Diesel Cam Belt Failure

My garage is hinting that it might be a good idea (and I agree with
them) to change the belts at the 36,000 mile service instead of
waiting until the Alfa interval of 72,000 miles. I asked, and they
said that they've had plenty petrol cambelt failures before 72,000
miles but no diesel failures. Out of curiosity, anyone here come
across any 2.4 JTD cambelt failure in an Alfa?

I have reason to believe that Alfa UK fight tooth and nail to avoid
compensating customers who have any belt failures outside of the 3
year warranty limit. Alfa customers appear to be as expendable as
ever..sigh..

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email without 'Alfa' in subject are auto-deleted..sorry!)

"Zathras" > wrote in message
...
> My garage is hinting that it might be a good idea (and I agree with
> them) to change the belts at the 36,000 mile service instead of
> waiting until the Alfa interval of 72,000 miles.

How much are they hinting that you cough up for that?

Domestos

On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 00:32:53 GMT, "Dom" > wrote:

>
>"Zathras" > wrote in message
.. .
>> My garage is hinting that it might be a good idea (and I agree with
>> them) to change the belts at the 36,000 mile service instead of
>> waiting until the Alfa interval of 72,000 miles.
>
>How much are they hinting that you cough up for that?

They're saying the complete service will be about 500UKP so I guess
that the extra for the belts in that sum will be about 180UKP.

Dealer servicing a 156 JTD is killer money. I allow 1000UKP per
service (once a year in my case) and I don't often get much change!!

This year, for example, I've got A/C servicing (add 100UKP) and a
possible engine thermostat replacement to add. This is before they
find any more duff bushes etc etc...so 1000UKP is looking like a
reasonable budget to plan for! :-(

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email without 'Alfa' in subject are auto-deleted..sorry!)

"Zathras" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 00:32:53 GMT, "Dom" > wrote:
>
>>
>>"Zathras" > wrote in message
. ..
>>> My garage is hinting that it might be a good idea (and I agree with
>>> them) to change the belts at the 36,000 mile service instead of
>>> waiting until the Alfa interval of 72,000 miles.
>>
>>How much are they hinting that you cough up for that?
>
> They're saying the complete service will be about 500UKP so I guess
> that the extra for the belts in that sum will be about 180UKP.
>
> Dealer servicing a 156 JTD is killer money. I allow 1000UKP per
> service (once a year in my case) and I don't often get much change!!
>
> This year, for example, I've got A/C servicing (add 100UKP) and a
> possible engine thermostat replacement to add. This is before they
> find any more duff bushes etc etc...so 1000UKP is looking like a
> reasonable budget to plan for! :-(
>
> --
> Z
> Scotland
> Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
> 'Oil' be seeing you..
> (Email without 'Alfa' in subject are auto-deleted..sorry!)

A/C servicing - I know we're getting off the topic of cam belt changing, but
I'm interested in others' views re A/C servicing. My petrol 156 has never
had any attention to the air-con since new (August 1998), and it's working
fine. Is A/C servicing another "spin" to get us to part with more £'s ???

Dave S.... 156 2.0 SP2 since '98 :>))

"Zathras" > wrote in message
...
> My garage is hinting that it might be a good idea (and I agree with
> them) to change the belts at the 36,000 mile service instead of
> waiting until the Alfa interval of 72,000 miles. I asked, and they
> said that they've had plenty petrol cambelt failures before 72,000
> miles but no diesel failures. Out of curiosity, anyone here come
> across any 2.4 JTD cambelt failure in an Alfa?
>
> I have reason to believe that Alfa UK fight tooth and nail to avoid
> compensating customers who have any belt failures outside of the 3
> year warranty limit. Alfa customers appear to be as expendable as
> ever..sigh..
>
> --
> Z
> Scotland
> Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
> 'Oil' be seeing you..
> (Email without 'Alfa' in subject are auto-deleted..sorry!)

Alfa changed the interval for petrol engines due to the cambelt failure.
This is what my (dutch) garage says:
Due to the way the cambelt is positioned on the petrol engines it's
more likely to wear out in a shorter period of time.
Cambelt on petrol should be changed every 60.000km
The cambelt on the diesel still has an interval of 120.000 km and, according
to
my garage, it could easily do 160.000.


--
VMax

164 TS (1997-2000), 146 JTD (2000-2003)
147 JTD Ed. Limitata, tuned (150BHP, 365Nm), Eibach lowered, Ragazon exhaust

> Dealer servicing a 156 JTD is killer money. I allow 1000UKP per
> service (once a year in my case) and I don't often get much change!!

they can see you coming mate !!!!

my three services on a 1.9 jtd over 2 years have not cost me 1000 UKP in
total...

And one of them included new front brake disc's and pads !!!!!

My total service prices have been...

