V6 cambelt issue

[chrisc]

My bongo broke down in Portugal and could not be mended there. The garage that had fitted a new cambelt for me just before our trip eventually found that the cambelt had slipped one tooth on one bank only due to a piece of hard plastic about 1 inch long which had "been thrown up from the road". They showed me the offending piece of plastic complete with tooth marks.

My question is, is it actually possible on the V6 for a piece of road debris to enter the cambelt housing ?

[Simon Jones]

Sorry to hear your news. I've not looked closely on my V6, but I'd be surprised if there is a gap for a 1" long piece of plastic to be able to get in. Which side did it slip on? The nearside has an aluminium cover (at the top at least) which is a pretty snug fit. The main engine under tray also affords a good deal of protection to the lower front of the engine so my initial thought would be that it is something that was perhaps already present on or inside the cambelt cover. Do you have a photo of the piece, or if not, what colour is it?

Hopefully no other harm done & it's all ready to go back on the road.

[teenmal]

My bongo broke down in Portugal and could not be mended there. The garage that had fitted a new cambelt for me just before our trip eventually found that the cambelt had slipped one tooth on one bank only due to a piece of hard plastic about 1 inch long which had "been thrown up from the road". They showed me the offending piece of plastic complete with tooth marks.

My question is, is it actually possible on the V6 for a piece of road debris to enter the cambelt housing ?

You could ask them to show you the gap where the material entered the casing.

PS did the replace the Hydraulic Tensioner when the belt was renewed.

[haydn callow]

Just looked round a V6 engine which happens to be in a local garage.....don't see where anything could get in....I would suggest that it was already in there, as teenmal suggests I would ask them to show you where it could have got in.....

[mikeonb4c]

Just looked round a V6 engine which happens to be in a local garage.....don't see where anything could get in....I would suggest that it was already in there, as teenmal suggests I would ask them to show you where it could have got in.....

Absolutely. Next thing you know they'll be pulling a traffic cone out of a cylinder and saying it got sucked in through the air intake

[chrisc]

Sorry to hear your news. I've not looked closely on my V6, but I'd be surprised if there is a gap for a 1" long piece of plastic to be able to get in. Which side did it slip on? The nearside has an aluminium cover (at the top at least) which is a pretty snug fit. The main engine under tray also affords a good deal of protection to the lower front of the engine so my initial thought would be that it is something that was perhaps already present on or inside the cambelt cover. Do you have a photo of the piece, or if not, what colour is it?

Hopefully no other harm done & it's all ready to go back on the road.

It is black and could possibly be the bit that you cut off the nozzle of silicone etc

[windywatson]

Hi,

Just had all of the work done on the V6 engine, cambelt, tensioners, cam oilseals etc, etc.
Having seen how the belt covers fit on this vehicle & also the fact that there is a large underbody protection cover that spans enough area to protect all of the engines ancilary equipment ect from road debris. I would say that it is an impossability for forign object to be thrown up of the road & end up within the cambelt enclosures.
I would echo what has already been said & ask the garage to show you where & how this item managed to get within the cambelt covers.
Just can't see it myself. Unfortunatly I looks as though someone didn't clean up after themselves good enough before re-assembly.
Best of luck trying to resolve responsability with this one.

Cheers

[Simon Jones]

I was working on the van today so took a few pics of what's underneath. Personally, I can't see any way that anything would get into the cam belt casing from outside. If the offending item looks like a nozzle off a sealant tube, then my guess is that its from a tube of black instant gasket compound of the type often used when working on engines.

Here's the undertray which has a extra 'skirt' above it to keep water and debris out of the scavenger fan:


With the undertray removed, this is the view of the nearside cover which is primarily made of aluminium and appears to have no entry points:


The is the drivers side with the plastic cover. It's a good fit and again there were no obvious holes visible:

[haydn callow]

I think your garage are probably responsible for your problems and spoilt holiday....if they had come clean and apologised and perhaps offered you some form of compensation they could be forgiven, we all make mistakes. However to try and cover up their incompetence is not forgivable and they should be confronted.

[teenmal]

My bongo broke down in Portugal and could not be mended there. The garage that had fitted a new cambelt for me just before our trip eventually found that the cambelt had slipped one tooth on one bank only due to a piece of hard plastic about 1 inch long which had "been thrown up from the road". They showed me the offending piece of plastic complete with tooth marks.

My question is, is it actually possible on the V6 for a piece of road debris to enter the cambelt housing ?

You could ask them to show you the gap where the material entered the casing.

PS did the replace the Hydraulic Tensioner when the belt was renewed.

[chrisc]

I was working on the van today so took a few pics of what's underneath. Personally, I can't see any way that anything would get into the cam belt casing from outside. If the offending item looks like a nozzle off a sealant tube, then my guess is that its from a tube of black instant gasket compound of the type often used when working on engines.

Here's the undertray which has a extra 'skirt' above it to keep water and debris out of the scavenger fan:


With the undertray removed, this is the view of the nearside cover which is primarily made of aluminium and appears to have no entry points:


The is the drivers side with the plastic cover. It's a good fit and again there were no obvious holes visible:

Thanks for the pics. I was kinda hoping someone might say that there was a possibility but it doesn't look that way. Chrisc.

[rita]

I was working on the van today so took a few pics of what's underneath. Personally, I can't see any way that anything would get into the cam belt casing from outside. If the offending item looks like a nozzle off a sealant tube, then my guess is that its from a tube of black instant gasket compound of the type often used when working on engines.

Here's the undertray which has a extra 'skirt' above it to keep water and debris out of the scavenger fan:


With the undertray removed, this is the view of the nearside cover which is primarily made of aluminium and appears to have no entry points:


The is the drivers side with the plastic cover. It's a good fit and again there were no obvious holes visible:

Thanks for the pics. I was kinda hoping someone might say that there was a possibility but it doesn't look that way. Chrisc.

Great pictures, at least you have some backup and evidence if it needs to go to Court.