Vauxhall astra cambelt diy?

[.:SAmSuNG:.]

My cambelt is due on my 2010 astra 1.7cdti. I am no mechanic but I dont mind doing odd jobs on older cars. I'm not really too worried about stamps in the book as it missed a service and plan to just run it into the ground.

I have torque wrenches and a good socket but I've never touched a cambelt.

Question is would you advise doing it for a first timer?

 

[Armageus]

No idea how complicated it is, but bearing in mind even via Vauxhall main dealer I believe it's £229 as fixed price repair.

 

[Luke]

I do my own brakes, suspension bits and bobs, alternator, starter plugs etc but I don't see me ever doing my own cambelt.

 

[Clarkey]

See so many people afraid of touching cam belts. Don't know why, they are basic? Just bear in mind that some engines may require special tools.

 

[Maccapacca]

Not for 229 no. I'd be clenching my butt cheeks everytime I drove it. Have done plenty though.

 

[MORE SPEED]

See so many people afraid of touching cam belts. Don't know why, they are basic? Just bear in mind that some engines may require special tools.

Probably because if you get it wrong at all the costs/risks are quite a lot higher than a simple brake job.

 

[austinpowers]

I've done a couple on these and they're easy enough, you lock the camshaft with a M6 bolt and M8 bolt for the injection pump, so it's only the crankshaft that can move once the belts off.

No need to do the water pump as that's run off the aux belt.

This link will give you an idea (not mine btw), ignore the part about the camshaft seal as it's not something you do normally as part of a timing belt change.

http://www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co...-cambelt-timing-auxiliary-replacement.392370/

Youtube video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpC5BKObz70

 

[Lopéz]

See so many people afraid of touching cam belts. Don't know why, they are basic? Just bear in mind that some engines may require special tools.

It's probably because if you get it wrong, the consequences on the majority of cars are pretty catastrophic financially.

 

[squarehead94]

The parts are around 109 (vauxhallcarparts or lmf) that's belt kit, pump was around £45 last time I looked.
It's 2.5hrs on autodata iirc for the z17dth (1.7 found in mk5s) so 229 is a tad cheaper than going rate but depends if they use gates timing kits or not. I wouldn't touch any other than gates (OEM)
Maybe better to ring a local garage or a trustworthy one and get a quote on just fitting and buying the kit yourself. Someone's given you the guide above but if your not confident then I'd advise a garage.

 

[Gamefreak501]

Main thing is to mark the alignment (pulleys) with tipex or a screwdriver before you take off the belt. You can get pulley locks too to help with the alignment.

Cam belt changes usually mean a new water pump also so you may need to top up your coolant or drain enough away so it's below the water pump level on the engine.

One other thing does the gates kit include all timing cover gaskets? Water pump etc? You may need a water pump and timing belt kit.

I've done timing belts before. My chain is getting a bit noisy on occasion so I think mine is also due. But bear in mind if a professional mechanic takes 2-3 hours it may take half a day to a full weekend to diy subject to what you discover needs doing or is seized etc.

Hope this helps!

 

[Akagi]

Even better than marking the alignment, you can just lock the pulleys in place before removing the belt. How you decide to do this is up to you. The MX5 has a special bit of metal you can buy to put between the top two pulleys while doing a cambelt change!

 

[squarehead94]

Main thing is to mark the alignment (pulleys) with tipex or a screwdriver before you take off the belt. You can get pulley locks too to help with the alignment.

Cam belt changes usually mean a new water pump also so you may need to top up your coolant or drain enough away so it's below the water pump level on the engine.

One other thing does the gates kit include all timing cover gaskets? Water pump etc? You may need a water pump and timing belt kit.

I've done timing belts before. My chain is getting a bit noisy on occasion so I think mine is also due. But bear in mind if a professional mechanic takes 2-3 hours it may take half a day to a full weekend to diy subject to what you discover needs doing or is seized etc.

Hope this helps!

