Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: Andy A on 25 April 2018, 11:43:44
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I changed the cam-belt around 4 years ago but I've only done around 9K miles in that time. I put in a Contitech kit along with a new water pump and auxiliary belt.
How urgent is it that it that it needs to be be changed this year?
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I wouldn't worry about it on MY car.
But that isn't advice that I would give for YOURS.
it's not that bad/expensive a job compared to typical Omega expenditure.
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Difficult to say. It could last another 10 years or it could go bang tomorrow. Its Russian roulette really.
Depends on how much the car is worth to you. If its a really nice example and / or your attached to it, then its urgent.
If its just a car to get about in and its not worth much you could take a chance and carry on regardless.
Only you can answer these questions. ;)
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I agree with Albs; words of wisdom indeed. An Omega guru on here once said "4 years and not a day longer, regardless of mileage, 40,000 miles and not a mile further, regardless of time passed".
Possibly a bit prescriptive, but worth heeding - or suffer the consequences!
Ron.
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Remember if you go over the 4years by 1 day, or get it over the 40,000mile limits, you will die, the car will spontaneously combust...
Mine was 5000miles over,did it on Saturday.
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As is often quoted about this job, It's the tensioner that seems to be the culprit more than the actual belt. Have to ask the question, ....if, like my saloon, it does about 2000 miles a year if it is lucky, does the tensioner suffer still as it would at 40,000 miles. Logic says not.....but !!!!!
Or....do we get belt failure due to lack of use !!
I hasten to add....I am a coward and mine get done, 4 years or 40000, and its always the years first :) :y
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Regardless of the fine debate over this on here, my position is that cambelts are cheaper than engines and come with peace of mind..... :) :y
Ron.
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They were designed to last 80k/8yrs, and have some leeway in that.
However, GM reduced to 40k/4yrs due to the number of failures. I'd expect there is significant leeway in that figure. If mine clocked over 40k/4yrs now, I'd wait a few weeks for guaranteed nicer weather to change it ;)
But if you're really unlucky, and it goes shortly after the 40k/4yrs, you'll be kicking yourself.
Your call ;)
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I did mine every 80, but that was typically every three years... Changed twice in my ownership.
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I'll get the parts ordered in the next couple of weeks when I can afford it. Advice taken. Better to be safe than sorry. :y
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I'll get the parts ordered in the next couple of weeks when I can afford it. Advice taken. Better to be safe than sorry. :y
I've posted a linky in car chat for cheap kit, got a gates belt, and skf bearings.
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As is often quoted about this job, It's the tensioner that seems to be the culprit more than the actual belt. Have to ask the question, ....if, like my saloon, it does about 2000 miles a year if it is lucky, does the tensioner suffer still as it would at 40,000 miles. Logic says not.....but !!!!!
Or....do we get belt failure due to lack of use !!
I hasten to add....I am a coward and mine get done, 4 years or 40000, and its always the years first :) :y
It's the tensioner that tends to fail first when the system is neglected. I'm quite happy doing a belt change a few months late, but seriously doubt the short-lived 80k interval; on a car that regularly sees a lot of miles I would be tempted to do it at 60k.
Let's not forget the likelihood is that any belt kit we fit was manufactured sometime ago.
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I'll get the parts ordered in the next couple of weeks when I can afford it. Advice taken. Better to be safe than sorry. :y
I've posted a linky in car chat for cheap kit, got a gates belt, and skf bearings.
I'll have a look. :y
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When I bought my Omega there was evidence to say it'd been changed at 40,000mls when the car was 5yrs old[so that'd have been 2005].Then there was nothing until I had it changed about 3yrs ago at just over 130,000mls.
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It seems that you have dodged a bullet, there! :y
Ron.
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It seems that you have dodged a bullet, there! :y
Ron.
Not really... The 40k interval was introduced to prevent idler/tensioner pulley failure caused by dealers literally only changing the belt at 80k...
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I just ordered a timing kit £21 inc delivery :)
was done at 70k (skf sticker in the service history 2012)
now at 76.6 k
it'll be my first quad cam belt change
anyone tried this locking kit ?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Saab-Vauxhall-Opel-Timing-Setting-Locking-Tool-Set-Kit-Petrol-V6-EcoTec/292239787538?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Saab-Vauxhall-Opel-Timing-Setting-Locking-Tool-Set-Kit-Petrol-V6-EcoTec/292239787538?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649)
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It seems that you have dodged a bullet, there! :y
Ron.
