How much for a new 147 cam belt?

[totalester]

I've just had my 147 serviced and MOT'd, and been told the cam belt needs replacing. It's 6 years old and done 65k miles, so from what I can tell, this's right.

I've been quoted £200 for this, does that sound about right?

Thanks!

[paulmacs]

Cambelt should be changed every 36k on the 147 along with the tensioners. If it is making a diesel like sound on startup then the variator will need replaced too.

£200 is good value, yes.

[lawman]

Reasonably price,just make sure they do the balance belt and tensioner at the same time.
Good luck

[alfa.chris]

Thats cheap are they replacing cam belt, balance belt, tensioners and variator

Originally Posted by totalester

I've just had my 147 serviced and MOT'd, and been told the cam belt needs replacing. It's 6 years old and done 65k miles, so from what I can tell, this's right.

I've been quoted £200 for this, does that sound about right?

Thanks!

Cambelt change intervals are every 36k/3 years whichever comes first
Yours is a 2.0 so it will need
Cambelt, tensioner & idler
Balance belt, tensioner & idler
Variator if original or your getting a diesel sound on startup
Waterpump as above

£200 is far to cheap for a garage to do all the necessary work properly
Are they a Alfa specielist

[pygmyarr]

Slight thread hi-jack, but are there any warning signs to look out for when the belts near the end of its life? Fairly sure mine was done 12k ago in march, but want to know what to look out for on the car if things start to go wrong.

[lawman]

No warning signs just your engine cutting out and your valves saying hello to your pistons
You should be fine though for another couple of years,as Paulmacs said every 36k or 3years

[Smaky]

Originally Posted by pygmyarr

Slight thread hi-jack, but are there any warning signs to look out for when the belts near the end of its life? Fairly sure mine was done 12k ago in march, but want to know what to look out for on the car if things start to go wrong.

I use the old calander or speedo for the warning, if it seems that the 36 month or the speedo reads almost 36000 miles more than it did when the last belt was done then you can pretty much say it is going to fail soon.


£200 is nowhere near what it should cost, this garage doesn't kow the engines and certinly doesn't have the correct toolage.

[dbt]

You are normally looking at £500 to £600 for a 36k service and cambelt change with all the bits. £200 sounds suspiciously cheap.

By co-incidence, I've just arranged for the cambelt to be changed on my Alfa 147, at a local independent garage.

Now I'm cheating slightly here, because I'm in the trade and able to get parts & labour realatively cheaply (particularly the parts), but my quote is as follows.

To replace cambelt, water pump and coolant £160 labour (+ VAT)
Cambelt kit, £55 (+ VAT)
Water pump £30 (+ VAT)

So the £200 quote does appear to be a little on the cheap side. I suspect your garage might be planning to just replace the belt, using the existing tensioner and pulleys etc. Make sure a complete cambelt kit is fitted, not just the belt itself.

The water pump change on my car is precautionary really. At 68K miles, do I really think I'm likely to get another 36K out of it..? Maybe, maybe not, but what I do know is that if it fails soon, the engine will have to be dismantled a second time with another bill of several hundred quid...

Incidentally, I would have done the job myself. It looks perfectly feasible for a competent DIY mechanic, but the cost of the necessary tools is prohibitive. Particularly if you only expect to do the job once in your lifetime.

But if you really are an Alfa nut and plan to have this job done regularly, perhaps on several different cars, I reckon its worth the investment in the necessary tools...

Good luck.

[Alfa147dave]

Mike at A&M Alfas has just quoted me £480 for a service, new cam belt, variator, water pump and supply and fit a new radiator. He gets the car tomorrow. I get it back friday

[gazza82]

Full belt change is normally in the region of £300-350 for a 2.0 TS (plus variator plus water pump).

[rgwm]

Originally Posted by Smaky

I use the old calander or speedo for the warning, if it seems that the 36 month or the speedo reads almost 36000 miles more than it did when the last belt was done then you can pretty much say it is going to fail soon.

Is this the same Smaky who ran his 146 upto about 115K miles IIRC to check how long it would be before the belt failed......?

Although I accept that if advising a customer I'd give the 36K/ 3 year advice. Do I do it on my cars? Heck, no....... Tho I do worry at times if I have a time-critical journey.....which is why my daily driver is a 164 TS with a chain.....milady has the 156 TS wagon......

