Williams Cam Belt change..£266!

[DanG]

Ive just spoken to Renault Manchester whove quoted me £266 for a cam belt change on my williams...

Has anyone had it done cheaper, if so how much and where?

I just want the renault stamp in the service history but I dont want to flog a kidney to get it...

 

[rockport]

if that was quoted from a renault dealer.. then £266 seems fairly good.. nick hill doesnt charge much less (so im told) give him a call.. details on the site http://www.hillpower.co.ukwww.hillpower.co.uk

 

[Matty]

Both BB and Ktec are cheaper but then they would be a trek from Manchester. Got mine done at BB and chipped at same time. Worth the trip if you want to get more than cambelt done.

 

[steve_rt]

sounds good for a dealer!

at a private garage, my cambelt (+tensioner) was £180. if youre bothered about the renault stamp (and i wouldnt be as long as you know a quality private mechanic) then go for it.

 

[Red16]

tis easy to do a cambelt on a clio mate,would do it for ya for a reasonable price if u lived closer

 

[Just Bob]

All very well having a cambelt done on the cheap or by a mate who knows what they are doing, but when, (NOT IF), it goes wrong, who you gonna call?

Renault dealers may be a lot more expensive but you will have the (genuine)belt replaced by a factory trained technician, using the correct method and special tools and have a gaurantee as well, plus a stamp in your service book.

Just for info, the tool dealers use to correctly tension the belt costs £400! Has you local garage or your mate got this tool?

Up to you. caveat emptor.

Bob

 

[torsiontuning]

We charge £150.00 inc belt. Our overheads are nothing like a main dealer or big garage so our labour rate is loads cheaper

 

[steve_rt]

bob - arent the renault special tools there just to make things easier for the mechanic? you can still change the belt successfully without it cant you?

IMO if you trust the mechanic who is working on your car (and lets face it youd be foolish to let just anyone loose on your baby!) then im sure they will do just as good a job as a main dealer.

 

[torsiontuning]

belt tension gauge, we have one, as for the belts, there is a rumour that halfords belts are stronger than normal pattern ones? something to do with home mechanics being rougher than us normal grease monkeys?

 

[DanG]

The way I figure it is that a renault stamp on the 72k service may cost 266 quid...

Youre likely to recover the 266 quid when you sell it anyways, with the fact that renault handled the job being a handy baragining tool.

 

[rockport]

err... not really m8, if you was to show me 4 cars each with evident receipts of a 72k cam belt change from the following people :-

1. BBPT

2. HILLPOWER

3. TORSION TUNING

4. RENAULT

i know which car id walk away from, (not in that order maybe, but with renault being the bottom of list) these specialist tuners prob know more about 16vs/172s then the dealers do. Ive only once ever taken my valver to a main dealer, that was enough for me. The quality of work that is taken out by a dedicated private tuner as advised in the list above is no comparsion with dealers..

in some cases ive heard dealers forgeting to change things like oil filters etc..



IMHO...

 

[Matty]

Yeah fuel filter was missed on mine. I tend to try and do majority of accessible/easy stuff myself but would prefer to use someone who sees 16vs all the time and know what they are doing for bigger jobs. BB were good as I believe all the others mentioned.

If you read BB catalogue they actually stress that the best way to increase your power is to service the car properly, changing oil, filters plugs etc to get it running as it should before mods. Wise words.

 

[DanG]

mmmmmmm... good point about the dealers...they probably havent seen a williams there for ages with them being quite rare...

Might give some of the others a go...Ta.

 

[Alex M]

Totally agree, you can never assume that a dealer will do a good job, just cause they are a dealer. The specialists like BBPT and Hill etc have probably worked on more 16v than any dealer in the country, and there is nothing like learning a job by doing a lot of them. God knows when a Reno garage might have last changed a belt on an older Clio 16v/willy. They might be better with 172s cause they are current and they will be seeing more of them.. but I would still either do it myself, goto a specialist or a mate mechanic who you trust.

 

[2 live]

yep agree totally .......

just cos the reno mechanics work for reno doesnt mean they are any better than ur local kwik fit fitter..........no offence anyone.

personally theres only 2 people i trust to work on my car........1s me the others my mate whos also a mechanic.

if i havent got the time or equipment to do it myself, he takes it to work and does it on the ramp etc

cam belts are an easy job anyway......£150 thats still over £40 an hour.............hhhhhmmmmmmm could be a little earner lol

 

[DanG]

Is it possible to do a change the belt without taking the engine out?

It seems too close to the drivers side suspension mount to get the covers off...

If it can be done I can get access to a ramp and Ill do it... Id just be a bit wary of getting the belt off and not being able to get the new one on because of space..

 

[torsiontuning]

its tight down there (oh er), loosening the aux drive tensioner pulley is the bit i hate! use a tool to lock the cams, cos the exhaust cam always springs back!

small hands make this an easy task!

 

[DanG]

do you have to take the alternator belt off to get to the cam belt?

Hasnt the cam belt got 2 covers aswell?

 

[torsiontuning]

alternator belt Has to come, put a new one on while you at it! three covers in total, top middle and bottom, it is tight, the real pain is the aux tensioner, allen key req, but a very tight fit.

and always double check cam timing! or it could be expensive

 

[Matty]

When mine was being done they took the drivers side headlight out and also the splash guard under the wheelarch. Think they wanted to take the wheel off too but Ive lost my locking wheelnut thingy. Did have teh waterpump done at the same time though!