Not really... The 40k interval was introduced to prevent idler/tensioner pulley failure caused by dealers literally only changing the belt at 80k...
No, it was the high number of idlers not lasting 80k/8yrs. If it was caused by dealers making mistakes, it would not be a reason to change it ;)
*High number = probably lowish percentage, but deemed an unacceptably high number of failures.
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Wonder how well the idler from the ContiTech Timing Belt Kit lasts on average.
That's the one put on mine.
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No way of knowing unless you keep driving until it comes apart. ;)
Shouldnt be any problems doing 40k / 4 years, but beyond that, who knows. I suspect it would go well beyond that, as Ive seen cars that havent had the job done for many miles and many years.
Its a gamble though.
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Wonder how well the idler from the ContiTech Timing Belt Kit lasts on average.
That's the one put on mine.
Donk go over 40k by 1 mile, or the engine will explode, go over 4 years and car will catch fire. ;D,
10k over isn't a problem.
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Wonder how well the idler from the ContiTech Timing Belt Kit lasts on average.
That's the one put on mine.
I've used their kits in the past, no issues.
I change my cambelt in the summer, as my old bones struggle rolling around in the rain, which means it can easily be 5-10k over. I'd probably not want to leave it another 20k/year beyond that, for the sake of £70-80 and 90mins work.
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Wonder how well the idler from the ContiTech Timing Belt Kit lasts on average.
That's the one put on mine.
I've used their kits in the past, no issues.
I change my cambelt in the summer, as my old bones struggle rolling around in the rain, which means it can easily be 5-10k over. I'd probably not want to leave it another 20k/year beyond that, for the sake of £70-80 and 90mins work.
I'll wait until the warmer weather then change it and do an oil change at the same time. Off to North Yorkshire near the end of summer so better to be safe than sorry. :y
Thanks all for your advice. :y
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I just ordered a timing kit £21 inc delivery :)
was done at 70k (skf sticker in the service history 2012)
now at 76.6 k
it'll be my first quad cam belt change
anyone tried this locking kit ?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Saab-Vauxhall-Opel-Timing-Setting-Locking-Tool-Set-Kit-Petrol-V6-EcoTec/292239787538?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Saab-Vauxhall-Opel-Timing-Setting-Locking-Tool-Set-Kit-Petrol-V6-EcoTec/292239787538?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649)
That's a very good price for a V6 timing belt kit. There used to be a kit on e-bay that only included belt, tensioner and one pulley (car needs two) at £19.99. Members bought 2 kits for a complete set up, and got a complete kit for £39.98, still a bargain. Most kits cost well over £100.
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Can't recall how much mine cost[£40-£50 seems to ring a bell]bought off e-bay belt was contitech bearings were SKF and the kit included a German made water pump which had a metal impeller.It had everything in the kit that was needed and all DLK[he fitted it for me]did was change tensioner/roller onto the back plate already on my car and changed the water pump as his preferred method of doing the job.
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On my 2003 Thames Valley Police Omega I note in the records that TVP changed the cam belt at 80k and 160K. In the same period they changed the clutch 4 times.
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That's a very good price for a V6 timing belt kit. There used to be a kit on e-bay that only included belt, tensioner and one pulley (car needs two) at £19.99. Members bought 2 kits for a complete set up, and got a complete kit for £39.98, still a bargain. Most kits cost well over £100.
I purchased a QH QBK337 kit which should contain all the tensioners,backplate and a belt from research,
(due delivery monday) I don't know what bearings quinton hazell use in their kits or what belt :-\
if the belt is poor, i'll just fit a gates belt ,I've been using gates belts for years without issue on many cars
as i say, the kit fitted currently only has 7k miles on and is skf but feb 2012 :o
that's over 6 years and the car has NOT caught fire ;D
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I have never had a cambelt failure, but have suffered 2 auxiliary belt failures, both due to tensioner pulley bearings stiffening up. Not catastrophic failures, but very inconvenient. Following advice from Nick W, I now take the pulleys off occasionally and grease the bearings.
