Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: Auto Addict on 15 August 2025, 18:15:33
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Both Astra's are now 8 years old.
Mrs AA's has done 17k.
Mine has done 23k.
Should I get the cam belts changed?
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The service book should stat belt intervals, assuming you have them. Stick to what that says as a guide to changing, doing so when due, whether that is due to age or mileage :y
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Book says 10 years, Barry, but I never left mine that long. Only my opinion, but I'd get them done.
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Thanks.
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FWIW it was 10yrs or 100k on the Fraud Galaxy, due to circumstances beyond my control (and being too tight to pay someone to do it) I left it 101k and 10yrs 6 months. When it came off the timing belt still looked good, no signs of cracking or flaking etc. The aux belt on the other hand... :-\
At the end of the day its all down to personal opinion. My view is that unless the engine has a reputation for snapping belts, I let them go to the manufacturer's specified intervals. But if its playing on your mind, get it changed :y
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I've only ever had one cam belt go on me and that was in a £300 Renault 19 diesel about 20 years ago. I sold it to a couple of lads for £200 who planned to fix it and sell it on. ;D
My Volvo V70 had 195,000 miles on it when I sold it last year and I had no record of the cam belt ever having been changed. :-X ;D
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The cam belt on my Omega was last changed in 2016(by DLK) and having been stood in the garage for a good few years it's done less than 1,000 miles since! If/as/when I get it ready for an M.o.T I'll risk taking it with the current belt fitted until I'm sure it's worth spending the money on.
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I had a cambelt go on a 1974 Capri 1600. It didn't take the engine with it.
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I had a cambelt go on a 1974 Capri 1600. It didn't take the engine with it.
On a 1600 Capri that would be considered unfortunate
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Similar story with my 2.0 Sierra. Belt snapped when I was driving along.
I thought " good, thats the end of this tedious pile of shite".
Lined the pulleys up and stuck a new belt on not expecting much but it fired up and ran fine as if nothing had happened.
Finally got rid of it when an old car parked next to it burst into flames and took the Sierra with it. ;D
Thats whEN i bought the Senator. 8)
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Pinto engine such a simple thing to do a belt change on did quite a few in the mid '70s on MkIII Cortinas
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When a Pinto cam belt broke what you did was dependent on the capacity:
2.0l - fit a new belt and drive away(I did one at the side of the road when the AA patrol lent me some tools)
1.6l - fit a new belt and hope it didn't bend any valves. Some do, some don't. It's worth the 20 minutes to find out which.
They have different length valves(if I remember right), and a 1.6head won't work on a 2.0l. I found that out the hard way....
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When a Pinto cam belt broke what you did was dependent on the capacity:
2.0l - fit a new belt and drive away(I did one at the side of the road when the AA patrol lent me some tools)
1.6l - fit a new belt and hope it didn't bend any valves. Some do, some don't. It's worth the 20 minutes to find out which.
They have different length valves(if I remember right), and a 1.6head won't work on a 2.0l. I found that out the hard way....
and what about the 1300 & 1800? ;)
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Actually there are two version from 1.6 litre pinto, Cortina had with "16" block and later Sierras had "165" block also known as an emax engine, which didn´t bent valves if the cam belt would snap off. I´ve used to own 3 Mk1 Sierras before moving to Omegas as there were no reasonable (enough cheap) RWD option that Ford could offer in the 2000s ;D
EDIT: BTW I had in one my Sierras an engine that had 205 bottom end (from 2.0 litre) and cylinder head from older 1.6 pinto, but I had adjust spark advance a bit later to avoid detonation under accleration... Also got a burton BF134 cam and hard pad followers on the that engine.
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1.8 is okay if cambelt goes, how do I know ::)
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1.8 is okay if cambelt goes, how do I know ::)
.. and 1.3 Pinto is barely powerful enough to move its' own weight let alone the car as well. Box of swan vestas and a can of petrol. ;D
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I believe this was the lump in my escort way back when. Mated to a 4spd manual and lugging around a 3 door estate. Didn't even have a radio until I fitted one ;D
Upgraded to a 1.6 5 speeder I took out of a very rusty donor when the 1.3 dipped under 100 miles to the pint of engine oil :o
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When a Pinto cam belt broke what you did was dependent on the capacity:
2.0l - fit a new belt and drive away(I did one at the side of the road when the AA patrol lent me some tools)
……….
