Ways to tell if belts changed?

[Glasgow172]

Hi there,

I bought my 172 cup a couple of weeks ago. It's done 53000 miles and is on an '53 plate. The guy I bought it from was a mechanic and said he had changed the belts himself (with a friend who worked at renault, allowing him access to the proper locking tool). He seemed to know what he was talking about, went through the whole process with me, and pointed out an area on the right hand side of the engine which had been 'resealed' over after the insertion of the locking tool as proof the work had been done. He also supplied me with a receipt for the cam belt kit.

My question is, is there a way of verifying whether or not the work has been done without actually paying someone to take it apart and check? My mechanical skill and knowledge is (as you can tell) pretty limited and after Reading some of the horror stories on here I'd quite like the peace of mind of knowing it had been done!

Cheers for any advice you can give me

 

[Fred@BTM]

you can remove the upper cambelt cover/engine mount and have a look at the belt, that's about it

 

[R-Sport.]

you can remove the upper cambelt cover/engine mount and have a look at the belt, that's about it

the auxillary belt should be brand new as you look down on it- no wear-
obviously thats the only visible belt-
S

 

[davebem]

As above, visual inspection of the belts. Also on the other end of the block, see if there are scratches around the cam seals where they have been prized off.

 

[Jamesstone]

(with a friend who worked at renault, allowing him access to the proper locking tool)

You wouldn't believe how many times i've heard that one.... 60% of the population must have a mechanic that works for Renault at home


On the flip side he may be telling the truth.....

 

[Glasgow172]

the auxillary belt should be brand new as you look down on it- no wear-
obviously thats the only visible belt-
S

Sorry if I'm being thick but do you mean that the auxiliary belt is the only visible one once the cover/mount has been removed?

As for him 'having a mate at Renault' yeah, it did seem like a bit of a happy coincidence lol. But at the same time he gave me every reason to trust him, he was happy to take me through the whole process several times, explaining it all very patiently etc.

I'll have to have a go at taking off the cambelt cover as soon as I have access to some tools (not living at home at the moment) and get some pics up to see what you guys think. As for the cam seals, is that likely to be the (roughly 10cm diameter) circle exposed on the far end of the block that he pointed out to me as having been resealed? I'll have a check for some scratches.

cheers for the replies lads!

 

[R-Sport.]

Sorry if I'm being thick but do you mean that the auxiliary belt is the only visible one once the cover/mount has been removed?

As for him 'having a mate at Renault' yeah, it did seem like a bit of a happy coincidence lol. But at the same time he gave me every reason to trust him, he was happy to take me through the whole process several times, explaining it all very patiently etc.

I'll have to have a go at taking off the cambelt cover as soon as I have access to some tools (not living at home at the moment) and get some pics up to see what you guys think. As for the cam seals, is that likely to be the (roughly 10cm diameter) circle exposed on the far end of the block that he pointed out to me as having been resealed? I'll have a check for some scratches.

cheers for the replies lads!

You can see the aux belt without any covers off-

I would take it to a specialist & pay for labour to get the covers off to get confirmation of what the belts look like- if they are brand new you will know instantly & Vice versa...

S

 

[Glasgow172]

That's what I was thinking, would be good to just get someone who knows what they're doing to have a look for me. Wanted to get it into ren-o-tec last weekend as I was down that way but they were all booked up, can anyone reccomend any specialists a bit closer to Glasgow than Essex lol?

 

[koi]

Kenny Brown in Hillington isn't far from you, never used before but a few folk on here recommend them.