hi, i was just wondering how much it would cost to change the cambelt on my 1.0 1985 micra? is it a really expensive job? i have heard they are really expensive on some cars to do and i think i will change mine soon just to be on the safe side as i dont want it snapping. my car has done 49500 miles since i got it off my uncles about 9 months ago. he was old and just used the car to go around town so i dont think it has been done. it is still the original clutch on the car and most parts are still the original ones. thanks adam
cambelt for k10
- Thread starter caphj7
- Start date
Hi mate, I believe that the recommended service life of a cambelt is about 60,000. I think a rough guide is about £100 for this. I prefer to use local one man band type garages as they are genuine. Dude I go to is a gem. It's not a bad idea to get the cam belt checked anyway, if that snaps it can total your engine.
Yes buddy, it's in the Haynes manual, 60,000. A service is never a bad idea anyway, I mean they recomend a regular oil change (six months in the manual). You could easily go 12 if doing 10,000 or less as long as you check that the sump oil is OK. I go a year and used to do 10,000 miles. at 105,000 the engine still ticks like a dream, but throughout the cars life with some years doing less mileage it has a very high service schedule. In short your motor should run and run and then some. It's a very simple and efficient design. Oil is the engines life blood and if in any doubt about the cam belt, it is worth doing. A good garage should give you an honest opinion about the belt. It tends to be the body work that lets the side down a bit!!
Yes buddy, it's in the Haynes manual, 60,000. A service is never a bad idea anyway, I mean they recomend a regular oil change (six months in the manual). You could easily go 12 if doing 10,000 or less as long as you check that the sump oil is OK. I go a year and used to do 10,000 miles. at 105,000 the engine still ticks like a dream, but throughout the cars life with some years doing less mileage it has a very high service schedule. In short your motor should run and run and then some. It's a very simple and efficient design. Oil is the engines life blood and if in any doubt about the cam belt, it is worth doing. A good garage should give you an honest opinion about the belt. It tends to be the body work that lets the side down a bit!!
J
JTunerTim
Guest
I would also recomend getting the water pump and tensioner changed too, although a good garage should do this anyway. The parts should cost around the 80 mark, i think. Add an hour and a half or so of labour. £120-140 total?
Not really that good at pricing tbh, but you could always do it yourself, its not as easy as people make out though, you do have to jack the engine up and take off the left side engine mount to get the belt cover/ actual belt off.
And the water pump gasket was a ##### to remove for me, as you have little space and i have pretty big hands lol. But either way good luck. 60k miles is recomended as Paul said
Not really that good at pricing tbh, but you could always do it yourself, its not as easy as people make out though, you do have to jack the engine up and take off the left side engine mount to get the belt cover/ actual belt off.
And the water pump gasket was a ##### to remove for me, as you have little space and i have pretty big hands lol. But either way good luck. 60k miles is recomended as Paul said
If youve got a haynes manual, proper tools! and a bit of sense then you can do it your self. garages normally charge between £100-160 but the actuall belt only costs about £10-15. Its like servicing your car. £30 max is spent on parts, but garages can charge £90+
Ryan.
Ryan.
lewic
Ex. Club Member
I got a cambelt from Ebay for about a fiver, and shopped around for garages.
The garage that did it checked the waterpump and tensioner and said they were fine, so they only did the belt, which was about an hours work.
Cost £50, but other places were quoting up to £180, telling me it took 3 hours to change a cambelt!
The garage that did it checked the waterpump and tensioner and said they were fine, so they only did the belt, which was about an hours work.
Cost £50, but other places were quoting up to £180, telling me it took 3 hours to change a cambelt!
Can I ask you guys, do you use a torque wrench for doing a cam belt/water pump change? I would use one for the cylinder head bolts but I wondered if anyone actually uses them much?
I am in the middle of replacing the water pump. Old one's bearings just disintergrated as it came down the road. Lucky I know. Pulled up on driveway with water gusshing out.
Having replaced the pump, has anyone run the engine up to temp to check for any leaks before replacing covers and engine mounts? I know the engine would be running on the jack supporting the engine but is this a problem?
Found useful info for removing bottom pulley from archive part of this site.
Peter.
I am in the middle of replacing the water pump. Old one's bearings just disintergrated as it came down the road. Lucky I know. Pulled up on driveway with water gusshing out.
Having replaced the pump, has anyone run the engine up to temp to check for any leaks before replacing covers and engine mounts? I know the engine would be running on the jack supporting the engine but is this a problem?
Found useful info for removing bottom pulley from archive part of this site.
Peter.
