Can anyone advise if a Tdci Cmax has a timing belt or chain and when they are required to be changed?

Thanks

Some people would ask Ford.
If ford dont know then who will?
If you do not trust Ford then who do you trust?

Most stuff is timing belts these days??

What engine – pretty sure the 1.8 tdci in the S Max is a belt, and I think that unit is pretty widespread across the Ford range

The 2.0 tdci Ford engine has a timing belt, it's ususlly due for replacement around 120k miles according to my local main dealer iirc

120k miles for a belt is an awful lot of miles.

I would look to replace it at half that.

Yes, it is more expense, but a damn sight cheaper than the belt failing, eeek!

Sorry I'm being a bit thick but why does a diesel engine need a timing belt?

I took my old Focus in for it's 87.5k service and asked the dealer whan the cambelt was due, he told me 120k. seems like a lot to me too, the service book (iirc) listed it as due at 100k.

I sold the car 3 months ago with 90k on it and the original cambelt.

SEP now…..

ddmonkey – Member
Sorry I'm being a bit thick but why does a diesel engine need a timing belt?

The principal behind all piston engines is basically the same, the crank shaft needs to be synchronised with the camshaft regardless of the type of fuel.

The cambelt/timing chain maintains the synchronisation.

This post has proved that you cannot believe much if anything on the internet.
The belts last the life of the engine………. when they snap thats the end of the engine.

120k miles is a lot of miles on a belt. The VW 2.8 v6 engine in the Ford Galaxy has a chain and it does not last 100k miles.
Ask Ford
http://www.ford.co.uk/Footer/ContactUs

120k miles for a belt is an awful lot of miles.

I would look to replace it at half that

I agree and as an Alfa owner it is something I would never hesitate over. However I have a Peugeot as well and that is somewhere in the region of 120k as well.

Yeah I was being a bit thick! 🙄

What I found interesting was that when I put my focus in for the service (at my local Ford main dealer) I had asked them to do the cambelt change at that time. This would have cost in the region of £400 but I was shown on their computer that the belt wasn't scheduled to be changed until 120k. In the past (particularly when servicing/building/repairing my cars myself) I always changed cambelts at 60k regardless of what the service book said.

Now a laptop is require to carry out the simplest of maintenance I'm forces to leave it to the garages….oh for the days of engines that were mechanical….(thinks longingly about the "good old days" and rebuilding engines with carbs and mechanical distributors….)

valve timing not ignition timing monkey…

Slightly OT

Can you get two fully assembled bikes in the back of a Cmax? Are they high enough to get a bike inside "stood up"?

120k miles for a belt is an awful lot of miles.
I would look to replace it at half that
I agree and as an Alfa owner it is something I would never hesitate over. However I have a Peugeot as well and that is somewhere in the region of 120k as well.

That would be because they are the same engine. The problem arises if your belt fails before the recomended service interval and destroys the engine the car manufactures don't want to know.

valve timing not ignition timing monkey…

Although the belt on older diesels does do the injection timing as well as the camshaft timing.. which is equivalent to the ignition timing in a petrol. Not any more tho – all electronic on both flavours.

surfer – Member

120k miles for a belt is an awful lot of miles.

I would look to replace it at half that

I agree and as an Alfa owner it is something I would never hesitate over. However I have a Peugeot as well and that is somewhere in the region of 120k as well.

My brother-in-law had a cambelt fail on his Alfa V6 about 5 years ago. Not sure of the exact bill in the end, but it was well over £2k!

I used to have an old shaped R reg Vectra V6.

VX used to say that the scheduled interval for changing the cambelt was 80k.

However, they started to get a lot of failures at around 50/60k. They of course honoured the warranty, but then changed the recommended interval to 40k, but never really publicised it!

My 2004 2.0 diesel mondeo has a chain rather than belt

On the Vauxhall it was the tensioner that failed taking the belt out at the same time. On my Focus, Ford state every 100K or ten years witch ever comes first. Its now got 88k on it, going to change it on 90k.