First job done, new air filter in 

Question - would a garage changing the oil be able to tell if the belt has degraded? Either an independent or at Ford? 
 

How would I be able to find out basically if it’s on the verge?

You could ask them to run the old oil through some filter paper to see if there are any bits of belt in it.  But I wouldn't rely on that 100%.

7 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

You could ask them to run the old oil through some filter paper to see if there are any bits of belt in it.  But I wouldn't rely on that 100%.

Ok thanks, I suspected there wouldn’t be an easy and clear way to tell. 
 

reason I ask is because earlier the engine oil light flickered on for maybe half a second but it’s never done it before and made me think 

Just now, Paddyposh89 said:

Ok thanks, I suspected there wouldn’t be an easy and clear way to tell. 
 

reason I ask is because earlier the engine oil light flickered on for maybe half a second but it’s never done it before and made me think 

Uh oh...

3 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Uh oh...

what would you recommend here? Start enquiring at places for quotes on fitting a new belt / pump?

 

The lights only popped up once so far as said for maybe half a second, but wary about using it much now. Oil change booked in this week is it even worth doing on its own now?

 

Cant seem to find any specialists nearby when looking online. I don’t mind travelling a bit (I’m near ish to - 30 mins from - Northampton) My local garage I use for MOTs and other bits said they refer to the local ford dealer down the road for the belts

11 hours ago, Paddyposh89 said:

what would you recommend here? Start enquiring at places for quotes on fitting a new belt / pump?

 

The lights only popped up once so far as said for maybe half a second, but wary about using it much now. Oil change booked in this week is it even worth doing on its own now?

 

Cant seem to find any specialists nearby when looking online. I don’t mind travelling a bit (I’m near ish to - 30 mins from - Northampton) My local garage I use for MOTs and other bits said they refer to the local ford dealer down the road for the belts

If the light comes on again then it's probably already too late to stop top end engine wear.  The oil pressure switch is low down on the engine so that doesn't show how much pressure reaches the top.

Oil change is still a good idea, but will need doing again when you have the belts changed, so if that's going to be very soon then might as well leave it and get both done together.  If you can't have the belts done for another month or more then it is still worth having the oil changed now to reduce the amount of belt fragments that can get into the pump strainer from now on.

There have been quite a few recommendations on here now, but I can't think of any around Northampton at the moment.

4 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

If the light comes on again then it's probably already too late to stop top end engine wear.  The oil pressure switch is low down on the engine so that doesn't show how much pressure reaches the top.

Oil change is still a good idea, but will need doing again when you have the belts changed, so if that's going to be very soon then might as well leave it and get both done together.  If you can't have the belts done for another month or more then it is still worth having the oil changed now to reduce the amount of belt fragments that can get into the pump strainer from now on.

There have been quite a few recommendations on here now, but I can't think of any around Northampton at the moment.

Thanks for the reply, I will keep looking - found a couple a bit further afield which is fine. I think then I will stick to getting the oil done anyway and hope it doesn’t get any worse in the meantime. But yep the plan will be to get it done fairly soon, but if paying a little bit extra now aids it a bit until it’s done then I’ll still do it 

Right I’ve had a few quotes from ones near me and most seem to be around the £1300 mark

 

One was £1800 and this is what they sent me, does that cover everything you’d normally expect? They also added this to the email-

“We do strongly advise to  have an initial investigation into to the loss of power first before replacing the wet belt and just so we can take a look and guarantee its defiantly the wet belt that needs replacing to fix the issue. We would need two hours of labour which is at £144 an hour to ensure we find the issue. This is only advised to happen first to ensure you are not spending great deal of money on something that may not actually need replacing”

Damn those defiant wetbelts, refusing to live up to the recommend intervals.  

Yes, that's the sort of BS I'd expect from a Ford dealership.  £300 to 'have a look'.  Only takes half an hour to remove the sump if you want to know whether the pump strainer is blocked.

That list is everything we'd expect though.  Timing wetbelt, oil pump wetbelt, aux belt, waterpump, oil, coolant and a few single use parts.

Haha ok good to know. There’s one an hour away which are charging 700 all in near Tamworth (ACN) with a lot of good reviews and recommendations from groups so have reached out to them for availability too

Booked in for Monday at that place called ACN Motors. £830 including it being picked collected from me

Just to update, all done and car back. Feels better than ever. Sounds like it was caught early and sorted so fingers crossed so knock on effects 

 

also got the old belt as a souvenir  

Let's see it then.  Interested to see what condition it's in.

18 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Let's see it then.  Interested to see what condition it's in.

Waiting on some pics they took of the process but these from the belt just now

Was the strainer blocked and that was the reason the oil light came on? i've seen a lot worse belt conditions to be honest. 

I can't see anything wrong with that Belt, It is strange that your Oil Light flickered.

Strange, they said the bits between the ribs showed clear signs of deterioration. The last time I used it prior to it being done the oil light was constantly flashing  and it felt very sluggish going up the road, as well as an awful noise for 10 secs or so when starting that sounded like the belt to my untrained ear.
 

since having it back the noise is gone; and it just feels miles smoother when driving and when idle it isn’t juddering

I've just done a close up and the bits between the Ribs don't look that great.

5 minutes ago, Tizer said:

I've just done a close up and the bits between the Ribs don't look that great.

And the second pic looks worse to me. There appear to be black particles there also.

It would be interesting to see the outside of the belt, and also if the garage had found material in the pump strainer, as Carl mentioned.

A few more pics (forgot exactly what they said but I’m sure they said it was blocked, and did say it’s clear it was well overdue a service and to aim for an oil change after about 6k miles from now on, have messaged to double check)

Pics don’t look great as thumbnail but should be clearer when opened up 

Wow no wonder that oil light was coming home that's pretty bad on the strainer. Dodged a bullet there.

That also proves that belt condition can't be accurately checked just by removing the top cover.  Original pictures didn't look too bad.  Strainer picture shows it was.

 

The only real way to check is remove the sump but we all know what an absolute faff that is 😂