BongoBonkers wrote:Hello. We have a year 2000 V6 with about 50,000 KM. As far as I'm aware it has not had a new cambelt. Can anyone advise on any of the following:
Is it over cautious to change it now?
Is it foolhardy to attempt it yourself? (my mechanical level is only average e.g quite happy with changing brakes but wouldn't want to touch a head gasket...)
Should the tensioning mechanism be replaced at the same time? (It's expensive isn't it?)
Is there any other job that should sensibly be incorporated with cambelt renewal i.e. "While you're doing that replace 'part x' as it's a b**** otherwise...."
Can anyone reccomend a reputable garage / mechanic who might undertake such a job? We are near Hitchin, just North of London.
Very roughly, what could we expect to pay?
Thanks for any help you can provide, Dave.
Hesitate to say that it IS over cautious, because I wouldn't want you to then have a problem and come knocking on my door
However, it MIGHT be over-cautious, and it's certainly not a job for the faint hearted, where a V6 is concerned - see Wheelquick's response below.
When we ordered our conversion, ours had 62,000 km on the clock and the excellent dealer-converter we bought from advised against premature change of the cambelt - probably quite rightly, when I now think about it with hindsight. Can't remember off-hand what the (significantly higher) recommended cambelt change mileage is but, of course, even that will have been set conservatively, with a good safety margin in addition.
However, because the dealer in quiestion, quite rightly, covers himself by a formal declaration that the displayed mileage cannot be guaranteed, and because I'm a worry-guts, I decided to get it changed, anyway!
Thought I would get it done locally, by northern Bongo gurus, Wheelquick, once I had taken possession of the van. However, a quick intake of breath there (and a bad experience they had apparently had, changing just one on a V6 up until then - last October), took me back to the supplying dealer who was still working on the camper conversion. Wheelquick had told me they had needed to spend about £250 on a special "puller" to finish the job on the V6 they did - just for starters. My dealer though, said yes, we've done plenty and have got the tools, so if you insist - and so it was done, £195.
I've now got top hose coolant leak problems, apparently due to a screwdriver nick when they were re-fitting one of the hose clips as part of that job. The leak was very slow at first, and it wasn't until it suddenly spread under system pressure and dropped the header tank level far enough to recently set off my low coolant alarm, that I could find it. Just got the replacement hose, and am now waiting for Wheelquick to fit it - so, yes I've got a new cambelt but it was not a joyous experience!
One other relevant point, which I've not been able to get answered yet, is whether or not the J5 V6 engine is an "interference" engine, anyway. If it isn't, then a sudden cambelt failure would only stop the engine but without catastrophic result. An interference engine design achieves compactness by reducing cylinder length vs piston stroke, so that the upward travel of the piston overlaps the space occupied by valves during their downward travel - it "interferes." Fine, while the cambelt is keeping the valves properly closed while the piston is uppermost in its travel, and vice versa. Not so good, if the cambelt fails leaving valves open inside cylinders for pistons to collide with, at which point goodbye bank balance. Non-interfering engines, and there are still plenty, just come to a dignified stop, without any metal bashing.
Does anybody know the answer? The Bongo diesel is definitely an interferer, and I suspect the V6 J5 probably is, or it might be hard to shoehorn in (although, with inclined cylinders perhaps not) - it would be nice to know.
) - although that might well not be directly achieved by reduction in cylinder length/compression increase.
