Cambelt and wet belt replacement in Lowestoft. Change it before it changes the engine.
A cambelt gives no warning whatsoever before it goes, and on most modern engines what follows costs more than the car is worth. Replaced on the manufacturer interval, set with locking tools, with the tensioners and water pump renewed alongside it.
- The water pump goes with the belt
- Wet belts, including the oil and pickup
- A chain is a bigger job, and we say so
Belts, wet belts and chains.
A conventional cambelt runs outside the engine and is replaced on time or mileage, whichever arrives first, and age matters as much as mileage, because rubber perishes whether the car is driven or not. A belt at nine years and forty thousand miles is as due as one at six years and eighty.
- Set with specialist locking tools
- Camshafts and crankshaft locked to the manufacturer positions rather than lined up by eye against a mark.
- Tensioners, idlers and pump renewed
- The water pump is usually belt-driven, and reaching it again later means repeating nearly all of the labour. Done together it costs a fraction.
- Wet belt replacement
- Including the oil pump pickup inspection that matters on these engines, and a full oil and filter change afterwards.
- Timing chains, guides and tensioners
- Chain, guides and tensioner as a set, because a new chain running on worn guides is a short-lived repair.
- OE-specification kits throughout
- A belt kit is not the place to save twenty pounds, and we will not fit one that we would not put in our own car.
What it costs.
This is a job where the labour varies enormously by engine. Some are half a day and some need the engine supported and a mount removed to get at anything. We quote on your specific engine rather than a generic figure, and the quote includes the kit we intend to fit.
- The engine itself: access varies from straightforward to genuinely awkward.
- Whether the water pump is belt-driven, in which case it should be done at the same time.
- Wet belt jobs include an oil and filter change and a pickup inspection.
- A timing chain is a considerably bigger job than a belt, and priced accordingly.
- Auxiliary belt and tensioner, if they are due, cost very little extra while everything is apart.
Wet belts and timing chains explained.
A wet belt is different and catches people out. It runs inside the engine, bathed in oil, on a number of common Ford, Vauxhall and PSA engines. Its life is shorter than a conventional belt, missed oil changes degrade it faster still and as it breaks down it sheds material that can block the oil pump pickup, so the first sign of trouble is often oil pressure rather than a noise. If you have a 1.0 EcoBoost or a 1.2 PureTech, it is worth knowing which you have.
A timing chain is meant to last the life of the engine and a great many do not. A rattle for the first few seconds from cold is the usual first sign, and a stretched chain that is left will eventually jump a tooth and do exactly what a snapped belt does.
Common questions.
Not the question you arrived with? Ring the workshop and ask. We would rather talk it through than have you guess at it.
+44 (0)1502 572711Mon to Fri, 08:30 to 17:30
On the interval your maker sets, which is usually somewhere between four and ten years or sixty to a hundred thousand miles. Age matters as much as mileage, because the belt perishes whether the car is driven or not.
On most modern engines the pistons and valves collide, which bends valves and can destroy the cylinder head. The repair routinely costs more than the car is worth, and there is no warning before it happens.
A wet belt runs inside the engine, bathed in oil, rather than outside it. It has a shorter life than a conventional belt and it degrades faster on missed oil changes, shedding material that can block the oil pump pickup. Several common Ford, Vauxhall and PSA engines use one.
On most engines yes, because the pump is driven by the belt and reaching it again later means repeating nearly all the labour. Changing it alongside the belt costs a fraction of doing it as a separate job.
A chain is designed to last the life of the engine but many do not. A rattle on cold start is the usual first sign, and a stretched chain that is ignored can jump a tooth and do the same damage a snapped belt does.
Find us on Whapload Road.
- Address
- 207 Whapload Road, Lowestoft
- Open
- Mon to Fri, 08:30 to 17:30
- Telephone
- +44 (0)1502 572711
Drivers come to us from across Suffolk.
We are a few minutes from the harbour, and cars arrive here from over the Norfolk border as readily as from the next street. If your town is not on this list it does not mean we cannot help. Ring and ask.
- Lowestoft
- Oulton Broad
- Carlton Colville
- Pakefield
- Corton
- Kessingland
- Gisleham
- Blundeston
- Somerleyton
- Beccles
- Worlingham
- Southwold
- Reydon
- Wrentham
- Bungay
- Halesworth
- Gorleston-on-Sea
- Great Yarmouth
Plus Lowestoft itself and everywhere in between.
Related services at our Lowestoft garage
Car servicing, MOTs and repairs in Lowestoft, rated by 500+ drivers.
Drivers across Lowestoft and Suffolk bring their cars to Carl Wigg Auto Services for MOT testing, servicing, brakes, cambelts, clutches and diagnostics. Every rating below is published by Google, Facebook or Suffolk Trusted Trader, never by us.