Cam Belt on a diesel Corsa

[sunflower68]

Hi, we have been offered a car (free) which needs an mot. The mechanic said he needed to know when the cam belt was done (am not sure at the mo) as, if it has been lying idle for a while, it may go pop and the workshop are not insured.

Can anyone elaborate or advise please!

[essex bloke]

hi for the sake of about �100ish fitted, you might as well have a new one fitted.You can get a deal by phoning around the local mobile mechanic and get one to come to you .

[sheffwed39]

essex bloke is right. spend a few quid on a new one or its gunna cost a lot more if it does go believe me , ive had one go on my old car. it cost me 400 pound to put right.

[funkymoped]

i agree with essex and sheffwed.

if the car is worth the cost of a new cam belt, get it done. ive only had one belt go and was able to fix it myself, that was on a cortina. diesel engines are NOT an easy repair if the cam belt breaks.

[sunflower68]

Thanyou essex bloke, sheffwed39 and funkymoped, sounds like great advice. What is also confusing me is that when it goes in for MOT he wants evidence of when it last got cam belt. Are they dangerous just being there, old or not? Can I just ask him to mot and replace cam belt or will he be in danger by simply looking at the car????

[Toureman]

It is advisable to get the cambelt renewed if you have no records on when it was last done, usualy it should be renewed every 40000 miles.

The cambelt is not part of the MOT though.

During the emmisions test part of the MOT the engine is run at about 3000 revs for a short time and the garage, as they say do not want blaming if it snaps.

[sunflower68]

should I therefore replace it before the MOT. Sorry to be so blonde and thankyou Toureman.