[Smaky]

Originally Posted by alfa147dave

mike at a&m alfas has just quoted me £480 for a service, new cam belt, variator, water pump and supply and fit a new radiator. He gets the car tomorrow. i get it back friday

1.6?

[Smaky]

Originally Posted by rgwm

Is this the same Smaky who ran his 146 upto about 115K miles IIRC to check how long it would be before the belt failed......?

Although I accept that if advising a customer I'd give the 36K/ 3 year advice. Do I do it on my cars? Heck, no....... Tho I do worry at times if I have a time-critical journey.....which is why my daily driver is a 164 TS with a chain.....milady has the 156 TS wagon......

It's a do as I say thing rather than do as I do, 104K though was the distance in 9 years on the old 1.6 146.

£200 seems too cheap! You get what you pay for, and if you buy cheap you buy twice!!

[DANMAXWELL]

I just had my cam belt done on my 147 2.0 ts, along with balance belts and kit,tensioners and variator kit which is 90 aloan, had the water pump done and new coolant.

Cost £444 pound cash

£200 just sounds like the cambelt only and not everything else it would need?

A new variator and kit is a must with this change, and the water pump also has to be done!

Check what they are going to do for £200 first.

[Alfa147dave]

yep, 147 1.6 ts

[divadiva]

I got belt, tensioners and waterpump done for £350 at a local Alfa Specialist when I bought my 147 Obviously, yours will need the variator doing too.

[symon]

Originally Posted by TGRWorzel

By co-incidence, I've just arranged for the cambelt to be changed on my Alfa 147, at a local independent garage.

Now I'm cheating slightly here, because I'm in the trade and able to get parts & labour realatively cheaply (particularly the parts), but my quote is as follows.

To replace cambelt, water pump and coolant £160 labour (+ VAT)
Cambelt kit, £55 (+ VAT)
Water pump £30 (+ VAT)

So the £200 quote does appear to be a little on the cheap side. I suspect your garage might be planning to just replace the belt, using the existing tensioner and pulleys etc. Make sure a complete cambelt kit is fitted, not just the belt itself.

The water pump change on my car is precautionary really. At 68K miles, do I really think I'm likely to get another 36K out of it..? Maybe, maybe not, but what I do know is that if it fails soon, the engine will have to be dismantled a second time with another bill of several hundred quid...

Incidentally, I would have done the job myself. It looks perfectly feasible for a competent DIY mechanic, but the cost of the necessary tools is prohibitive. Particularly if you only expect to do the job once in your lifetime.

But if you really are an Alfa nut and plan to have this job done regularly, perhaps on several different cars, I reckon its worth the investment in the necessary tools...

Good luck.

I can't see any mention of the balance shaft belt on that quote. If it isn't done it might snap and wrap itself into the cambelt.

Parts alone to do a 2.0 twinny is going to be around £250 if you do the waterpump and variator.

[totalester]

Thanks everyone for the info. Definitely sounds like it's just the cambelt for £200 then! It wasn't an Alfa specialist I went to, and it's my first Alfa, so I wasn't aware of everything else that needed replacing along with it.

So to summarise, I'll need:

Cambelt, tensioner & idler
Balance belt, tensioner & idler
Water pump

Is that right?

I've already had a service recently, and it was the cambelt that was highlighted as need replacing then.

Ta.

Originally Posted by totalester

It wasn't an Alfa specialist I went to
So to summarise, I'll need:

Cambelt, tensioner & idler
Balance belt, tensioner & idler
Water pump

Is that right?

Worth considering the variator if you have no record of it having been done

Have a look here http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/north...suppliers.html (North West Alfa Romeo services & suppliers) for reccomended Alfa indies, don't let a normal garage do the work, they are highly unlikley to have the correct camlocks necessary to set the timing properly

[ALFA TUNER]

Originally Posted by totalester

Thanks everyone for the info. Definitely sounds like it's just the cambelt for £200 then! It wasn't an Alfa specialist I went to, and it's my first Alfa, so I wasn't aware of everything else that needed replacing along with it.

So to summarise, I'll need:

Cambelt, tensioner & idler
Balance belt, tensioner & idler
Water pump

Is that right?

I've already had a service recently, and it was the cambelt that was highlighted as need replacing then.

Ta.

You have to add timing variator to your list

[symon]

And there is no idler needed for the blanace belt, just a tensioner.

Shop4parts have variators on offer this month £80 plus Vat. I think they also have cambelt kits on offer as well.