Wansworth
Well-Known Member
Changed the cam belt on my Lambardini as it was at least twenty years old.Thiscaused mild surprise at whyI should bother.ShouldI have bothered?
Cam belt change
- Thread starter Wansworth
- Start date
Seajet
...
Absolutely yes. Cambelts can look great on the outside but frayed to tatters on the important inside toothed bit.
Ideally mark the new belt with Tippex showing date - and engine hours if recorded.
My chum always does this for date and milage - he's a serious car mechanic involving high end or racing cars, he makes a good living on cam belts.
Ideally mark the new belt with Tippex showing date - and engine hours if recorded.
My chum always does this for date and milage - he's a serious car mechanic involving high end or racing cars, he makes a good living on cam belts.
RichardS
N/A
A great idea in principle. However, most belts I have worked on have an idler/tension wheel which bears on the smooth side of the belt so I don't think that Tippex will last very long.
Richard
seaangler23
Well-Known Member
Definitely, cars are standard around 60k while a boat engine would never really do the equivalent in hours as a car does to do that 60k they are left standing for 6months of the year which doesn’t help, rubber deteriorates, write date and hours on timing belt cover, don’t forget to do an idler pulleys and water pump at the same time
Seajet
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It does, between thousands of miles - 10,000 I think on my old banger and the tippex is good as new - I did mention the mechanic I'm talking about knows his stuff - could be on F1 but couldn't tolerate the egotistacal arseholes - he and I worked with them briefly and couldn't get away quick enough !
AngusMcDoon
Well-Known Member
I've never changed one on an outboard. Should I?
Seajet
...
Please yes do try, this is very important for all of us; and like bomb disposal bods, do set up a camera so we can all learn from your moves. 
Heckler
Well-Known Member
I watched mechanics changing the belts on twin outboards on the Maritime Police rib in Bruces Yard a couple of months ago.
macd
Well-Known Member
vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
Ours failed years ago on a Ford Escort. Caused serious damage to valves but we got away with limited damage to pistons.
huldah
Well-Known Member
The life of a cam belt is debatable, with age being very important. I know, because I have just scrapped my car due to a broken cam belt that had done 30,000 miles and was nearly five years old. Cam belts can jump a tooth causing the tappets to chatter. Had I known this....
PaulRainbow
Well-Known Member
This is incorrect. It is possible for a belt to jump a tooth, usually resulting in poor performance, sometimes resulting in bent valves.
alant
Well-Known Member
Well, my Peugot Diesel jumped a tooth because of some debris from adjacent belt.
Had to scrap car, even though belt was less than 30,000 & 5 yrs.
PaulRainbow
Well-Known Member
That's because of my second point, pistons colliding with the valves. On some Peugeot engines the camshaft is positioned over the valves, which are vertical, and the valves don't readily bend, they shatter the cam shaft, break the bearing housings and generally destroy the cylinder head. This usually requires the belt to jump more than one tooth though.
RichardS
N/A
Errrrrr ..... exactly as described by Paul.
It's the "chatter" bit that he's rightly querying.
Richard
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