I think Triumph's own service (i.e replacement) interval was 30k, but I don't know upon what that was based (other than Dolomite engine experience) - that V8 was such an unknown quantity that I suspect there was a lot of guesswork going on. Specialists typically recommended changing them at 15k just to be on the safe side.
It wasn't just the chains themselves which would wear, but the sprockets and tensioners too (ISTR the major problem was that the tensioners didn't really get enough oil even on a good engine, and the oil pathways to them were prone to blockage which only made things worse, greatly accelerating wear)
Both of mine made it over 100k - one virtually trouble-free, while the other one was a bloody nightmare... replacement cylinder heads, rebore and o/s pistons, crank regrind, new clutch, gearbox rebuild, PAS rack rebuild etc.
They weren't all bastards by any means, but the proportion which were was quite worryingly high!
Yes, I don't know what the ratio is these days, but I know our Toyota isn't an interference design, which is why I'm not so bothered about it being insanely far beyond the manufacturer's recommended interval for belt replacement. A broken belt might clobber something at the point when it snaps - and be an inconvenience - but it shouldn't demolish the top end of the engine the way it can on an interference design.
strongly recommending that the cam belt be replaced (it's the original). Now I know that if it does go it will cause a lot of engine damage, but how likely is that really to happen? Is it a widespread problem or do garages just use horror stories to get customers to part with their cash?
It's worth 2-3k (depending on model) say Parkers. Worth doing it.
A failure will probably write the car off as beyond economic repair.
My first one was manual/od. I thrashed it, prolly at least part of the reason I have some tinnitus. It leaked steering fluid until I got that fixed, and the o/d packed up from time to time. I read that this was because oil got into the solenoid controlling the o/d, stopping it working.
My second was a real lemon. Almost everything that rotated needed replacing - auto box, prop shaft, diff, and eventually it threw a big end - new engine. It also broke both rods that locate the front wheels - luckily not at speed in either case.
ler. =A0They want =A3200 to change the belt. =A0Apparently this is a "speci= al offer".
Main dealer belt + tensioner + idlers + water pump on SWMBO's 2001 Zafira was about 300 notes a couple of years back. make sure the tensioner and idlers are definately part of the deal, at 90K I'd pay the extra for water pump change as well. For the cost of a new set of tyres it's not worth the risk of trashing the engine, SWMBO's 2001 Zafira has 160K on it and is just starting to get a bit past it. Why risk thousand son something newer which could be a whole heap of trouble. better the devil you know.
strongly recommending that the cam belt be replaced (it's the original). Now I know that if it does go it will cause a lot of engine damage, but how likely is that really to happen? Is it a widespread problem or do garages just use horror stories to get customers to part with their cash?
I had one go in my 2L Pinto powered Sierra and nothing bad happened at all (because it was a 'safe' engine). ;-)
1 hour after that I'd been towed in to my mates garage, had all the required bits off, the new belt was delivered and I'd fitted it and driven home. Total cost about 12 quid and some beers for my mate. ;-)
strongly recommending that the cam belt be replaced (it's the original). Now I know that if it does go it will cause a lot of engine damage, but how likely is that really to happen? Is it a widespread problem or do garages just use horror stories to get customers to part with their cash?
There are even diesels, with inherent interference between valve and piston where damage is generally minimal. Vauxhalls with rockers will generally bend a rocker, the Ford 2.5DI will bend push rods and break rockers, which end up to be cheaper than a new set of belts!!
We are about to inherit Mum and Dads 45k 04 Meriva 1.6 and I think it's got a stat partly stuck open (temp gauge rarely moves off the bottom peg when you are on the move but does come up + electric fan when in traffic etc). Garage owning mate has quoted us (well Mum) £250 to do stat + belt, tensioner and pump 'while we are there'. Whilst at
45k it feels a bit early to do the 'extras' (over and above the stat) it's one of those things that is possibly better economy to do now plus a bit of protection and hopefully would then outlast either the rest of the car or us. ;-)
This Meriva is pretty clean and was 'Dads' and 'she who will obey' seems to like it (apart from the front o/s pillar that you can easily lose a sand and gravel lorry behind). ;-(
That was certainly a possibility - although sometimes it was a simple case of the o/d switch going intermittent. ISTR that crud could build up in the internal filters, too - I remember making myself a little tool so I could undo the plugs and gain access to the filters on one of mine.
They do seem to typically live at one extreme or the other! Did yours have the infamous 'Triumph twitch' where the sliding joints of the half- shafts would lock up as the car went into a bend at speed, and then suddenly release when coming out of it? My basket-case one did... I got used to it, but passengers would just about crap themselves the first time they experienced it.
I'd still like another one some day, but there aren't many this side of the Atlantic (certainly not ones that have been kept original, anyway).
Oh yes. You just had to be ready for it. Take a sharp bend under power and then change up - be ready with the steering wheel.
Total production about 27000 of which about 10% went to the US. I drove one in California once, but to satisfy emissions Triumph had had to detune them a lot, so it had no ooomph.
TR7 in California was much better. Great pickup in top gear from 50 to
80mph, and the best manual 5-speed I've ever used.
The temperature guage thing seems common to many Vauxhalls of the period, i've known people change the 'stat and it's still behaves the same afterwards, I reckon they're meant to operate like that.
it used to amuse me that the allegedly 'analogue' temp gauge on the jag always sat exactly in the middle. I reckon it was programmed that way to give an illusion of perfection.
Not of the same period but her 93 Belmont 1.4 (8V engine similar to the Meriva I'm told) and daughters 2001 1.2 Corsa all seem to behave as 'expected' with the needle getting onto the gauge (and staying there!) pretty quickly after startup and even when moving! ;-)
A couple of says ago I took the spare temp sender (that was the first thing I changed and made little difference) and plugged it back into the loom and sat it in as near to boiling water as I could (more like
85-90C) and the car temperature gauge showed (compared with a jam making thermometer in the same container) -5 degrees of correct.
So, with the lowest mark on the car temp gauge = 70 DegC and it rarely making that even at 70 mph on the motorway, can I assume that the stat
*is* in fact stuck open a bit?
Stop the car or potter in slow moving traffic and the temperature moves up to nearer 90 DegC (indicated) and then the electric fan cuts in. Does the fan have it's own independent switch or is it in turn driven from the temperature sender (even if via the ECU)?
AS you say, it's a lot of money to spend on something if not needed, however, at least I'd get a new belt, pump, stat and tensioner out of the deal so presumably less likely for any to fail and wreck the engine > car?
Except in a lot of cases the service manual doesn't set a time limit for cam belts. This has been introduced retrospectively as a favour to their dealers.
I had this issue with my A6. I could only find a milage figure not a time limit. Dealers either did not know or were too lazy to look it up when I asked.
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