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I have never had a cambelt failure, but have suffered 2 auxiliary belt failures, both due to tensioner pulley bearings stiffening up. Not catastrophic failures, but very inconvenient. Following advice from Nick W, I now take the pulleys off occasionally and grease the bearings.
had a cambelt let go on my bro's old astra f ,had to drag him off a live lane of the A38 ::) ,waterpump u/s ,bent 2 valves and broke several rocker arms ,replaced the bits, engine ran sweet till tinworm ate the cills
also recently had a waterpump seize on the in-laws sierra, took the belt out ,bent a few valves ,bummed a few hydraulic lifters ,replaced the lot (including head refurb VS oil seals etc) ,less than £100 in parts ,engine runs sweet, and £100 is what the local garage offerrd them for the sierra scrap ;D
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I have never had a cambelt failure, but have suffered 2 auxiliary belt failures, both due to tensioner pulley bearings stiffening up. Not catastrophic failures, but very inconvenient. Following advice from Nick W, I now take the pulleys off occasionally and grease the bearings.
I suffered one as well, on my old 2.5. Luckily it was local. Wish I kept that car. :(
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+1 for auxiliary belt failure,mine was due to tensioner collapsing altogether.Luckily it was local and no other damage done.Last time[touch wood]I suffered a timing belt failure was mid '70's on a Pinto 1600 in a MkIII Cortina,mind you most cars owned since then have been chain engines so that might account for most of it.
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On my 2003 Thames Valley Police Omega I note in the records that TVP changed the cam belt at 80k and 160K. In the same period they changed the clutch 4 times.
That's how that works... :D Probably had 16 sets of tyres too ;)
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On my 2003 Thames Valley Police Omega I note in the records that TVP changed the cam belt at 80k and 160K. In the same period they changed the clutch 4 times.
That's how that works... :D Probably had 16 sets of tyres too ;)
In 1997 the police garage chief told Quentin Wilson, on Top Gear,'we change the brake pads every two weeks, and the tyres once a month. Nothing else on these cars goes wrong'. He was referring to 24v Senators, I imagine the Omegas performed similarly.
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On my 2003 Thames Valley Police Omega I note in the records that TVP changed the cam belt at 80k and 160K. In the same period they changed the clutch 4 times.
That's how that works... :D Probably had 16 sets of tyres too ;)
In 1997 the police garage chief told Quentin Wilson, on Top Gear,'we change the brake pads every two weeks, and the tyres once a month. Nothing else on these cars goes wrong'. He was referring to 24v Senators, I imagine the Omegas performed similarly.
Obviously the Omegas need cambelts occasionally :)
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I've decided to fit a Contitech timing belt kit.
I can get the Contitech with water pump included in the kit for the same price as a Contitech kit without water pump + a genuine VX water pump.
Is the Vauxhall water pump the better pump?
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My £21 inc postage Quinton Hazell kit turned up, (qbk337)
The 2 pulley backplate casting is cast SKF Germany 337054 EB IV-1
small pulley SKF France 90573616 ,large SKF -Italy bearing with 337025 DC E-24449776
came with 4 new bolts,1 spacer, single tensioner = SKF France 90573616
Toothed belt QTB384 225x30 HSN
oddly, no country of manufacture on the belt :-\
prolly get a Gates belt ;D
But I've not removed half the engine to get to the old fitted belt yet ;D
stuck my carlton on ebay ,so maybe i'll get round to driving the new toy(omega) one day soon 8)
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I change mine every 40K , i went to 44k once and it went bang, cost me a fair bit that did! :'(
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I have never had a cambelt failure, but have suffered 2 auxiliary belt failures, both due to tensioner pulley bearings stiffening up. Not catastrophic failures, but very inconvenient. Following advice from Nick W, I now take the pulleys off occasionally and grease the bearings.
Does the tensioner come apart to repack the grease?
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Does the tensioner come apart to repack the grease?
you can carefully remove the grease seal of the bearing ,pack with grease and clip the seal back into the bearing ;)
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The tensioner doesnt come apart as such but you can carefully flick the rs seals out to clean and regrease the bearing.this is for the aux belt. The cam belt bearings are the same idea but obviously req a lot more work to get to.
