That's my cambelt gone....

[147owner]

In Australia it has always been 3 years or 60,000kms. It's starting to sound like that's the appropriate time. Be warned and take care...

[karlo17]

Sorry to read your news, mine did exactly the same thing at 42500 miles, just after completing a service at Meridon Milano in Bournemouth. Asked them to investigate a noise that I could hear coming from the cam belt housing ( developed this about 3 days prior to service ) whilst it was in for a service. Collected the car on completion of service and spoke with service engineer, he reported that the noise was from one of the hydraulic tappets, and shouldn’t be a problem at the moment
Within a week and the car covering less than less 100 miles the belt snapped, AA shuttled the car back to Alfa Meridon Milano, and I didn’t see it again for another 8 weeks.
Fortunately the car was under Alfa Warranty and they footed the bill for the rebuild along with replacement radiator and air con pipes.
My very best advise to you is try your best to avoid using a dealership for the repair, look for and independent Alfa garage to do the work.
Speak with Alfa Customer Care ask for Stan Brandon he dealt with my case, very helpful person, you maybe able to get some financial help from them.

After the rebuild maybe think about changing your grade of oil, Selina is running through mine just as quick as petrol at the moment, been advised to change to a oil with more viscosity.

I wish you all the best

[karlo17]

Futher more to my last post :
Spoke with Jano at Autodelta regarding my Cam belt failure, he recomended 36,000 miles for a GTA cam belt change.

[strat24v]

good advice from Jano.

Why on earth does alfa still say 72k?

Off topic a little, but has anybody seen a pic of a modified timing belt setup on a v6 that has been on the www? I had the pic on my pc but it seems to have vanished The pic shows the belt end of the engine with a triple belt setup. One belt per bank, and another wider belt driving the pair.

[240z]

Oh dear, sorry to hear that EE. Stories like this give me the creeps.

Hope mine holds together until I drop it off with Ned tomorrow.

[Mr_Caine]

I'm sure Jamie Porter recommends 4 years or 60k but even that looks high if the car is snapping after 45k, having said that was the car 5 years old? My 5 year old 156 GTA has just over 70k on the clock and has had it's first cambelt recently so they don't all go early.

[edward]

One car did 72119 miles before first cam belt change, the other car at around 40k miles is just coming onto the radar for a cam belt change. It will definitely get done around 50k miles as I don't feel like chancing it.

[AlfaLincs]

The problem with the V6 is that some do and some don't last 72k, but that quite a lot fail at the 50-55 mark, so on a percentage basis you are taking a much higher risk after 45k..but as we have been reading, a few go even earlier than that.

I curse ruddy cambelts. What a car it would be without the damn things to worry about...We'd all have one.

Hope you get sorted fairly by ARUK

AlfaLincs

[CrispDust]

EE sorry to hear of your woes.
Theoretically, you should have no problem getting Alfa to pay the full cost of any repairs/
Costs depend on the damage that has been done:
Best case scenario - no bent valves or holed pistons faces, cracked heads etc -just new belts and tensioners.
Worse case scenario - 1-24 bent valves, heads craked (valve guides) and crankshaft bearings knackered (shock transmission thru conrod)
Either way, they need to take heads off to check head/vlves/pistons VERY thoroughly and sump to crack conrod bearings to check.
Alfa full well know that their service interval times/milage is a load of tosh and that MANY belts or tensioners fail WELL before this 72K/5 yrs. Don't accept ANY bull**** and warn dealers/Alfa UK that you will be getting an independent engineers report if they start any procrastination. Also start muttering about Small Claims court, legal action, Watchdog etc. I'm sure there are many on this forum that will provide evidence of similar failures.
It might be out of warranty but it is still covered by sale of goods act ie fit for purpose ie 5yrs/72K as per their own manual.
The 36K interval is just for the Twinkie.
Why do they fail? Tensioners are crap build quality- cheap alloy baseplate, crap plastic wheels. Belts are almost completely open to elements so perish quickly.
Good Luck!

[Dougie166]

My first 166 3.0 had the belt changed at 3 years old and 73k miles without any snap, my current 166 3.2 had the belt changed at 2.5 years old and 67k miles along with 24 valves and loads more after belt snap!

The 3.0 had sat for 2 years before being registerted so was in fact 5 years old , the 3.2 was built immediately prior to registration so was 2.5 years old! No rhyme nor reason to it!

[rhinefield]

Same thing happened to me, at 59k miles, told by Thames at Tunbridge Wells that 72k mile service belts are required to be changed. Alfa covered the cost of two new heads, approx £4k leaving me the cost of the belts etc at about £400. Get your dealer to register a goodwill claim and pester Alfa daily. Good luck, car now drives as good as ever............

