1.8 TDCI KKDA lower cam chain / belt...again!!

[cloggy]

 I know this has been covered in the past but wanted to get an up to date opinion on the matter.

My car has a build date of Jan 2008 so could have lower chain or a wet belt. It is now 10 years old, but has only 50,000 miles on it. So.... at 10 years ETIS say it is due an upper cambelt AND lower belt/chain change. My Ford garage says they only supply wet belts and no longer do a chain kit. They want £720 just to do the wet belt and another £400 for the upper belt !!

My lower belt tensioner has a black head, which suggests I have a chain (silver/gold head for belt) ? I have read that, if you remove the tensioner a rounded end is for chain and a flat end is for belt. So my first question is : is it Ok to remove the tensioner to check and then just put it back in ?

I can understand why a 10 year change is required for the upper and lower belts as they can age, but what about the chain, taking into account it has only done 50,000 miles?. I would have thought the chain only degraded/suffered wear through mileage not as a result of age. So should it be Ok for a further 50,000 miles ?

My mileage in the next ten years is going to be, at the very most, 30,000. A local independent garage suggests that, if it is has a lower chain fitted at present, there is no need to replace it, just replace the upper belt. I like this idea and would be interested in the opinions of those more experienced with this engine type.

My thoughts are, given the mileage, if I do have a chain is seems daft to spend money disturbing the factory fitted setup and replacing it with a belt which may give me problems further down the line.

Any thoughts gratefully received,

Cheers

Cloggy

Edited March 8, 2018 by cloggy
correction to post

[Jethro_Tull]

3 hours ago, cloggy said:

 I know this has been covered in the past but wanted to get an up to date opinion on the matter.

My car has a build date of Jan 2008 so could have lower chain or a wet belt. It is now 10 years old, but has only 50,000 miles on it. So.... at 10 years ETIS say it is due an upper cambelt AND lower belt/chain change. My Ford garage says they only supply wet belts and no longer do a chain kit. They want £720 just to do the wet belt and another £400 for the upper belt !!

My lower belt tensioner has a black head, which suggests I have a chain (silver/gold head for belt) ? I have read that, if you remove the tensioner a rounded end is for chain and a flat end is for belt. So my first question is : is it Ok to remove the tensioner to check and then just put it back in ?

I can understand why a 10 year change is required for the upper and lower belts as they can age, but what about the chain, taking into account it has only done 50,000 miles?. I would have thought the chain only degraded/suffered wear through mileage not as a result of age. So should it be Ok for a further 50,000 miles ?

My mileage in the next ten years is going to be, at the very most, 30,000. A local independent garage suggests that, if it is has a lower chain fitted at present, there is no need to replace it, just replace the upper belt. I like this idea and would be interested in the opinions of those more experienced with this engine type.

My thoughts are, given the mileage, if I do have a chain is seems daft to spend money disturbing the factory fitted setup and replacing it with a belt which may give me problems further down the line.

Any thoughts gratefully received,

Cheers

Cloggy

Think of it this way - not changing the chain could save you a few hundred quid, or it could cost you a new engine.  If you can't afford the latter, then pay for the former.  Its that simple 

[mjt]

If it were me I'd stick with the chain. I'm sure you're right that, unlike belts, chains don't deteriorate with age, only with use.