12000 - 190 UKP
24000 - 312 UKP plus 180 for 2 front brake pads and discs
36000 - 266 UKP

TOTAL = 948 UKP over 24 months !!!!

They offered me all sorts of ****e but said I will live with it - they have
never failed and never looked likly to fail

And youre probably wondering how I get my service so cheap????

I play all my local alfa servicing dealers off against each over... and they
soon start dropping the price to get my custom...I dropped the price of my
service quote by 220 quid from the highest quote to what I got it done
for...

When they quote you a price for brakes, go off to Kwik fit and National
Tyres and get thier prices... then go back to alfa !

I knocked that garage down 100 quid for the brakes on the price they
originally quoted me !!!

Domestos

On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 23:25:12 GMT, "Dom" > wrote:

>
>> Dealer servicing a 156 JTD is killer money. I allow 1000UKP per
>> service (once a year in my case) and I don't often get much change!!
>
>they can see you coming mate !!!!

Possibly..but..

>my three services on a 1.9 jtd over 2 years have not cost me 1000 UKP in
>total...
>
>And one of them included new front brake disc's and pads !!!!!

...yes..I've never had any brake work done...


>My total service prices have been...
>
>12000 - 190 UKP
>24000 - 312 UKP plus 180 for 2 front brake pads and discs
>36000 - 266 UKP
>
>TOTAL = 948 UKP over 24 months !!!!

That's half my cost but I see you don't mention any suspension work -
something the Veloce 2.4s are known for needing. I'm guessing that you
don't have the lowered suspension..so..with the lighter engine too,
you've probably not had to figure in a new undertray yet. You, also,
haven't figured in a/c servicing and your car is getting serviced at
different time rate than mine. The comparison may not be so valid,
particularly as I'm not doing your mileage.

>They offered me all sorts of ****e but said I will live with it - they have
>never failed and never looked likly to fail

...sorry..*what* has never failed? If you're talking about cambelts
then you are, I'm guessing, in the luxurious position of still having
a warranty. Something that makes all the difference in the world when
it comes to risking an engine.

>And youre probably wondering how I get my service so cheap????

Not really..your basic servicing costs are what I'd expect to pay for
the 1.9 from my garage. My costs are made up by *other* work getting
done - all of which I've agreed needs done.

>I play all my local alfa servicing dealers off against each over...

That's certainly nice if you have the opportunity.

> and they
>soon start dropping the price to get my custom

Mine isn't that bothered..they get more work than they need. If I went
somewhere else they wouldn't notice.

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email without 'Alfa' in subject are auto-deleted..sorry!)

On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 23:15:00 +0100, "VMax" >
wrote:

<snip>
>The cambelt on the diesel still has an interval of 120.000 km and, according
>to my garage, it could easily do 160.000.

Interesting..I wonder how many years it would last for before the
materials deteriorated instead of mileage wear killing it though. I
don't have a problem with miles..just age!

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email without 'Alfa' in subject are auto-deleted..sorry!)

"Zathras" wrote:

> My garage is hinting that it might be a good idea (and I agree with
> them) to change the belts at the 36,000 mile service instead of
> waiting until the Alfa interval of 72,000 miles. I asked, and they
> said that they've had plenty petrol cambelt failures before 72,000
> miles but no diesel failures. Out of curiosity, anyone here come
> across any 2.4 JTD cambelt failure in an Alfa?

Just like you, I have a 2.4 JTD. After reading numerous cambelt
horror-stories I got kinda worried, so I asked my garage (in Belgium) the
same question.

He confirmed the interval for diesels is still 120.000 km, but he plans to
change the cambelt on my car at 100.000 km "to be on the save side". He told
me he has seen a JTD with 180.000 with the original cambelt!

I will watch this thread very closely to see if there are JTD owners who had
a cambelt failure...

Steven

- - -

"Exception" > wrote in message
...
> "Zathras" wrote:
>
> > My garage is hinting that it might be a good idea (and I agree with
> > them) to change the belts at the 36,000 mile service instead of
> > waiting until the Alfa interval of 72,000 miles. I asked, and they
> > said that they've had plenty petrol cambelt failures before 72,000
> > miles but no diesel failures. Out of curiosity, anyone here come
> > across any 2.4 JTD cambelt failure in an Alfa?
>
> Just like you, I have a 2.4 JTD. After reading numerous cambelt
> horror-stories I got kinda worried, so I asked my garage (in Belgium) the
> same question.
>
> He confirmed the interval for diesels is still 120.000 km, but he plans to
> change the cambelt on my car at 100.000 km "to be on the save side". He
told
> me he has seen a JTD with 180.000 with the original cambelt!
>

Similar story for me, on a 2.4 JTD that is coming up to its 60,000 mile
service/5th birthday. My garage (an independent) has never seen a belt
failure on a diesel, although he also admits that he doesn't see many
diesels. I will probably be insisting that it is done at the 60K service.

D A Stocks