:cry: need new cam belt

[nova sting]

hi i have a nova sting 1.2 and broke down lastnight and aa said i need a new cam belt. But what i need to no is how much i can get 1 for and how easy is it to fit bearing in mind i dnt know much about cars

[Stuart]

?12 for a genuine GM belt from vauxhall. and its about a 30 min job once youve got a haynes manual (and assuming the water pump isnt siezed)

[Marsden]

you will probaly pay max ?15 for a cam belt. fitting it isnt hard its just timing up your engine correctly and if you dont have a clue i would get a garage to do it for you. or it could end up costing a lot of money

[Adam]

Timing the engine isn't hard.
Just make sure the timing marks are aligned when the belt is off, and make sure the marks are still aligned when the new belt goes on. Once the belt is on and tensioned, turn the engine over (with a socket on the crank bolt) a few times and make sure that the marks are still aligned.
And all should be fine. Assuming the engine has no damage due to the cambelt snapping?

As Stu said, Haynes manual gives a good guide on how to do the cambelt, just hope that you can move the waterpump.

I payed ?7 for a cambelt to my 1200.
You might also need a new sealing ring for the waterpump, or a new waterpump as your undoing the old one anyway.

[mikey14sr]

If the belt snapped or stripped its teeth you might want to check the valves are ok before putting a new belt on.

[Snowface]

iirc the 1.2 valves clear the piston at tdc even if the belt snaps.

(he doesn't say the belt snapped)

[slammed saloon]

you wont need to touch the water pump just slip the old bel of n the new one on may be tight bt will fit. if you touch the water pump itll leak no need to

[Ste L]

to be honest, it would be worth changing water pump, epecially this time of year, it would be less likely go die then, if its a new one, they aint that dear

[Snowface]

if it ain't broke don't fix it i'd say. You don't need to touch the water pump to get belt off.

[Adam]

if it ain't broke don't fix it i'd say. You don't need to touch the water pump to get belt off.
Well, your supposed to loosen the pump on an engine without a belt tensioner.
But you might be able to lever a new belt onto the cam sprocket.
It is possible, just,lol.

[Ste L]

i only said that, cos i was unlucky enough to do a cam blet change, then a week later, my water pump decided to blow up, so had to do it all over again :lol:

[Adam]

i only said that, cos i was unlucky enough to do a cam blet change, then a week later, my water pump decided to blow up, so had to do it all over again :lol:
If you dont touch the pump, it should be sound.
Its if you loosen the pump to alter the belt tension, then you tighten the pump, start the engine to find its pi**ing water out, and then need to do everything again,lol.

[nova sting]

alright cheers for all tht info every 1 wasnt expectin tht much of a reply but think i might get some 1 who knows what there doin to do it lol. spoke to some 1 today and he said its most likely fucked every thin else up aswell and i only been drivin a month and will now have to suffer without it for a week any way cheers every 1
gav

[Marsden]

i thought the vauxhall engine has something on it to stop it completely fucking it all up when the cambelt snaps. i could be wrong but when my brothers snapped in his 1.2 they said it shouldnt have smashed all the valves and stuff, the only reason it did was because he was at full throttle when it snapped.

[Adam]

Sometimes you will be lucky and the pistons wont hit the valves.
If the engine is idling when the belt goes, you should be ok and a new belt will be all thats needed.

But at full throttle it will cause damage to the engine as the cam/pistons are obviously moving faster.

There is nothing on the engines to stop damage, its just whether your lucky as to whether the engine survives.

[Marsden]

ok, anyway i learned form his mistakes and when i got my nova the first weekend i changed the cambelt. you can never tell when its going to go and cost you a fortune.

[Snowface]

its slightly ironic that its the cheaper less pwerful engines that don't spit metal when the belt goes.

I'm guessing its because of the poor valve lift/duration from the camshaft.

[Riggy]

waht engine is it ?


as someone has said the 1.2 engines are "safe" never had on go on me so dont know how true this is lol :lol:

[Adam]

waht engine is it ?


as someone has said the 1.2 engines are "safe" never had on go on me so dont know how true this is lol :lol:


Nova sting 1.2

Assuming its the original engine, it will be a 1.2 carb engine.
They aren't entirely safe engines, sometimes you will get away with it, sometimes you wont.

I've read about a few carb/spi engines snapping the belt, and them being fine. But the belt went on a mates 1.4spi astra engine at 2500rpm, and it bent a valve or two IIRC.

[mowgli]

I once snapped a belt at 75 when changing down into third coming off the m40 It did no damage whatsoever to the internals.
the hydraulic tappets made some noise until the oil got pumped back in, but the car ran fine

[nova sting]

hi all got it fixed last week was lucky and it neva did any major damage just glad to be back on the road lol any way thnx for all the advice