2014 1.2 VTI Cambelt change

According to the book the belt should be changed at 112k or 10 years. I would prefer to change this sooner, around 80k as I feel the belt would be starting to deteriorate by them, I would like to know if this is a major job or is it best to leave it to the Citroen dealerships, I think they are currently quoting £500 for the belt change.

Thanks

Kevin

Dr Diesel wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 4:26 pm According to the book the belt should be changed at 112k or 10 years. I would prefer to change this sooner, around 80k as I feel the belt would be starting to deteriorate by them, I would like to know if this is a major job or is it best to leave it to the Citroen dealerships, I think they are currently quoting £500 for the belt change.

Thanks

Kevin

Hi

All cam belts are tricky to do because of the limited space in the C3 engine bay and the amount of parts that need removing to access the belt. This is the main reason for the cost, it is down to the labour time. Parts for just the belt kit are not that expensive.

But if you do it yourself and make/buy the engine locking tools and work methodically you can have the benefit of also changing parts as a preventative measure. This is something a garage wouldn't do. But you would still come in under the £500 budget with extra parts.

Have you done a cam belt in a modern engine before? If not, and you are not sure, then leave it to the garage.

If you have an idea of what is involved and want to take the opportunity to check/change some ancillary parts, this would be an ideal time to do it.

Thanks for the reply, the last cam belt I changed was on a 307 1.6hdi when I swapped the water pump and tensioners as we were in there on the basis that if you're in there, change anything that moves or wears as you will have new parts operating against old worn ones, that could accentuate the wear even further on the old parts.

It could be the case we see a glut of cars all around the same mileage hitting the used car lots in the next few years as the owners will not have the belts done.

I've a couple of years to put something aside for this as all its needed this year for the MOT is front tyres and brakes. It would make sense to keep on top of the little jobs as its a good car. Also find a local Citroen Specialist or see if the main dealers in the North East have some service offers on.

As this engine is fitted to the rest of the PSA range, I was thinking about a 2008 or C3 aircross next, something to bear in mind