cam belts

[BUGSY030564]

Is it just wear and tear that will snap a cam belt.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

usually its just wear,but as zac says,belt could be faulty as well.

[jake-the-peg]

You can get cases where the tensioner fails, some engines are more prone to that than others.

There are other things that can cause premature wear Land Rover 300TDi engines for example had some problems with misalignment of pulleys causing premature wear and rectification keits were issued

[Toureman]

No !

On some cars if the auxilary belt fails it will get tangled up with the Cambelt and break it.

All Cambelts have a limited life.

[richtee]

Contamination by oil or fuel can wreck these belts, also, and more likely, incorrect tensioning- always follow the book, and check again after its bedded in- some slacken off more than others with time, I lost a �1000 cylinder head that way!! (and a piston and con rod)

[Lastmanjack]

Although all the answers are correct, these are unforseen bits of bad luck, cam belts need to be replaced at recomended intervals in milage, but also if you do not do this milage in say 5 years it is recomended to be changed as it may start to perish, a cam belt wont suddenly snap if you go over the recomended mileage or time, but it is more likely to, the higher the mileage, i personally go up to about 50% over recomended & in 30years & 10 or 12 cars at 50,000 miles a year have never had a cam belt snap, & if your engine is valve safe ( the valves will not hit the pistons if cam belt snaps) it doesnt matter anyway, i had a Lexus 400 & did 160,000 miles as it was valve safe, the cost of a cam belt replace on the car was �500, but whether or not it broke, it was only going to cost �500 as it was valve safe, so the answer is "do you feel lucky".

[TWR]

I dont know if this will help anybody, A friend of mine about 3 yrs back had a belt snap on a pur 306 6speed, this person was a footballer around our area so he was not short of a bob or 2, the garage that sold him the car Quoted �1000 for the job, I contacted the Garage and spoke on my friends behalf, they told me what was wrong, the Cam Belt, I asked about the changing of the belt & also the recomended life by the makers Peugeot, They said 72000 On normal driving!!!! & 58000 on Tear A---- Driving!!!!! I said the car had done 48000 Job done FREE OF CHARGE, If you have a point with a garage MAKE IT, if the car has been serviced properly, PROVE IT, dont be fobbed off by their BULL -------, Stand your ground, if you your self cannot, get someone that will, I hope this will help someone.

[Disco Fever]

Just think how many times a cam belt goes around the sprockets, in revolutions, when you have done 50,000 miles no wonder they break....