Hi all,

I have a question about timing belt condition on my 2008 1.6 petrol Focus.

Car is on 111k miles now, bought it with 74k 3 years ago with no service history.

What do you think of condition on this timing belt? Has it been changed or looks original?

Thanks.

I couldn't say if it had been changed or not. What I would say is it looks well worn and appears not to be very tight as if it was slightly stretched.

Do you value your car more than the £300 it will cost to replace it ?

If in any doubt change it, no good saying I wish I’d changed after it’s gone.

You can’t tell by looking at them. The teeth can strip off them and the rest still look ok.  Can someone who has suffered a broken belt comment on this - in my experience I have only seen teeth strip off , not the belt actually breaking so it’s no longer a loop. Of course the effect is the same, crankshaft turns, cam shaft doesn’t turn, valves hit pistons= disaster. 

Thanks for your opinions all.

Booking car in for belt and water pump change. Will add more pictures of belt and tensioner after change for anyone interested.

28 minutes ago, isetta said:

Can someone who has suffered a broken belt comment on this - in my experience I have only seen teeth strip off , not the belt actually breaking so it’s no longer a loop.

I've seen a few snap back in my Peugeot days.  GTi's used to snap easily (30k intervals on those!). And HDi's used to snap after the crank pulley collapsed.  Only pic I've got to hand atm.  HDi engines were so cheap at the time I just pulled it out and fitted a spare one.