Timing Belt C3

[french connection]

Evening all,

 

Please can someone give me some advice as to when I should think about changing the timing belt on my C3 1.4 HDI 16V? it was registered in March 03 and i've covered about 47000 miles.

 

According to my dealer Citroen recommend something bizarre like 150.000 or 10 years surely thats not right?, but they've told me not to worry about it and that it doesn't need changing yet.

 

 

Anyone any thoughts on this?.

 

 

On a second point:

 

 

I don't know if anyone else has done this but i've had mine from new and had my fair share of problems mostly when the warranty ran out and it seems to have cost a small fortune in repairs on top of insurance and general running costs, It makes you wonder if the money you save with cheap tax etc is out weighed by constant problems and generally poor reliabilty its a shame because I really do love my car but after 4 years i'm wondering if anything else will go and i'm slowly losing faith with it.

 

 

It has always been dealer maintained but last week I went to an independent i'd found and they seem ok touch wood!!, I live in Sheffield area in anyone wants there details send me a PM and i'll let you have them.

 

 

I'm going to work out how much in repairs i've spent over years and put it on here and see if anyone has spent about same.

 

Cheers

 

Simon.

[stimulator]

Timing belt 100,000 miles or as adised by the dealer. You trusted them to service it don't you trust them for advice.

 

If you read Hatynes manual they say 75000 miles. You've owned the car from new and you therefore know its history.

 

If you are really determined to have it cahanged then it will cost around £350.

 

 

Weren't you offered a fourth year's warranty. I was and took it at £266. My C3 1.4HDI 16V 92BHP has had the following items fail on it in just under three years

 

Turbo outlet pipe seal.

Ventelation stepper motor drives the recirc flap

A/C second stage relay prevented the system getting cold

Broken front spring, both replaced.

 

I didn't take the extra warranty because I feel the car is a can of worms, far from it just for peace of mind and that I need it to get to work. The broken spring happened when the acr was staionary on my drive on a non work day, so I've never been carless.

 

My Picasso in 3 years with never had a warranty job done on it.

[raveydavey]

I've got an 03 Desire HDi (8v) and the cam belt change in the book is 100k. I'm just approaching 60k now so it's a fair way to go yet.

 

I went on a factory tour at Jaguar Halewood a while ago and the guy taking us round had originally worked there building Ford Escorts. As you probably know the workers got big discounts on new cars so he changed his Escort every 3 years - and he changed the cambelt every 10k even though the book stated every 36k....you'd like to think he'd got some idea given that he'd probably built his own car! :(

[Gordo]

I have a 52 plate 92BHP 1.4HDi Exclusive, it's just clocked 79,000 miles. I also checked with Citroen and was advised 150,000 miles.

I spoke to the motor engineer who does all my work on our cars and he did state that Citroen cam belts appear to be very reliable but he would recommend a change around 120,000 to be safe.

I didn't ask for a price as I'll probably have got rid of the car before then.

 

I notice a number of people have had a lot of trouble with C3's, I bought this second hand and apart from the radio wiping it's saved stations and one or two issues early on with displays and locking (turned out to be a bad battery connection after a service), the hassle of the off-side lamp misting and replacing headlamp bulbs (I have replaced 3 near-side and 2 off-side and can now do either with little fuss or blood loss), all I've done is fill it with diesel, drive it and get it serviced by a mechanic you can trust when you get to the service interval.

 

I bought the C3 for the economy and quirky shape. So far in around 65,000 miles or so of driving, I have had 59MPG at the worst and 79.8 at the best. It's not the quickest or best handling car but it does keep going (so far!!!!!! - touches wood very quickly).

[danielsydney]

I was told 1.4 auto engine. (Old Peugeot 206 engine) is 80,000km. As a guide.

[Maurocar]

I was told 1.4 auto engine. (Old Peugeot 206 engine) is 80,000km. As a guide.

 

 

I Just changed mine at 85,700Km. My Citroen agent told me they change it at 80,000Km

[iannez]

75k is as far as i would run a car on the same belt. citroen belts are made by gates and are used by most manufacturers. they just put there name on them. dual mass flywheels and rubber bushed crank pullys are the reason for such long intervals so anyone converting there cars to solid flywheels or pullys should reduce the cambelt change by half.

 

i have always said that if you run a diesel car the money you save on fuel you should put away for when the car goes wrong. with these modern diesel engines it is only a matter of time.

an injector for a petrol car is around £80. one for a diesel is £250. thats a £1000 a set.

fuel pump for a petrol is around £100. around £900 for a diesel one. most of the time it is cheaper to buy a second hand diesel engine than it is to by the part at fault. just not worth it in my opinion.

[Praktoras]

Hello guys,

 

Just read the whole conversation and although it's old, I have to make the same question; when should we change the timing belt?

 

And I am asking this as diesel engined cars were allowed in Greece for the past couple of years (at least in the big cities) and while we have an extensive experience with petrols, diesels are still very new to us.

 

In regards then to C3 A51/DS3 with 1.4hdi 70 and 1.6hdi 90 engines where Citroen says that timing belt should be changed every 10 years or 112,500 miles (180,000 km) and I think that it is way to risky for a so long period of time, what would you propose? Citroen says that diesel timing belts are much more enforced compared to petrol ones.

 

 

Thanks!

Edited January 10, 2014 by Praktoras

[Johndouglas]

It would worry me to be driving on a cambelt that had done more than 100,000 miles.   I had my C5 changed at around 75K.   Certainly Citroen will not be forthcoming with financial help when your snapped belt has resulted in a damaged engine, so I would disregard their recommendation and change it earlier.

[Praktoras]

Thank you John for your reply. So to play it safe, 60-75K it will be a good limit. What about the time frame, say 5, 6 or 7 years for example?

[Johndouglas]

In my opinion mileage is the more important factor.   75K is what I would be aiming for.   18 months ago I did my little Saxo's belt for the first time.   That was when it was 14 years old but only with 40K miles on the clock.   The old belt looked good for its age.

[Praktoras]

Got it, thanks!

[paul.h]

With our last C3 (1.4 petrol) I would remove the top cover on the timing belt each year (only 2 bolts) and check the belt looked in good condition - then no need to wait x years/miles of worry that it may be about to fail. In the end I changed it at about 7 years and about 40k miles and it still looked in good condition.

[qman3428]

I had a 1,4 diesel C3 and put over 60k on it, as it already had 40k when I bought it the cam belt had done 100k, I took a look and checked its condition and believed my main agent when he said 150k, never a problem. Now have the new shape C5 which is changed at 100k at the dealers recomendation. Had mine done at 103k and it looked good for another 40k. I had the water pump and pulleys done at the same time, total cost £450.

[Praktoras]

Thanks Paul for your recommendation; I will see if it is possible to check the timing belt so easily in my A51 e-hdi.

 

@qman3428: I am sure that a timining belt is -maybe- good enough for even 200K. Usually it is changed sooner than dealer's recommendations for having our piece of mind. In any case, if it is easy to access it and take a look at its condition, it is surely a plus for its change delay.

 

BTW, good move to change the water pump with the timing belt ;-) . This is what i always do as well.

[BEH]

I have a 52 reg C3 1400 petrol. My handbook says change cambelt at 75/80,000 miles.Just coming up to 60,000 my cambelt jumped,expensive repair underway, Do not take chances, change belt about 50,000 miles

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

I hope the repairs cost a lot less than the value of the car. In our handbook it was so many miles or 10 years, whichever came first. It all seems a bit of a gamble how long it and its pulleys/tensioner will last - some seem to go on forever and others do not.