Can it really be the cambelt?!?!?

[dj_jayr]

I need mechanical advice from someone in the know. I recently bought fatboy_fat's Clio 172 (2000) and as I am taking it on a track day in June (plus thinking of a few light engine mods) I took into my local Renault dealer, William A Lewis in Shrewsbury.

I had noticed some slight issues when the car was started from cold, flat spots in acceleration etc. This was reported to the garage as something to check out.

After investigation and full diagnostics they are telling me the Timing is wrong abd the cambelt needs replacing.

WTF i think, it's only just been done. Checked with fatboy_fat and yep, carried out by a main dealer at 57k miles back in october. Mileage now is only 60,300.

Does the cambelt really need changing or are Lewis' extracting the proverbial and smacking me with a £400 bill in the process.

Can anyone shed some light?

Many Thanks
JR

 

[Fatboy_fat]

I find it a bit strange that the car wasn't running roughly when I had it, nor when you test drove it (hadn't been started for a few days), nor when you collected it. If a cambelt is mis-timed, then the problems would be apparent immediately, it's either right or wrong, there is no inbetween. I would be a little cautious about their diagnosis to be honest, it could be something as simple as a coil pack for example, Renault are notorious for them, take a look on the forum. You say that it runs a little rough only when cold, if the belt was out of time, then it would run roughly all the time. Did you speak to the Renault dealer (Gerry Hill) that did the work ? If the belt is mis-timed (which I doubt very much) then they should do something to sort it out, after all, it's only been a few months since it was done. You have the invoice in the folder I gave you. Hope you get it sorted mate.

 

[mat-nos]

deffo not a cambelt issue mate!!

id be looking at plugs and coil packs myself!!

 

[dj_jayr]

I thought Gerry Hill might be open to doing something about it but in their words "Nothing we can do for you anyway", Nice.

The cold running problem started about the 2nd week after I got it from you mate, up to that point no problem whatsoever. With my limited mechanical knowledge I agree with you about the timing not being the cause but I shelled out for £50 of diagnostics and that's what they told me.

I have told Lewis' to hang fire until I get some more feedback from the bods on here and some mechanic mates who do loads of rallying.

We'll wait and see.

JR

 

[TheCake]

IMHO I'd want to investigate other avenues before going for a cambelt replacement.

I'm no timing expert but surely the timing can be adjusted AFTER the belt is fitted? I.e. They can tighten/tweak it?

 

[mat-nos]

i wouldnt have them check anything else out, they are just going off what the computor says (which is blatanly wrong or they are lying to get 400 quid off you) if it told them that 172s dont excist then thats what they would tell you that lol

take it to an independant specialists or jsut test the plugs yourself then coil packs!!

 

[Day]

Sounds like it wasn't fitted right.

Happens quite a lot.

 

[Fatboy_fat]

Sounds like it wasn't fitted right.

Happens quite a lot.

If it "wasn't fitted right" how did it take 3000 miles to make itself known.......

 

[dj_jayr]

William A lewis are intimating that it wasn't fitted correctly but are stopping short of making that statement outright. Sureley as I am paying for the diagnostics then Lewis' are obliged to give me a definitive answer as to the real cause of the problem?

If it was not fitted correctly surely I have some cause for comeback to the original garage (also a renault main dealer).

I am going to call renault customer services and see what they say.

Thanks
JR

 

[paul_h172]

were the tensionors done with the belt?? could be a possibility.

 

[16v_jon]

if it wasnt fitted right ie: 1 or 2 teeth out then the car wont start

 

[Fatboy_fat]

were the tensionors done with the belt?? could be a possibility.

I would have thought so, it cost me about £350

 

[Fatboy_fat]

William A lewis are intimating that it wasn't fitted correctly but are stopping short of making that statement outright. Sureley as I am paying for the diagnostics then Lewis' are obliged to give me a definitive answer as to the real cause of the problem?

If it was not fitted correctly surely I have some cause for comeback to the original garage (also a renault main dealer).

I am going to call renault customer services and see what they say.

Thanks
JR

To my mind, a main dealer should not be intimating anything, they're supposed to be the ones that give you a definitive answer. It seems that a lot of the dealers I've dealt with use the substitution diagnosis method. They just change things willy nilly until the problem's cured, and then charge you for the parts they've used!!

 

[dj_jayr]

Lewis' have now extracted the fencepost from their arse and stated that it is down to faulty workmanship......back to gerry hill.

Renault customer services are v. helpful, they are requesting the dealer principal at Gerry Hill contact me to resolve the issue. I hope whoever that is has a reasonable attitude, for some reason though I suspect they will need their arm twisted up behind their neck to get anything done.

We'll see.

PS: Lewis said they checked the plugs/coil and they are not the problem.