Yep, my 2.0 belt snapped when I was flat out down the M40. Got it towed home and as it was a non-interference engine I was out and about in it that same evening. :y
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1.8 is okay if cambelt goes, how do I know ::)
.. and 1.3 Pinto is barely powerful enough to move its' own weight let alone the car as well. Box of swan vestas and a can of petrol. ;D
which is why they weren't sold here. Instead, you could buy a mk3 Capri, mk5 Cortina - and I believe an early Sierra, but I've never seen one - with a 1300 crossflow, although virtually nobody did.
Much the same applies to a 2.0l Cologne(which we also didn't get) that does a number of things better than a 2.0l Pinto. Unfortunately those are all things you don't want: drink fuel; weight the front of the car down; has more, serious failure modes; costs more to maintain.
1.8 Pintos are barely more poweful than 1.6s, are fractionally more economical(due to a particularly crap carb), and I've only ever seen them in Sierras.
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My mates Dad had a brand new 1.3 Mk4 Cortina in the late 70,s.
Most of the time when the engine was switched of it would run on pinking like hell for all it was worth, for a very long time.
I reckon you could have went indoors and had a cup of tea and it would still be doing it when you came back out.
The usual way of stopping the the thing was clutch down, foot on the brake, put it in gear then dump the clutch and stall it.
Countless returns to the supplying Ford dealer made no difference at all.
An absolute piece of crap of an engine.
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which is why they weren't sold here. Instead, you could buy a mk3 Capri, mk5 Cortina - and I believe an early Sierra, but I've never seen one - with a 1300 crossflow, although virtually nobody did. ....
the 1300 Sierra was a Pinto ..... :y Never seen one though ;)
I do remember that from the time but Wiki confirms it :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Sierra
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We had a farmer with an old MK3 Cortina, yellow but mostly brown. It was a "taxi" special with 1100 crossflow, now that was gutless !
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Had a 2.0l Pinto in my Mk3 Granny. Actually managed to pull a tin tent with it. Admittedly, it was only a 2 berth. :D
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which is why they weren't sold here. Instead, you could buy a mk3 Capri, mk5 Cortina - and I believe an early Sierra, but I've never seen one - with a 1300 crossflow, although virtually nobody did. ....
the 1300 Sierra was a Pinto ..... :y Never seen one though ;)
I do remember that from the time but Wiki confirms it :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Sierra
Pretty sure I had a colleague with a 1.3 pinto in a Sierra. Not sure I have ever seen a crossflow in one. Later small engined variants got the CVH.
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I had a mk3 transit with the 2.0 city spec engine, would hardly pull 5th empty. Soon sorted that with a twin plenum 2.8 V6, now that towed well!
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which is why they weren't sold here. Instead, you could buy a mk3 Capri, mk5 Cortina - and I believe an early Sierra, but I've never seen one - with a 1300 crossflow, although virtually nobody did. ....
the 1300 Sierra was a Pinto ..... :y Never seen one though ;)
I do remember that from the time but Wiki confirms it :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Sierra
Pretty sure I had a colleague with a 1.3 pinto in a Sierra. Not sure I have ever seen a crossflow in one. Later small engined variants got the CVH.
The facelift 1.6 and 1.8 were CVH iirc.
Dad had a B reg 1.6 Emax powered one. Whilst it didn't set the world on fire, it could cruise at 80. Did nearly 3,000 miles in it on L plates one summer and passed my test in it.
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Both Astra's are now 8 years old.
Mrs AA's has done 17k.
Mine has done 23k.
Should I get the cam belts changed?
I recall from one of your other posts, that these engines are the 1.4 variant, in both of your Astras?
If so, I am 99.9999% sure they won't have cambelts, but rather, a timing chain setup. Which, at those mileages, won't need disturbing yet.
Best bet if that's the case, is just to make sure the oil and all filters are regularly changed (more often than the recommended intervals, in my humble opinion) :y
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Both Astra's are now 8 years old.
Mrs AA's has done 17k.
Mine has done 23k.
Should I get the cam belts changed?
I recall from one of your other posts, that these engines are the 1.4 variant, in both of your Astras?
If so, I am 99.9999% sure they won't have cambelts, but rather, a timing chain setup. Which, at those mileages, won't need disturbing yet.
Best bet if that's the case, is just to make sure the oil and all filters are regularly changed (more often than the recommended intervals, in my humble opinion) :y
Thanks James.