My car is due for a major 30K (Kms) service and I am told I should do the tensioners. Is that normal? They are not cheap, but then again I have read what happens, or can happen if one ****s itself. Thanks
Graham- There is no 30,000 km cambelt change interval. The recommended interval is 3 years or 50,000 kms, although many owners use 5 years. Your techs are talking about the tensioner pulleys/ bearings, not the tensioners. Tensioner bearings are good insurance, especially if you go longer than 3 years.
May not be. Many shops do sell tensioners too. Also there have been several generations of 5-8 tensioners so replacement is not unjustified even if one has not yet failed which they also occasionally do. Without a lot more information no one of us can say if it is not advisable to replace them. Historically they have been failure prone.
I had a call from them telling me the tensioners were actually replaced 3 years ago. So we aren't doing them. They even said they won't do the belts if they look ok either, but I might get them done anyway. I'm not complaining.
You need a new mechanic. A visual inspection of a belt is a worthless enterprise and they should know that.
How do you know "They're great."? Unfortunately, failure doesn't usually happen slowly. It fails and you go rebuild the motor. I am not saying 5 years isn't a reasonable time. I am saying that the recommended is 3 years and you can't tell if they are having an issue or not.
I agree with this. I follow very close to 3 years with my car. Under my ownership, I've only done it once, but it was at the 3 year mark, or very very close to that according to my PO's records.
Yep, I may be crazy but if they are in that far I would put the latest tensioners on also, too much riding on a failure.... but that's me.
The most expensive Ferrari is a cheap Ferrari. The corollary is that the most expensive Ferrari is one that's been maintained "cheap." Savvy buyers know this. You can ignore the maintenance intervals and you might get away with it (your engine might not blow up). But when you try to sell your car, and the records show it wasn't properly maintained, it will likely take a long time to sell it, or you have to accept a steep discount.
I am getting the belts done, but it seems a waste of money to put in new tensioners after what equates to 4000 miles. I understand the tensioners they used last time were the latest.
They should be checking the tensioners when the belts are changed. Go with that Graham. But as Brian said checking belts is a waste of time. I have changed timing belts after 150k miles and they looked brand new. (not on my Ferrari)
Contrary to popular belief, a Ferrari will go 150,000+ miles without much more than routine maintenance. As far as the tensioners...... they are a few hundred bucks. Why on earth would you NOT replace them, since you are in there anyway? I just did my belts a few months ago, and as good as the belts and tensioners looked, a fresh set of everything installed correctly is just too cheap not to do.
Due to the high heat temperatures in the engine bay the belts start to break down over time, you can tell by scratching with your nail of a knife on the cam belt tooth if it starts to break off they are ready for a change. I did my road 360 at 3years and they were ready for it.
I second that. My weeping cam seals lead to new belts, tensioners, tensioner bearings (HE) even though there's only 4K miles and 2 years on the last belt change.
Would assume that the belts lose tension and can skip time, leading to valve/piston contact in an interference type engine, but I would love to hear an expert's thoughts, i'm here to learn Brian!
