Cam Belt

[venomboy]

Been looking at my cam belt (see "water pump") car has 116,000 miles on the clock, Assume belt changed at 45,000. Belt looks fine, as well as twice as wide as any other i've seen. I know plenty of other members have looked at their belts too. Have any been looking knackered or have they all been in good nick?
I'm wondering if Mitzi's belt change schedule is a tad conservative, not that that is neccassarily a bad thing. Has anyone had a belt let go? My mechanics comment was "you'd have to seize the engine to break that bastard!"
VB

[Kenneth]

my car is reaching 93,000km (58,000miles?) on original cam belt. Mechanic says it looks fine and cam belt should be changed at 100,000km or 5 years, whichever is soonest.

Apparently while that may not be what mitsi specify, it is enough to cover my mechanical warranty.

[KiwiTT]

I would lean closer to what Mitsi says. The engine is used a lot harder than normal, and if it goes it is one hellaluva job, even though it is covered by the warranty. I suspect the engine would never be quite right after the repair.

[Spirit]

I'm inclined to agree with Richard, is it really worth the risk ?

[Kenneth]

hell yeah! a engine rebuild for free is well worth it! Though they would probably resort to getting a 2nd hand engine... my warranty has $0 excess up to 100,000km

The mechanic is keeping an eye on the cam belt. The fact that my car is only 4 years old (2002 edition) and done high mileage indicates a lot of highway use. the contition of items in the engine bay bear this out as there has been very little heat perishing.

Personally I will go on the advice of someone who does this for a living. the mitsi intervals will be pesimistic so that they are "safe" under most conditions, if your car is well taken care of I am sure these intervals can be safely extended.

In saying that, if it breaks ill let you know ;)

[KiwiTT]

It's your call. My car is a lot older than yours, and as you know, I will be having mine for well after the warranty expires, so I am just extra careful.

[Kenneth]

It's your call. My car is a lot older than yours, and as you know, I will be having mine for well after the warranty expires, so I am just extra careful.

for sure, when the warranty runs out I'll approach the situation a bit differently. but then I will do most of the work / servicing myself when the warranty runs out too.

[Rally205]

Most cambelts that I have seen let go do it on initial start up of the engine. Also it is impossible to tell if a belt is about to snap just by looking at it.

Manufacturers specify intervals for a reason. Reliability and safety. After all they did spend a vast amount of money developing and testing them so I would take their advice, warranty or not.