Bournemouth · Independent garage
Cambelt replacement
Cambelt replacement at the interval your manufacturer sets, with the tensioner and, where the belt drives it, the water pump replaced at the same time.
Sound familiar? The vehicle has reached the mileage or the age at which the manufacturer specifies a belt change.
Signs you might notice
If any of these describes your vehicle, this is the page for it.
The vehicle has reached the mileage or the age at which the manufacturer specifies a belt change.
You have bought the vehicle second-hand with no record of the belt ever having been changed.
There is a rattle or a squeal from the front of the engine, or belt dust inside the cover.
The history shows the last change was several years ago, whatever the mileage since.
What the work covers
- Cambelt replacement to the manufacturer's interval for your vehicle.
- Tensioner and idler pulleys replaced with the belt.
- Water pump replaced at the same time where the belt is what drives it.
- Auxiliary belt inspected, and replaced where it needs to be.
- Timing chain, guide and tensioner replacement on engines that use a chain rather than a belt, once a stretched or noisy chain has been confirmed.
- The change recorded with its date and mileage, so the next interval is not guesswork.
How it works
Tell us the make, model, engine and mileage so we can confirm the interval and the parts.
We confirm what the belt kit for your engine includes — tensioner, idlers, and the water pump where the belt drives it — before a day is agreed.
We replace the belt together with the parts that have to come off to reach it.
If something is seized, or has been disturbed by earlier work, we stop and telephone you rather than carrying on.
We record the date and mileage of the change and go through what was done with you.
Why choose AutoTech Garage?
What you can hold us to on this job.
We agree the work with you first
We explain what we have found and what putting it right involves, and nothing beyond what you have agreed is carried out without a telephone call first.
One independent workshop in Bournemouth
Routine servicing and major mechanical work are both done here, by the same garage, so you are not passed on when a job turns out to be a large one.
Common questions
When does a cambelt need changing?
At the interval the manufacturer sets for your vehicle, which is usually given in both mileage and years. There is no single figure that applies to every engine, so tell us the make, model and engine and we will confirm what yours needs.Can I find out what a cambelt comes to before I book it?
Give us the make, model and engine when you ring. A belt job is priced from the kit your engine takes and the work needed to reach it, and both of those are known before the car is here — which is why this is one of the few large jobs that can be discussed sensibly on the telephone. What you get is an estimate rather than a fixed price, and the difference is not a technicality: if a bolt shears or something has been disturbed by earlier work, we stop and telephone you rather than carrying on and adding it to the bill. Nothing is carried out until you have been told what it will come to and have agreed to it.How long is the vehicle off the road for a cambelt?
Longer than routine work, and the reason is mechanical rather than commercial: the front of the engine has to come apart to reach the belt, and on many engines the water pump and the auxiliary belt come off with it. We tell you what we expect to need the vehicle for once we have confirmed the parts for your engine, and we telephone you if that changes.What happens if a cambelt breaks?
On most engines a belt failure is an engine failure — the valves and the pistons meet, and the repair that follows is far larger than the belt change would have been. That is the reason the interval is worth keeping to.Why replace the water pump as well?
On many engines the water pump is driven by the cambelt and can only be reached with the belt off. Replacing it at the same time avoids doing the same strip-down twice.Does every engine have a belt?
No. Some use a chain, which is not a scheduled replacement item in the same way. We will tell you which your engine has when you give us the details.
Related services
Talk to us about your vehicle
Tell us the make, model and what it is doing, and we will tell you what the work involves before anything is agreed.