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[john1959]

had cambelts done 4 years 5 months ago done 20000 miles in that time gates say 5 year warranty, done 1000miles in the last year.when you think i should replace cambelt and tensioners and waterpump.cheers

[VXL V6]

Whenever you feel comfortable with. As you probably know it's 4 years / 40K change intervals, anything deviating that is entirely your decision.

I have the same with one of mine that has only done a couple of thousand miles but as it's currently SORN it will be waiting until spring next year.
 

[TheBoy]

Realistically, you'd be unlucky for it to fail soon.  The GM lowered limit of 40k/4yrs was due to an unacceptable number of failures with the original 80k/8yrs.  Unacceptable probably means less than 5%.

When the kits were readily available at a sensible price, and can be done in an hour or 2 quite easily, it was a no brainer to stick to the GM recommendation.  Now the kits are scarce, and probably all old stock, that makes the decision more difficult, even more so if you have to pay a garage to fit it (and they probably can't fit it properly anyway)

[Nick W]

It's at half the mileage, and over the age limit. I would fit a timing belt kit in the next year or so.


The only reason to change the water pump is if it's leaking. The original suggestion to change it while you're in there was that reliably good quality replacements were readily available for so cheaply it wasn't worth not doing it. That's no longer the case, it isn't driven by the timing belt, and replacing it isn't that big a job.


Now that these engines are over twenty years old, I would put the extra time and a fiver into changing the crankshaft oil seal instead.

[Lizzie Zoom]

Realistically, you'd be unlucky for it to fail soon.  The GM lowered limit of 40k/4yrs was due to an unacceptable number of failures with the original 80k/8yrs.  Unacceptable probably means less than 5%.

When the kits were readily available at a sensible price, and can be done in an hour or 2 quite easily, it was a no brainer to stick to the GM recommendation.  Now the kits are scarce, and probably all old stock, that makes the decision more difficult, even more so if you have to pay a garage to fit it (and they probably can't fit it properly anyway)

I would add that Serek at his Huntingdon SOS, garage, a OOF member, can be highly recommended to change our Omega cam belts, at a very realistic price.
Many of us use his services. 

As for the cambelt kit itself, the correct Gates one is still readily available from Autodoc online.

[Mutha Jugs n Speed]

I've still got four of the AC Delco 3.0 kits which came up for sale at silly money.....think I bought eight in total, so that they could be robbed to make up kits for the 3.2's.

[TheBoy]

the correct Gates one is still readily available from Autodoc online.

But are they older than the ones on the car. I would imagine everything now is (very) old stock.

[cam.in.head]

I've still got four of the AC Delco 3.0 kits which came up for sale at silly money.....think I bought eight in total, so that they could be robbed to make up kits for the 3.2's.

yes me too.
they were very cheap at the time. i got 6 .used 2 so ok for a fair few years yet at the mileage i do !
the offset pulley still works fine on a later engine although the shaft can be swapped over to a new bearing anyway.

[Lizzie Zoom]

the correct Gates one is still readily available from Autodoc online.

But are they older than the ones on the car. I would imagine everything now is (very) old stock.

No idea.  The Autodoc stock comes in from Poland/Germany and is for the Opel as well as Vauxhall  Omega, plus goodness what else. As long as they last the 4 years on the engine that is all I care about.

Surely  they didn't stop making them on the same day they stopped making the cars

[YZ250]

……..
Surely  they didn't stop making them on the same day they stopped making the cars

No, but the dealer is only obliged to supply spares for up to ten years after the final build date I believe. This still makes any ‘new’ belt very old. 

[dave the builder]

The belts are used for several other models ,so probably manufactured recently
the Gates I recently purchased  doesn't look "old"
obviously ,like tyres etc ,there is "new old stock" being sold too

[Nick W]

The belts are used for several other models ,so probably manufactured recently
the Gates I recently purchased  doesn't look "old"
obviously ,like tyres etc ,there is "new old stock" being sold too

I wonder if the belt is only used on GM V6s? The Renault 24v V6 cam drive is very similar for instance. That would make recently manufactured parts more likely.


I've had some bad experiences with genuine NOS rubber parts like hoses, belts and seals and now my preference is for up to date  stock whenever possible. One forty year-old genuine Girling master cylinder(for a single circuit, non-servo Avenger, so a very limited use part ) bought from a specialist supplier was supplied with the advice "it comes with a pack of new seals, and we strongly recommend you use them".

