Cam belt

[Nayls]

Right,im new to these cars so just looking for a little help.

where is the best place to get a belt from? what does it cost? is it essential to replace the tensioner?
is there an upgrade belt? if so is it worth the money?
how long does the belt change take?

sorry for all the questions but im a renault 5 man & they dont have a cam belt.

cheers

[DaneC]

GSF for the belt, wise to replace the tensioner, took my mechanic 5 hours to change, although he was using my garage and didn't have a whole workshop around him - main problem is access.

[DaneC]

And no need to have an upgraded belt unless you are running silly power.

[busterhymes]

i got my belt and tensioner kit from renault bout £70 with a bit of discount through leigh anne on here but gates belt and tensioner kits also very good so you could price up at somewhere like GSF i think they stock gates worthwhile putting a new water pump on at same time. cam belt upgrades sure K-tec do them but on a std motor dont see the point and extra cost.
me and m8 did my belt change inc tensioners which is a must first time i have done one but apart from the ridiculous lack of space we did it in about 5 hours but a seized cam cover screw that had been butchered by a previous owner took 45 mins to sort. if u hand it over to a garage then i have seen some silly prices quoted some over £500 :shock:

[cliokiz]

Definately worth changing the tensioner AND the idler pulley.

You can get the full kit from GSF, which is usually in a Renault box, including cambelt for around £70.

As for fitting, it'll be very tight trying to do it in the bay, far from impossible but far too frustrating for my liking.

I find it much easier and far less difficult to lift the engine out and change the belt, tensioners, water pump etc whilst it's out. Gives you a chance to do it properly and check everything over.

[busterhymes]

Definately worth changing the tensioner AND the idler pulley.

You can get the full kit from GSF, which is usually in a Renault box, including cambelt for around £70.

As for fitting, it'll be very tight trying to do it in the bay, far from impossible but far too frustrating for my liking.

I find it much easier and far less difficult to lift the engine out and change the belt, tensioners, water pump etc whilst it's out. Gives you a chance to do it properly and check everything over.

the renault kit and gates kit come with tensioner and idler pullies and of course belt :wink:
do you think that the job cannot be done properly if you dont take the engine out

[DaneC]

Truely how difficult is it to take the engine out?

The mechanic I got to do my cambelt swore about the space all day (don't blame him) and said he's never doing one in the bay again, engine out instead - but surely that would take ages! He was just on about the cambelt too, nothing about the advantage of being able to change the waterpump, etc.

[Wobba]

As a novice I did a cambelt change in the car. No problem.

[cliokiz]

Taking the engine out is extremely easy.

I've taken one out in 2 hours without even taking the wheels off.

Doing the cambelt when the engine is out of the bay is also very easy, and you've got endless amounts of room to work in.

[queegan]

fookin hell kiz how did u get the shafts out?

[Wobba]

You could get the shafts off if the engine mounts were off and the engine partly raised on a crane I guess...