8 Year Old Focus

[zev]

Hi all,

I have just bought my first focus. Its 8 year old and has done 92,000 miles. There is no record of a cam belt replacement. Do you think it is advisable to have it replaced the car dealer has offered to put on a new belt for £95 which I think is reasonable. Am I being cheated ?.

zev

[stef123]

Hi all,

I have just bought my first focus. Its 8 year old and has done 92,000 miles. There is no record of a cam belt replacement. Do you think it is advisable to have it replaced the car dealer has offered to put on a new belt for £95 which I think is reasonable. Am I being cheated ?.

zev

£95 seems very very cheap to me, make sure they will also replace the tensioner for this price too and that you get some proof. it would also be a good time to fit a new alternator belt as this will need to come off to fit the timing belt anyway.

[artscot79]

£95 seems very very cheap to me, make sure they will also replace the tensioner for this price too and that you get some proof. it would also be a good time to fit a new alternator belt as this will need to come off to fit the timing belt anyway.

ive gotta agree qwith stef its too cheap a kit ie the belt and tensioner is at least gonna cost 65 quid so theyre doing the work for an additional 30 quid ide be doubting it its essential both the belt and tensioner are replaced as its the tensioner that goes taking the belt out on its way ide ask for the old belt and tensioner to be kept and put in the car so you see it for youreself

[catch]

ive gotta agree qwith stef its too cheap a kit ie the belt and tensioner is at least gonna cost 65 quid so theyre doing the work for an additional 30 quid ide be doubting it its essential both the belt and tensioner are replaced as its the tensioner that goes taking the belt out on its way ide ask for the old belt and tensioner to be kept and put in the car so you see it for youreself

Just looked on this site and it states timing belt kits can be had for £28 + vat for a 2002 1.6 Focus.....I thought they would have been dearer than that.

[artscot79]

Just looked on this site and it states timing belt kits can be had for £28 + vat for a 2002 1.6 Focus.....I thought they would have been dearer than that.

not genuine items though ive had parts from them for the vw before and they are just pattern bits ide rather have the original ford kit i think given its importance

[starfield]

probably too good to be true

i think the cam belt drives the water pump as well in the process of ding its job. it is worth looking at the water pump as well

[catch]

not genuine items though ive had parts from them for the vw before and they are just pattern bits ide rather have the original ford kit i think given its importance

I fully understand where your coming from, in that it is not an OEM component. And given the potential for a failed timing belt to cause extensive damage to the engine. But as we all know OEM in reality is just a component made by a third party under licence to market it as a Ford [in this case] approved part. It does not mean or in no way "guarantee" that an OEM licensed product is of a better quality than a none OEM component.

For instance go over to the Volvo forum and see what Volvo owners think of Ford input into the Volvo brand. To hear the old Volvo set, every component coming from Ford is low quality rubbish.

Now I'll give you a real life example of OEM in action. Many years ago when leather was all the rage, I found a OEM manufacture who was supplying "Next" with a particular style of ladies coat. Next was knocking them out at £249.99 retail, I could buy them for £48 [no minimum order required] from the Next OEM manufacture [based in Pakistan, through their London based family wholesale arm] Imagine what Next were paying for them per unit! maybe £30 per unit, who knows ? Obviously the coats supplied to me could not carry the Next label. Nevertheless I kitted out a high spec unit filled it full of leather gear, marked the Next coat up at £149 and sat back. It was then I realised the psychological power of branding. Then there is the "that's cheap" it must be crap syndrome. If "oil of Olay" was sold at a three hundred percent mark up of base cost it would cost peanuts and nobody would believe all the sales hype that surrounds the product.

[artscot79]

I fully understand where your coming from, in that it is not an OEM component. And given the potential for a failed timing belt to cause extensive damage to the engine. But as we all know OEM in reality is just a component made by a third party under licence to market it as a Ford [in this case] approved part. It does not mean or in no way "guarantee" that an OEM licensed product is of a better quality than a none OEM component.

For instance go over to the Volvo forum and see what Volvo owners think of Ford input into the Volvo brand. To hear the old Volvo set, every component coming from Ford is low quality rubbish.

Now I'll give you a real life example of OEM in action. Many years ago when leather was all the rage, I found a OEM manufacture who was supplying "Next" with a particular style of ladies coat. Next was knocking them out at £249.99 retail, I could buy them for £48 [no minimum order required] from the Next OEM manufacture [based in Pakistan, through their London based family wholesale arm] Imagine what Next were paying for them per unit! maybe £30 per unit, who knows ? Obviously the coats supplied to me could not carry the Next label. Nevertheless I kitted out a high spec unit filled it full of leather gear, marked the Next coat up at £149 and sat back. It was then I realised the psychological power of branding. Then there is the "that's cheap" it must be crap syndrome. If "Oil of Olay" was sold at a three hundred percent mark up of base cost it would cost peanuts and nobody would believe all the sales hype that surrounds the product.

i know on mine mk1 1.8 petrol the water pump is driven by the fan belt and not the cam belt i see the point but ive had wexperience of non manufactuirer parts some are good some are absoloute junk and poorly made non oem spark plug leads for the foci are a good example if it were me personally ide stump up the cash and have the ford kit and its gauranteed rather than getting a cheap belt that may or may not fail as we know getting the rep[airs done by these companies is a nightmare as they will state that the belt supplied is not what is recommended by the manufacturer ive seen cheap belts snap so for me ide go to ford and buy the kit but thats just me