Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Hi, the belt on the car i have was changed 2000 miles ago although it was quite a few years ago.
are the belts guilty of degrading or cracking over time?
i also own a Rover Metro 1.1s that had it's belt kit changed 8 years ago prior to my purchase and a quick look showed no sign of any issues. so i'm just wondering if the Cavalier belts degrade or not.

Bob

In my Cav I don't meet the milage criteria but I always change it based on time (5 yrs) better safe than sorry!
Guy I know is a mechanic and once showed me a broken belt - the rest of it looked fine!

Alan

Thanks Alan i will check the belt asap.

Bob

I have just checked the recommendation.

I knew that it was 36,000 miles, but I have always used 32,000 miles or every 5 years.
Whichever milestone is reached first.

Despite ownership of 22 years, I have only just found out that the time recommendation is only every 4 years.

Ooh eck!!
I need to get mine done immediately as it has been fitted for 6 years. - youch !!
(including a two year restoration).

Rubber does age harden, crack and stretch over time especially when exposed to variations of heat and the continual flexing experienced inside the average engine.

A belt kit is way cheaper than an extensive engine repair or finding a new engine to replace your broken one with.

Hi Steven, you are absolutely correct and that will be done once i exhaust all other routes to validate if the belt has been changed recently or not. the previous owner was fastidious in maintaining this car owned by him since new but i don'believe i have all the documentation regarding the work done to the car.my next call will be to the repairing Vauxhall dealer to see if they can tell me anything.

Bob

The rule is if you dontknow if/when it was changed, then change it.

That is what I am going to do with mine belt seems to be ok but I would rather spend £100 on a whole cambelt kit for mine than have the belt or other component fail.

All of the above .
You've become the custodian of a rare car , my first ever mk3 was one of these
- Low mileage belt snapped on me. It's an interference engine - so bent valves
Rebuilt it, put it on, stripped a cylinder head bolt - Warning to anyone- Never ever use a torque wrench with a deflection needle. They are shit. Spend more money on the proper thing.
That's how my first mk3 died.I was new to mk3's then.
Spend the money on a timing belt kit, comparatively speaking it's not a lot for that peace of mind

Agreed -
£100 for a belt, tensioner and water pump sounds a lot of money, but assuming a minimum life of 4 years, then it only works out to 50p per week.
Not bad for a GM part.

Just ensure that the tooth profile on the belt is the same as the profile on the water pump.
(You can get rounded or squared profile teeth).
My GM belt is the rounded profile.

It takes me about an hour to an hour and a half to do a belt and pump swap if I take my time.
I would allow double that if you are a competent novice.
Having the correct tools is the key.
The 8 valve engines are just so easy to work on.

I would get your Rover belt done too.
8 years is a long time for most rubberised belts.

Only the post 2002 engines appear to quote Starship Enterprise belt change intervals.

My Z19DTH (2005 Vectra-C) quotes 90,000 miles or ten years.... I never feel comfortable waiting that long. Ha ha.

I know some of the latest Ford engines have a rubber belt - IN THE SUMP!

Alan