Water pump is separate, however I'd replace both together.
Usually the kits don't come with gaskets, but these are cheap enough and I don't mind using aftermarket gaskets myself.

 

[bremen1874]

Back when I had easy access to a car hoist in a nice heated workshop I used to take on this sort of job.

With no hoist and in the middle of the winter let someone else sort it.

 

[Gaijin]

If you are interested in doing it, methodical and are competently minded then go for it.

However, it is definitely a "measure thrice and cut once" job.

Do plenty of research and get a lot of advice.

I've done the timing belts on both my MX5 and my Evo and despite them both being 4 cylinder DOHC, they were on a different scale from each other.

MX5 was like lego - great access due to longitudinal mounting, relatively simple engine assembly and access. Gauging the belt tension was the only tricky part. You also "can't get it wrong" on the MX5 as it is non-interference and thus you can't wreck the engine.

The Evo was on a much different scale, with two belts needed all of which needed to be timed. One oil pump sprocket could also be 360 degrees out of phase which would cause severe vibration issues, proprietary tools are required (or certainly made things easier), and access was comparatively horrible.

Go in with your eyes open, and ideally do it with a pal for sanity checking.

 

[Firestar_3x]

Did one ages ago on a 1.8T, wasn't looking forward to it, but actually turned into an OK job.

One thing which can be worth trying is cutting the existing cambelt down its length (so the belt is half width), remove half the belt then put the new belt half way on, cut the rest of the old belt then now seat the new belt fully.

 

[Gaijin]

One thing which can be worth trying is cutting the existing cambelt down its length (so the belt is half width), remove half the belt then put the new belt half way on, cut the rest of the old belt then now seat the new belt fully.

This can work but only really if you're doing the job on the cheap or removing it before the interval for whatever reason.

Usually you should be changing idlers/tensioners/ or water/oil pumps at the same time, which in most cases will need the belt to be removed.

 

[pepsilol]

Did my LS430 cambelt after getting the ramp. At that point I had zero experience as a mechanic and the most complicated thing I had done at that point was some discs and pads. Everyone said let the dealer do it as it's too complicated etc etc. All the usual BS. Did it in around 3-4 hours with no issues whatsoever. Double check the timing marks and crank it by hand to make sure they match, so simple honestly. Ever since then I've written off this mechanic stuff as BS that it requires utter professionals, it's all a doddle if you have that knack with doing stuff with your hands.

 

[Semple]

Did my LS430 cambelt after getting the ramp. At that point I had zero experience as a mechanic and the most complicated thing I had done at that point was some discs and pads. Everyone said let the dealer do it as it's too complicated etc etc. All the usual BS. Did it in around 3-4 hours with no issues whatsoever. Double check the timing marks and crank it by hand to make sure they match, so simple honestly. Ever since then I've written off this mechanic stuff as BS that it requires utter professionals, it's all a doddle if you have that knack with doing stuff with your hands.

It may well be BS, but ultimately the garage will be insured in the event that they've messed up the timings and caused catastrophic engine failure.

You however, won't be. You might be happy to take the risk, but for the sake of £300 i'd rather avoid the risk of having to pay thousands for a new engine.

 

[pepsilol]

It may well be BS, but ultimately the garage will be insured in the event that they've messed up the timings and caused catastrophic engine failure.

You however, won't be. You might be happy to take the risk, but for the sake of £300 i'd rather avoid the risk of having to pay thousands for a new engine.

If you get as far as removing the timing belt then the person doing the job clearly has the ability to torque, use loctite and crank the engine by hand to check if anything is hitting though.

Some folks can easily do this work, they just need a push away from this scare mongering.

 

[Firestar_3x]

This can work but only really if you're doing the job on the cheap or removing it before the interval for whatever reason.

Usually you should be changing idlers/tensioners/ or water/oil pumps at the same time, which in most cases will need the belt to be removed.

True, never done it myself but looks like a cheap and foolproof way of doing things on certain engine designs.