What is Cambelt / Timing belt?

​

Cam belt is a rubber belt with teeth on it which synchronizes the rotation of camshaft and crank shaft and keeping other various engine components to run in time. It also controls opening and closing of your engine's valve to allow gas to pass in and out to ensure correct combustion in your engine.

Eventually, the belt will wear out or oxidizes. If  it cracks, tears, or snaps, it can cause expensive engine damage. 

​

How often should you change?

The cambelt is often overlooked by  vehicle owners.  However, it is very important that you keep track of when your cambelt was last changed. Ultimately, it depends on the car, you will usually find a manufacturer recommendation in your owner's manual, but a replacement is usually dependent on how old the car is,  or how many kms it's traveled. Our recommended time/mileage replacement period is 100,000kms / 10 years  whichever comes first.

​

What happens if you do not have your cambelt replaced? 

If the cambelt is not replaced when it is due  for changing, you  run the risk of seriously damaging your car's engine. Over time, the cambelt will wear and it will eventually break. Once the cambelt breaks, your engine will  simply stop running as there is no connection between camshaft and crankshaft.

​

Why should you need to replace the waterpump at the same time?

We highly recommend to replace waterpump and other timing components like, timing (hydraulic) tentioner and timing idlers and sometimes seals. 

Timing belt, waterpump, timing belt tensioner and idlers have similar life expectancy and it is the best practice to replace them all at the same time. This will add a couple of hundred dollars to the bill, but you will have peace of mind that these items will last to the next change.

​

For example, if the waterpump  or other timing parts were to fail a short time after the cambelt was replaced, then the same components would need to be removed from the engine and the same amount of labour is used to replace the pump, so you are paying the labour twice plus part price. 

In many cases, the waterpump is driven by the cambelt, and re-tensioning of the new belt can sometimes put a different load on the existing waterpump bearing, causing it to become noisy or for the pump to leak.

​