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[jobrien389]

I am about to book my car for a tune on rolling road, but before i do i thaught iy might be an idea tochange the cam belts. its a 8valve carb version. I dont know if they need changing but dont know when last changed as only aquired car 1 mth ago and dont know condition of belts. car is making some tinkering rattly noise intermittantly which prev post suggested could be cam belts.

guy at rr tuning says should not attempt myself. he would charge £150 to change belts and rr tuning all in. so its £100 for the belts change and £50 for the 2hr tuning on rr.

What must one look out for with changing the cam belts. have never done it before. assume must not alter position of teeth affecting cam valve timing may result in bent valve or something expensive.

any thaughts


thansk
Jonathan
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1.7 33 owner

[Gary UK]

Buy new tensioners as they can make a noise like valve rattle when on the way out. And as the tensioner has just gone (the outer bit disintergrated) on our horrid Escort diesel and bent ALL the valves (due to new belt slipping) it will save money in the long run. Mind the cost of Ford bits compared to ALfas is cheap. You could rebuild a Ford 1.8 Diesel 8v top end (new valves,stem seals, gaskets, belts (cam & diesel pump), tensioners and shims) for about £50 more than Alfa belts and tensioners.