The one main issue here i can think of is that which has been mentioned somewhere earlier in this thread. You should be changing belts/ rollers according to mileage and time but time also affects a bearing sat on a shelf in your garage as it would if it were sat on the car itself in your garage. And as was said most of the kits we are purchasing were probably made a few years ago.there should be no harm in regreasing these rollers as you would with an aux belt pulley but its very easy to bend the rs seals and render them useless ,letting in damp air or dust to the bearing which would be catatrophic to the cam belt ones,less so on the aux belt.
These like all other service parts etc will eventually become an issue when these cars become classic cars in the future.its easy enough to buy almost all we need now just as it was easy to buy a set of lucas points for a car 20 years ago !
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Is this the correct part number 24412292 for an Auxiliary Belt Tensioner for my 2.2 petrol 2003 Z22XE?
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Is this the correct part number 24412292 for an Auxiliary Belt Tensioner for my 2.2 petrol 2003 Z22XE?
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Here goes
https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAUXHALL-FRONTERA-OMEGA-ZAFIRA-2-0Di-DTi-2-2TD-DTI-AUXILIARY-FAN-BELT-TENSIONER/320630645199?fits=Car+Make%3AVauxhall%7CModel%3AOmega&hash=item4aa71361cf:g:nvgAAOxyn9BRZVAv
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Is this the correct part number 24412292 for an Auxiliary Belt Tensioner for my 2.2 petrol 2003 Z22XE?
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Here goes
https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAUXHALL-FRONTERA-OMEGA-ZAFIRA-2-0Di-DTi-2-2TD-DTI-AUXILIARY-FAN-BELT-TENSIONER/320630645199?fits=Car+Make%3AVauxhall%7CModel%3AOmega&hash=item4aa71361cf:g:nvgAAOxyn9BRZVAv
Thats different to the one on mine. The one I came across yesterday was this one at a very low price of £19.95 new. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112829820115. I sent an email to them asking but have not had a reply yest. Probably here from them on Monday.
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Is this the correct part number 24412292 for an Auxiliary Belt Tensioner for my 2.2 petrol 2003 Z22XE?
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Here goes
https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAUXHALL-FRONTERA-OMEGA-ZAFIRA-2-0Di-DTi-2-2TD-DTI-AUXILIARY-FAN-BELT-TENSIONER/320630645199?fits=Car+Make%3AVauxhall%7CModel%3AOmega&hash=item4aa71361cf:g:nvgAAOxyn9BRZVAv
Thats different to the one on mine. The one I came across yesterday was this one at a very low price of £19.95 new. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112829820115. I sent an email to them asking but have not had a reply yest. Probably here from them on Monday.
Sorry bud, I gave linky for a dersal one.
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Is this the correct part number 24412292 for an Auxiliary Belt Tensioner for my 2.2 petrol 2003 Z22XE?
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Here goes
https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAUXHALL-FRONTERA-OMEGA-ZAFIRA-2-0Di-DTi-2-2TD-DTI-AUXILIARY-FAN-BELT-TENSIONER/320630645199?fits=Car+Make%3AVauxhall%7CModel%3AOmega&hash=item4aa71361cf:g:nvgAAOxyn9BRZVAv
Thats different to the one on mine. The one I came across yesterday was this one at a very low price of £19.95 new. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112829820115. I sent an email to them asking but have not had a reply yest. Probably here from them on Monday.
Sorry bud, I gave linky for a dersal one.
No problem. I did a search on the part number in the link I provided and it does seem to match the Z22XE engine so I ordered one for when I replace all the belts, idlers and water pump at the start of next month.
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When I had a 2.2 mig car died only a few days after I bought it.
Cambelt flew of (due to pump), I did change everything except the pump (actually mechanic did)
The pump broke and...
The engine was eventualy rebuilt.
Cambelts used were contitech I believe and the waterpump was some cheap replacement part
Never had issues again but next time everything was done at 40k miles
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When I had a 2.2 mig car died only a few days after I bought it.
Cambelt flew of (due to pump), I did change everything except the pump (actually mechanic did)
The pump broke and...
The engine was eventualy rebuilt.
Cambelts used were contitech I believe and the waterpump was some cheap replacement part
Never had issues again but next time everything was done at 40k miles
Do you keep to the 4 years or 40K depending which one comes first or just keep to the 40K?
Glad you got it sorted and never scraped it it. :y
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Do you keep to the 4 years or 40K depending which one comes first or just keep to the 40K?
The specification is whichever comes first. I would be strict about the mileage, but a few months late wouldn't worry me.