Timing Belt / Water Pump Change

[Daveyboy]

Hi.

 

As of today my Picasso 2.0 Hdi (04 plate) has done 70492 miles.

 

We have it serviced yearly by a mobile mechanic who does a very good job for around £145.00

 

Service done today and he has recommended the Timing belt change (due to age/wear) and Water Pump (weaping), stating he would also do the Power steering belt at the same time as it would be daft not to - quoted price, parts and Labour, £320.

 

Looking in service book it states 100,000 miles or 10 years before belt change. But Im not at grounds to think this guy would rip us off, he's actually gave me plenty of advice on cost savers for parts etc in the past. To be honest, he wasnt pushy for the work - just suggested we have a think about it and ring him if we want the work doing.

 

Would any of you experts out there reckon it is worth the change, even given 30,000 miles / 3 years early? Ive heard rumours that the recent harsh uk winter has potentially contributed to faster erosion of belts etc? Or do I hold off and run the risk of failure? Help.

[gittos]

Definitely worth considering, I had mine done well before the specified time/mileage.........better £320 now than £1500 to rebuild the engine in the future

[JoeBlunt]

It's really a question of balancing the risk. If the water pump is leaking you have little choice because it's likely to get worse, are you having to top up the coolant much? It is quite rare for an Xsara Picasso to need a water pump before 100,000 miles, in fact most people change their water pump regardless of wear at the cam-belt change as a precaution.

I think in general most people only ever change a cam-belt on their vehicle once during their ownership, it's probably more likely that you will keep your Picasso until it's down around 100/150k if that's the case then changing your cam-belt / aux belt / water pump makes sense anyway because you are changing it halfway through your vehicles life (to you) so when you do sell it at say 130k you can at least say to any buyer the cam-belt is not due until 170k, in the meantime you have had 'peace of mind'.

 

In another say 25k (2 years) it's likely this mechanic may not be around? Prices in 2years time may be higher? Going back to the Water Pump will that survive 2 more winters? (which I might add seem colder).

 

£320 seems a good price, are they Citroen parts?

[mcdig]

Just had the timing belt, tensioner and water pump changed on my old 2.0HDi Pic at approx 70 thousand miles. I also had the crank pulley changed at the same time as it was just beginning to squeak. If the car has done a lot of stop start mileage and the water pump is weeping I would get the work done sooner than later, but it all comes down to cost nowadays.

Also you get new anti freeze when you change the water pump so one less thing to bother about come winter time.

[Daveyboy]

£320 seems a good price, are they Citroen parts?

Yes they are.

Never been ripped off by my mobile mechanic, who specialises in Citroens, he's from Barnsley area if anyone is interested in his details. Gives a lot of good advice to be honest and generally replaces cheaper parts (bulbs, fuses etc) during servicing for free.

When he quoted the price I pretty much said yes....but our lass looked at the service book (100,000 miles/ 10 years) and started to question it. :bhead:

[Daveyboy]

Any way I can quickly check myself the condition of the timing belt? Bear in mind though that I am not particularly mechanically minded!

[thebiglad]

Just for a laugh I asked the local Citroen dealer to quote me for a cambelt and water pump change.

 

Wait for it

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710 euros !!!!!!

 

 

I'll be doing it myself then.

[rob39]

Had new timing belt fitted and cost £300 at local garage

[jjwiese]

Had new timing belt fitted and cost £300 at local garage

Hi

 

Is there a guide to change the water pump or how to get to it. I don't have a Heynes and I'm not gone get one soon. So any help will be nice.

[jjwiese]

Ok I have changed the waterpump and my car is fine. I used it this weekend in 42 deg celsuis and it was fine. The job took me about 2 hours and was no brainer.

STEPS

1. open rediator tank to release press.

2.Take off right wheel.

3.Take off plastic lining inside wheel arche.

4.Remove bolt on the tensioner for the altenator/aircon belt.

5.Remove belt.

6.Remove the top part of the timing belt cover. Two 10 spanner bolts.

7.Put the lock in at the top pulley with the hole in one of the spokes. Turn the engine till the hole on the pully line up with the hole on the engine. I used a bolt that fitted in the hole in the pully and grinded it smaller at the tip to fit in the hole in the engin. this prevent the timing to go out when you remove the timimg belt.

8.Remove the crank pully. 3 x 13 spanner.

9.Remove the 3 x 10 spanner bolts that hold the bottom part of the timing belt cover.

10.Mark crank to the engine to ensure it don't move.

11.Losen the tensioner pully on the timing belt. Check tention to for later tensioning.

12.Take of timimg belt and set aside.

13.remove the 2 x 13 spanner bolt on the water pump. Use a socket, the space is limited.

14.mine was stuck and didn't came out by itself. I had to use a 500mm piece of pipe and insert it ftom the top pass the tentioner pully and hammer it till it came loose.

15.Remove the pump and flush rhe system with a hose pipe from rhe rediator hose back to the pump just for a precution.

16.Check for the right side up and fit everything in reverse.

 

Hope it helps somebody.

[smutboy007]

:rolleyes:

[Guest karlfev]

Yes they are.

Never been ripped off by my mobile mechanic, who specialises in Citroens, he's from Barnsley area if anyone is interested in his details. Gives a lot of good advice to be honest and generally replaces cheaper parts (bulbs, fuses etc) during servicing for free.

When he quoted the price I pretty much said yes....but our lass looked at the service book (100,000 miles/ 10 years) and started to question it. :bhead:

[Guest Fauxkingphil]

Hi Everyone,

 

I own 1.6 Petrol Picasso on a 55 plate. Currently 55,000 miles. The Power Assist steering pump has just failed and is in the dealership for a replacement (still under their Select used car warranty), thank god.

 

My question is since they are doing the PAS pump, should I also get them todo the aux belt?

 

From the forum several suggest doing the aux belt at the same time as the Cam belt and also for good measure doing the water pump also.

 

What do you think? I would have to pay for the extra work obviously. Or should I wait another 20,000 mile and get it done at the recomended 75k point?

 

HELP....

[Srikanth]

Any any idea when at what age and mileage should we change for a Petrol 1.6 (mine is 56 Reg).

 

​Thanks in advance!

[gittos]

70,000 miles or ten years, change water pump and all pulleys. Did mine at 60,000 to be safe, not worth risking a £ 1,500 bill to rebuild the engine if it breaks.

[stimulator]

This thread is also running in the C3 Picasso Tech Section the following is my answer I posted there earlier today

 

Ok, well Haynes for a C3 1.6 Petrol says the following:

 

Every 40,000 miles change the timing belt.

It then goes on to say that altough the normal interval is 80,000 miles or 10 years, it is recommended that the interval be reduced especially on cars that are subjected to intensive use, i.e. mainly short journeys or a lot of stop start driving

 

My Citroen service book says for a Xsara Picasso 1.6 petrol, 100,000 normal conditions, 80,000 severe. OR every 10 years.

 

Diesel 1.6 HDi 16V 150,000 or 120,000 or 10 years.

 

Hope this helps