TIMING BELT (ALSO KNOWN AS CAMBELT)

Your vehicle’s timing belt (also known as the cambelt) is a critical component that connects and controls the timing and operation of many of the engine's major internal parts such as the camshaft, crankshaft and valves.

The cambelt ensures that the camshaft and crankshaft rotate in time with each other: if they don’t the result could be a massive engine failure – costing £000s to repair. Renault recommends that when changing the cambelt you change roller pulleys, tensioner and the water pump. The water pump is located behind the cambelt so Renault recommend replacing the water pump at the same time as the cambelt – to save you paying for all the parts and labour costs again should the water pump leak and need replacement at a later stage.

You get a lot for your money at Renault Harts– of course the belt, tensioners, pulleys, using Renault tooling and Renault trained technicians for the whole job which takes up to 4 hours. At Harts we have worked very hard with Renault to offer great value for money, peace of mind and reassurance for reliability and resale value of your Renault car or van: A fixed price replacement cambelt from £199.

WHAT YOU GET

More about why you should choose Renault Harts to replace your cambelt: The cambelt is made of a rubber-based polymer reinforced with fibreglass and nylon, with integral teeth on the inner edge and have different profiles depending on the engine and application. Belts are used because they are quiet, reliable and maintenance-free

Your cambelt is subject to wear, just like any other moving part. When your Renault was manufactured it had a genuine Renault cambelt installed which are long lasting and often do not show obvious visual signs of wear.

However, like tyres, cambelts do wear gradually in normal use. When a belt and its teeth wear its loses its ability to grip or function properly and can slip, which puts a strain on other engine components causing them to malfunction and eventually fail. The timing of a replacement cambelt is scheduled by mileage and age – because just like tyres the rubber used in the cambelt ages over time regardless of use. Just give Renault harts a call on 01404 540920 to check your cambelt replacement interval.

Timing belts can also fail prematurely because of one of the following reasons, which may require early replacement:

• contamination: the belt has become contaminated with grit, oil, coolant or other undesirable materials
• substandard components: the belt or associated part is substandard or faulty – often the case with non-genuine parts.
• misaligned cover: the timing belt cover has been fitted incorrectly (i.e. chafes or lets in dirt) – again a risk if non-Renault technicians have worked on the vehicle
• excessive wear: one of the tensioners or the idler pulley has either seized or broken, or another component driven by the timing belt (i.e. the water pump) has seized or has excessive play.
• incorrect tension: the belt was incorrectly tensioned when fitted, or the tensioner locking bolt not sufficiently tightened – often a risk if the belt is replaced outside the Renault dealer network.

Ultimately, if a timing belt snaps when the engine is running, major damage can be caused to engine valves and pistons - damage that can be very expensive to put right, and may result in mechanical write off of a vehicle. If you do get away without major engine damage, timing belt failure will still leave you stranded and requiring breakdown recovery.

We know you have a choice when it comes to getting your Renault car or van repaired but at Harts you get all of this as standard included in our fixed price repairs:

• Fully trained Renault technicians
• The right specialist tooling for the job
• A 12 month parts and labour guarantee
• Free recall check
• Free vehicle health check
• A clean well equipped modern workshop
• Your vehicle washed and vacuumed for return in the best possible condition
• A fixed price including the cambelt kit (belt, pulleys, rollers and tensioner)and water pump.