aswell mate but surely even the rubber needs to be exposed to something to rot if you like?

Air? I'm not sure technically what 'perishes' rubber.... At the end of the day, it just ain't worth the risk for the sake of putting off a cost that you've gotta face sooner or later anyway....

 

[JayR]

For a start it will be very hard to sell in the future.

FFS.....Please see original and third post of mine.

Any Renault mechanics or mechanics in general care to make further input?

p.s iv owned performance Clios for many years (1.8 16v, 2.0 hybrid) before owning this so i know what can happen, im just asking what are the chances of it happening when taking all of the info in the first post into consideration.

 

[davo172]

Defo get it done mate not worth the risk had mine done and aux belt at 5 years old and 42k

 

[chrispy.clio]

I though you had to do the belts at 5 years or 72,000 miles. If it was only based on milage then it would just say 72k miles.
I'm getting my big service and belts done at GDI. good price too. Personally, i'd get them done

 

[172Ben]

rubber will still perish over time, wether used or not. Bacteria can eat the rubber aswell as moisture and any solvents within the atmosphere, so unless you have a sealed garage. Id get it changed IMO.

 

[markhinton]

As said it's a wise thing to do it, rubber will perish. You could go on for another five years and/or 100,000 miles, but I very much doubt it. And there's no point in risking such a new engine when the cost of repairing the damage will almost treble!

I've just had my 172's done at 32k (53 plate).

 

[JayR]

I though you had to do the belts at 5 years or 72,000 miles. If it was only based on milage then it would just say 72k miles.
I'm getting my big service and belts done at GDI. good price too. Personally, i'd get them done

How much are gdi quoting (pm if you don't want to post on here please) mate?

I only have a quote through renault so far as I would want it done by somebody reputable and they were quoting 650 all on, thats MOT, normal 36k service and aux/timing belt!!!

 

[ForceIndia]

Leave a rubber band on the side for 5 years, and you'll see the effect time has on rubber. Get it changed.