Cam belt gone

no_1_dave

no_1_dave

no_1_dave

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Joined
7 Jul 2004
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Location
Gloucester
The cam belt has gone on my misses astra (was my astra so i'm covering the cost).
Its been in the garage a week, they have quoted £700 - £800 as all 16 valves were bent.
Its a 51 plate 1.7 DTI.

They have said it's possible for the cams to be bent too but they looked ok, they have advised that until the engine is re-built then manually turned over they won't know 100% and that if the cams are bent the price will become approx £1300. Is this correct as I dont want to be ripped off? Is there anyway I can tell that the cams were bent?

I dont want to shell out that much, only for them to be making it up with the cams not bent at all, £500 - £600 extra is a lot to just take for granted & honesty amongst garages seems to be rare these days...
 
I highly doubt that. I've seen good VAG engines go for a few hundred quid on ebay, so surely you could pick up an old Vaux Diesel for a couple of hundred? It's not like you need the loom or anything is it? Just the block. Then get the or better still another ;) garage to fit it. I personally would never pay more than £500 on a job on any car. It's just a phsycological barrier I have. If the engine went in my car, I would buy a cheap one off the bay and fit it myself. And no I'm not a mechanic. I just do the odd job on cars.
 
£1k for the engine beats £2k after they've tried to fix yours and it turns out it's worse, no?

jaybee said:
If the engine went in my car, I would buy a cheap one off the bay and fit it myself. And no I'm not a mechanic. I just do the odd job on cars.
Click to expand...

Not all engines are cheap. OP's engine ranges from £1k-£1.7k from ebay.
 
I would tend to agree, but there is always the issue of the new second hand engine having issues, its a tricky one. If your current engine was not in the best shape it may pay to get a new lump, but if the current is good miles and good, and the garage know what they are doing then it might be worth fixing.

Depends on cost difference mainly I suppose. I have no idea what a second hand lump from a wright off would cost for that car, but you can, I assume save on labour as dropping a new lump in won't take as long as sorting all the valves out etc.
 
Theres one for sale privately, parked up two roads across from me for 1350 quid, 73k 51' reg.. looked into just getting another one?
 
InvaderGIR said:
Not all engines are cheap. OP's engine ranges from £1k-£1.7k from ebay.
Click to expand...

£1,000+ is an awful lot to spend on an engine with unknown history and (if you're "lucky") a warranty that is almost certainly not worth the piece of paper it's written on.

It's a catch 22, but I'd be inclined to get the engine you've got repaired, although saying that, perhaps it makes more sense to write the car off, put it up for spares and repairs on ebay a move on?
 
Are the cams likely to be bent?
What are the chances?

My dad (who's a photographer but has always fixed his car himself & has worked on engines his whole life) says its unlikely.
 
I don't think they are exaggerating on cost as if the cams gone too, along with the valves its a pretty long job. I guess its a case of better the devil you know, or take chance on a new lump to save money.
 
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