Vauxhall Astra cambelt...big pricey repair?

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:03 pm

The car went in today because we have an irritating rattle that has developed near front left hand side of the engine.

The suggestion is that it's the cambelt tensioner that's going. I am not a mechanic, is it a big/ pricey job?

Raf · Post by **Raf** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:11 pm

not on an astra; changing the belt isnt too hard but it is the priciest of all the belts.... what year is the astra & engine size/type? you should change all tensioners & cambelt in one go... the actual cost of materials isnt much.
Labour; depends who you go to but a cambelt on an astra by a proper grease monkey can be done in a couple of hours (if all goes to plan).

from top of my head i think the fan/ac belt is on the left; if so that is alot cheaper.... (half hour job & easy to do)

HTH

leebwk · Post by **leebwk** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:12 pm

I should think aswell as having the tensioner replaced then you ought to have the belt replaced aswell, this can be quite pricey we had our landrover done last year and had a new tensioner fitted £450.00

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:24 pm

cambelt is possibly one of the most expensive jobs on a car (sorry

)

had the Punto done last year - £300 I think it was.

One thing which maybe worth considering (maybe Raf could confirm one way or other?) is having the waterpump replaced at same time?
By the time the cambelt needs replacing, the waterpump always seems to be on the way out and the position of it means doing at the same time saves restripping the engine down.
This was the case on the Punto and is also the case on many of the Toyotas, so could well be same on Astra?

trouble with cars ... good money after bad sometimes

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:26 pm

If it is what they suspect, they can do the whole kit. Better safe than sorry as it's our work horse. It's a MK4, 02, 1.4 5 door hatchback. I'm sure we've had the cambelt changed before around 40,000 miles, it's now done over 80,000 so probably due again anyway.

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:34 pm

had a quick google and cambelt change cycles seem to vary a massive amount depending on which engine the astra has!
every 40,000 is a popular quoted distance, so looks like that is what you're gonna have to do

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:40 pm

Our car has the Ecotec 1.4 engine, no idea how good that is price wise. I saw a cambelt kit for £62.

AuntiePink · Post by **AuntiePink** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:43 pm

Sorry it wasn't something simple but better to replace everything at this stage than have the cambelt go and take the whole engine with it. <--- that's the voice of experience talking

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:50 pm

If we don't use the car we don't earn, so it's got to be done! Flipping cars.

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:51 pm

This is the cost breakdown of that job on a 2002 Punto 1.2litre engine.

don't think the astra and puntos are anything exotic, so prices should be ballpark to one another?

Labour for Cambelt Change - £84.31
Camshaft Drive Set (belt?) - £43.35

As I mentioned, also had waterpump done:

Labour for waterpump - £32.50
Water Pump - £41.23

All plus VAT

I don't believe a cambelt change is something the uninitated could do successfully, btw.

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:55 pm

My oh can be trusted on bicycles but he has no interest in cars, better left to the mechanics. At least it's this week not next when it's needed.

Foggy · Post by **Foggy** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:40 pm

one thing to think of is if the tensioner is on its way out it can cause untold damage and bend bits of your engine into all sorts of shapes ,if the tensioner aint doing its job right then the belt can slip a tooth causing your timing to go out

if i remember correctly Vaux had a major recall on all cars due to problems with cambelt tensioners some years ago

i had one go on a SRI 2.0 ,luckily the compression ratio on them is such that the valves and pistons wouldnt meet unless you were redlining it ,not sure on a 1.4 but guess the piston and valve would meet up

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:50 pm

From what I read the Vauxhall engine is an "Interference" type, which means if the cambelt goes it will likely interfere BIG TIME with your wallet.

I am lucky with my car - it has a camchain instead of a belt and is good for 200,000+ Miles

phew!

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 3:36 pm

The oh is on his way to collect it. They've changed the whole cam belt kit because one of the rollers was failing. No idea how much until he comes in, I'll get the smelling salts!

Foggy · Post by **Foggy** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 3:42 pm

better a couple of hundred now rather than a grand next week