Posted By: neil_r
Real Belt LIfe (on a 20V at least) - 13/10/2011 08:52
Hi Guys and Gals,
Finally dusted out the wallet and sent the car in for new belts/water pump etc. Changing belts is a very expensive hobby here in Germany. Admittedly, it is running noticably more crisply and smoothly now, but not sure I would be willing to pay over 1000 Pounds just for that
Now, the interesting bit, I have had the car from new. First year mileage: about 10000 miles. The average since: about 2800 miles a year.
This is just the second belt change. First was done at 6 years, second at 14.5 years. Belts seem to be changed the FIAT way (engine out) here. Nobody offers to do it the easy way - typical German, no imagination
Could it be though, that doing it the engine-out way, the belts are not twisted/stressed/damaged/whatever during mounting and last longer, or are original FIAT belts better quality? I appreciate that rubber hardens and goes brittle but surely the design life of such components should be a lot longer than 1-2 years???
The wife's Subaru should also be done and will be booked in soon. Not as frightening as a Coupe though, as it is a non-contact engine. Here the belts are original (13+ years old, also sitting at about 45k miles) and the aux. belts are now showing signs of aging.
I know that these items fail, have seen it reported often enough here, but are they really so weak or does it have more to do with how they are fitted, how the car is driven, mileage, etc?
Anyway, it does feel better that they are new again, but I expect I will not change them again on this car. If I keep it another 6 years, it will be 20, and by then completely worthless.
Finally dusted out the wallet and sent the car in for new belts/water pump etc. Changing belts is a very expensive hobby here in Germany. Admittedly, it is running noticably more crisply and smoothly now, but not sure I would be willing to pay over 1000 Pounds just for that
Now, the interesting bit, I have had the car from new. First year mileage: about 10000 miles. The average since: about 2800 miles a year.
This is just the second belt change. First was done at 6 years, second at 14.5 years. Belts seem to be changed the FIAT way (engine out) here. Nobody offers to do it the easy way - typical German, no imagination
Could it be though, that doing it the engine-out way, the belts are not twisted/stressed/damaged/whatever during mounting and last longer, or are original FIAT belts better quality? I appreciate that rubber hardens and goes brittle but surely the design life of such components should be a lot longer than 1-2 years???
The wife's Subaru should also be done and will be booked in soon. Not as frightening as a Coupe though, as it is a non-contact engine. Here the belts are original (13+ years old, also sitting at about 45k miles) and the aux. belts are now showing signs of aging.
I know that these items fail, have seen it reported often enough here, but are they really so weak or does it have more to do with how they are fitted, how the car is driven, mileage, etc?
Anyway, it does feel better that they are new again, but I expect I will not change them again on this car. If I keep it another 6 years, it will be 20, and by then completely worthless.