[Ecurie Ecosse]

Thanks guys.

If your mileage is around mine (51k) I would think about having it done soonish

[Pud237]

Gutted for you EE

Hope ARUK sort you out without too much hassle..

[opskier]

Good luck, Alfa may pay the repair costs, but will see....

[Ecurie Ecosse]

Just a thought, but whilst my engine is out should I ask about getting the clutch changed too (and maybe a Q2 installed) as there will be less labour involved?

How much does a new clutch and Q2 cost nowadays? Is there anything else that will be easier to replace just now?

And many thanks again for your support guys.

[opskier]

Only 2 GTA had broken the cambelt in this forum. I have a 2004 147 Selespeed and now it has 25k.

I am going to change the cambelts next year, do you think i must change it this year?

[gwales]

Ecurie, just read your post - that is terrible news.

I know that Alfa do have a fund for goodwill gestures and cambelts were specifically mentioned as one of the things they contribute towards. I guess this issue is how much they will pay and the amount of damage done.

I am not so sure that it is mileage as much as age that is causing this recent spate of belt snaps. Mine is September 2003 and I have 25,000 on the clock but I have a serious case of the sweats now. I think I will get the service done early this year.

One thing is clear, what they recommend is too long and they should be liable.

[Ecurie Ecosse]

Thanks Gary.

Difficult to say if it is age or mileage which makes them go. I used my car mainly for long runs on the dual carriageway so I wouldn't have thought there would have been that much stress on it.

Probably better to be safe than sorry though.

[Pud237]

I think age does more damage than milage personally, especially with the seasonal temperature variations.

EE - I don't know if Alfa take the engine out to repair it following the belt failure. They will basically just do a top-end rebuild which they should be able to do with the engine in situ. So no advantage to getting a clutch done at the same time unless they confirm they will be taking the engine out.

[Mr_Caine]

Tensioners / Idlers seizing can also be a major contributor, or a badly fitted cambelt cover could chaff the belt, the alt belt could have gone and caught in the cambelt, a number of factors other than plain and simple age could have caused it. You'll find out when the engine is apart.

I think the service manual mentions replacing more frequently if driven aggressively or in harsh climates....

Pud237 is right they're unlikely to take the engine out to repair, the pistons will probably we fine, so they probably just take the heads off to replace the valves etc.

[mudhut]

Warning heeded.

Just starting to gather together the tools to do the GTA. Pity the tools aren't the same as for the 164 24V.

Not yet sure whether to do the job as soon as warranty expires (3 years / 14k miles) or whether to leave it until later in the year and do it late summer at 3.5 years and about 17k. Probably will leave it a bit, especially as it's too cold at the mo.

[Stephen Manjai]

Originally Posted by Ecurie Ecosse

Morning guys

I was just sitting at a junction at the end of my road and the car just cut out. The AA have been and it turns out the cambelt has gone.

It is a 2003 car with 51k miles and a full Alfa history. I was about to get the cambelt changed in 2 weeks time at the next service

Do you think I will be successful in claiming from Alfa UK? Is the V6 interval in the UK still 6 years and 72k miles?

Sorry to hear about your cambelt failure. I'm surprised though, reading through all the posts and seeing 72K miles (115,200km) and 60K miles (96,000km) intervals.

While i was in South Africa, all the independent service guys, especially Alfa Service Centre in Bedfordview, Johannesburg urged customers to change belts at 60,000km (37,500 miles) or three years on the TS and the V6. I have followed this advice throughout and my TS (now with my dad) has 265,000km+ with no issues. I think the 60k miles or 72k miles intervals are very high, dunno what you guys think?

My wife's GTA has 72,000km and the tensioner bearing is gone, so changing the whole lot now. Found out though after chatting to the mechanic doing the job that the dealers have never been changed the tensioners, belts, idlers or water pump. Maybe this is what happened to you and you didn't know. They say they've changed the tensioners, idlers, belts and water pump and it's not true, maybe they changed the belt and not the other bits..I just struggle to trust dealers. Experience has taught me that it costs too much...

Sorry about your car though, i hope there was not too much damage, since you said you were only idling.. and the engine was not doing high rpm. Good luck

[ohwell]

Isnt there a specific locking tool required for doing the belts on the gta? Dont think my mechanic has this. Are they easy to get hold of?

[Ecurie Ecosse]

Hi guys

Well the engine has been stripped now and apparently there is no damage

I will keep you updated as to how Alfa UK respond.

[OperationAlfa]

Originally Posted by Ecurie Ecosse

Hi guys

Well the engine has been stripped now and apparently there is no damage

I will keep you updated as to how Alfa UK respond.

You are so lucky! That's fantastic news!