![]() In the 80’s and 90’s you could take the risk as most older 8v engines were non-interference which meant there was usually no damage done in a failure but today’s much more complex motors are almost all interference designs which means a costly disaster of the belt fails. While I agree that this particular engine is of a very good design and doesn’t tend to snap belts but after twenty years in the trade I’ve seen plenty of cases of catastrophic belt failure that has effectively destroyed the engine and more often than not written the car off. I used to get much abuse for expressing these opinions, but even the diehards (and those with a vested interest in creating garage work) who recommend absurdly early precautionary changes are beginning to see the light.įord Focus MK2 - Timing belt - to change or not change? - SLO76 Modern belts are so strong that those not much thicker than a Zetec cambelt are exposed to the elements and used to drive powerful motorcycles! But there are many stories of disasters following cack-handed replacements of perfectly good belts that would have been best left alone. As mentioned, failure is virtually unheard of. I used to give them a squirt of belt dressing every 20,000m or so, but no longer do so. The poly V ancillary belt is original too - and its ribbing looks perfect. I have no intention of changing it, merely keeping an ear open for suspicious noises from the tensioner pulley. I recently posted a pic of our 18yr old 130,000m Focus cambelt - it looks as good as new. Ford advise 10yrs/100,000m change interval as a precautionary. The 1.6 Zetec sturdy cambelt drives nothing but cams and a tensioner pulley and was designed to last the life of the engine. ![]() Ford Focus MK2 - Timing belt - to change or not change? - John F
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