[Doctor Gollum]

The belts are used for several other models ,so probably manufactured recently
the Gates I recently purchased  doesn't look "old"
obviously ,like tyres etc ,there is "new old stock" being sold too

The last GM.models fitted with it may have been as late as 2006.

[Lizzie Zoom]

……..
Surely  they didn't stop making them on the same day they stopped making the cars

No, but the dealer is only obliged to supply spares for up to ten years after the final build date I believe. This still makes any ‘new’ belt very old. 

Maybe. But Gates would have carried on making them as it was apparently not just an excluvie GM part.  I. Any case these belts are not made of tissue paper, but strong rubber.  I believed that it is the use of them on a very hot engine, with the massive tension over 4 years / 40k+ miles that destroys them eventually, not time spent in a spares department.

[Doctor Gollum]

Because no tyre has ever dried rotted. Ever

Similarly, there's a reason why hot water bottles have expiry dates...

[Nick W]

Because no tyre has ever dried rotted. Ever

Similarly, there's a reason why hot water bottles have expiry dates...

That.


Rubber and plastics are well known for deteriorating over time, without ever being used for their actual purpose. Dry, dark, constant temperature storage reduces, but doesn't remove the effects, so a cam belt that's been in a box on a shelf for twenty years isn't going to be quite as safe as one made last week. The same applies to hoses, seals and other plastic parts as mentioned in earlier posts.

[johnnydog]

I think I would rather stick with a nos kit that I had 'in stock', and I know its source, than one bought currently from a supplier of which you don't know its history / age anyway. If stored well, out of light and damp, then I would be quite happy, for example, to have one of my nos GM replacement kits on my car. Especially relative to the belt itself. If a kit has been stored badly, there probably would be some pointers to indicate this anyway.

[cam.in.head]

cant comment on other people or where suppliers have stored stuff but all my vulnerable spares are stored in my house in a sensible place (cupboard,under bed etc)rather than a cold garage/shed. this should help a little.

[Terbs]

Just followed a link in another topic about oil change, so put in 2.6 Automatic, and it shows  5.75 ltr for the 2.6 auto, but more interestingly, they quote 60,000 or 4years on the belt !!!
https://www.car.info/en-se/opel/omega/omega-26-v6-a4-2003-10116459/specs
Obviously, you can search your own car...

[Doctor Gollum]

60,000 km isn't too far different to 40k miles

But 4 years is the official timespan.

[Jan Suhr]

the correct Gates one is still readily available from Autodoc online.

But are they older than the ones on the car. I would imagine everything now is (very) old stock.

No idea.  The Autodoc stock comes in from Poland/Germany and is for the Opel as well as Vauxhall  Omega, plus goodness what else. As long as they last the 4 years on the engine that is all I care about.

Surely  they didn't stop making them on the same day they stopped making the cars

According to the list for the cambelt kits they were also used in SAAB 9-5 until December 2009.

[johnnydog]

That's correct. I have bought a couple of GM tensioner blocks relatively recently that were listed for the V6 Saab, which are a different GM part number as a kit, but an identical tensioner block for the later 2.6 / 3.2 in every respects.
The last kit fitted on my 3.2 was built up of separately bought items - ie tensioner block, belt and lower idler, all genuine GM. Buying complete kits these days is rather expensive.

[cam.in.head]

yes and why do they always include a new mounting block assembly anyway ? were they prone to breaking . i usually just change pulleys to original block ?

[Jim82]

……..
Surely  they didn't stop making them on the same day they stopped making the cars

No, but the dealer is only obliged to supply spares for up to ten years after the final build date I believe. This still makes any ‘new’ belt very old. 

Maybe. But Gates would have carried on making them as it was apparently not just an excluvie GM part.  I. Any case these belts are not made of tissue paper, but strong rubber.  I believed that it is the use of them on a very hot engine, with the massive tension over 4 years / 40k+ miles that destroys them eventually, not time spent in a spares department.

I bought a Gates belt kit from Autodoc in 2022 and it had a date code of 4 35 8DS.  I believe this is Day 4, Week 35, 2018. Although I suppose it could also be 2008...