Should my Renault Megane Coupe have snapped a second cam belt so soon?
I have an 02 Renault Megane Coupe and had the mis-pleasure of the cam belt snapping on me two years ago. The car had done 75,000 miles. This, I understand, was very good going for the first belt. But two years later (just last week) the cam belt has snapped again, causing pretty much the same damage and costing pretty much the same amount (circa £1500, which I haven't agreed to spending yet). Would there be an underlying reason for the cam belt snapping so soon after the first replacement or am I just unlucky?
Asked on 17 August 2010 by dowf
Answered by
Honest John
Not a lot of point in replacing a timing belt without also replacing the tensioner, any minor pulleys it runs on and, if the waterpump is driven by the timing belt, that too. Most timing belt failures are not failures of the belt. Rather they are the belt being thrown off by failure of the tensioner, of a pulley or of the water pump.
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