possible cambelt replacement?

[Ozzy82]

hi all. i went into my local renault dealer to book my car in as it needed "injection computer reprogramming" done. Mentioned to one of the mechanics that there was a constant noise coming from near the engine, he came out to have a look and said that the cambelt needs replacing.... quoted £404.96 as the cost!! this sund right to you guys?

[Gav]

Not sure for Renaults, but the only time I've owned a car that needed it changing was when it passed 60k (it wasn't due until 72k, but I changed it early), which would equate to 5th year service. The price seems a little high, unless you're having a complete service at the same time.

BTW, if you've recently brought the car from a trader you by law are covered for any defects for 6 months.

[markren2004]

Sounds like it could be belt rollers or tensioner, so requires a full Cambelt kit replacement.
The majority of the cost of a cambelt change is the labour. The belt itself costs no more than £60 from a motor factors.
As your out of warrantly i'd get a quote from a good independant renault specialist (with cheaper hourly rates )

As said it should be changed at 6 years or 72k, the haynes manual actually recommends every 36k as a precaution.

[Ozzy82]

my dad bought it for me from auction, but apparently the guy selling it was a trader. its done a touch over 52k now but the only service stamp in the book was the 18k one done by Renault Swansea. Possibly the 36k service was missed which may have caused the noise near the engine.

Your right Markren, at the renault dealer the quote they gave me was this:
Description: Renew Timing Belt
Lab Hours: 3.2
Labour Total: £244.40
Parts Total: £160.56

huge labour costs!! I am just about to call an Independant Renault Specialist, will let you know how much they quote me

[Ozzy82]

jus got off the phone to the local renault specialist, he said it was £283 fo rthe cambelt change using the renault kit... but he did say that it could be approx another 100 quid if the water pump needs replacing cos the water pump is run by the belt too. i dunno whether it is the cambelt or not thats making the noise!!
On a positive note, a Gold service at Renault is £179.99 all in whereas the specialist quoted me approx £250 for the same... this leaves me with these choices:

a) Gold service (£180) at Renault + cambelt change at Renault (£404) = approx £584

b)Gold service at Renault (180) + cambelt change at Independant Specialist (283) = approx £460

c)Gold service (180) + cambelt and water pump replacement at Independant specialist (£380) = approx £560

Any suggestions??

[markren2004]

it could be the water pump thats making the noise ?
The pump is bolted to the engine, located top / drivers side of engine block and is run by the CamBelt.

If it turns out not to be the water pump, shoud you change the waterpump anyway when you change cambelt?
It is a peace of mind thing. On older vehicles it makes sense to change the water pump at the same time as cambelt (my experience is on Vauxhall's where the additional cost is £20 so it's no brainer). An extra £100 for a renault is quite a bit and would certainly make me think seriously about it, would depend a lot on whether i was planning to keep the car for another 3+ yrs or not

[Ozzy82]

booked the car in @ Renault dealer for the recall and also for the cambelt replacement. gave the car in today @ approx 09:45. told them to call me when they can diagnose wot that particular noise is. got a call from the technician who said having opened up the cambelt , the "water pump has failed". fine i said. in total it will cost me £565!! (ouch). no warranty so i thought ok go ahead with it.

this is the best bit. got an answerphone message after that from the pretty young lady at the desk saying the technician has done a 25 point safety check and there are a couple of advisorys:

front brake pads - £107.08
rear brake pads - £107.64
front wiper blades - £39.64

in the politest way possible i told them to pi$$ off and just do the cambelt and waterpump replacement. wot would u guys recommend i buy t replace the brake pads and wipers?? greenstuff pads and bosch wipers??

[AlexB]

I use Greenstuff a and Valeo Silencio wipers as shown here:
https://www.meganeownersclub.co.uk/forum ... t=silencio