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Cam belt snapped

6K views 50 replies 11 participants last post by  lsto 
#1 ·
Driving to work yesterday morning, just as I pulled off the a13 my engine cut out. Coasted to a stop, tried to start it up and it spun over far too quickly...
Great, waiting for a tow at 3am, not fun...

I took the top cover off and found a load of shredded belt teeth resting on the engine mount bracket. So much for the previous owner changing the belt a few months before I bought it... grrr...

Soon as the weather let's up I'll be whizzing off the head and seeing how many valves it's done.

Oh fun...
 
#4 ·
Yeah, it wasn't the best loved motor when I got it so anything is possible. Silly me for believing him I guess...
I have repaired a few of these in the past but I have never had a VVC version throw a belt. Will it have damaged the vvc gearing or is it more likely to be just the valves damaged? I don't know how robust the vvc drivetrain is.

Cheers all
 
#8 ·
Well I removed the head yesterday afternoon, it has bent every exhaust valve and at least 2 inlet valves.

The pistons looked fine, no cracks and same for the liners.

It looked as though some of the valve guides are cracked, but until I get the valves out on Monday I won't be able to tell exactly.

Anyone know if I can replace the guides myself, I seem to remember they have to be frozen in but I can't find any information about it?

Cheers all
 
#10 ·
Yeah maybe. I'll strip the head tomorrow then price up all the bits against a replacement. I phoned around locally but can't find a breakers with one. We'll just have to see how far my wallet can stretch ?

Hopefully it'll be worth the cost but I may seriously think about selling or even scrapping it.
 
#11 ·
It is worth repairing almost regardless of cost tbh; there weren't many Express built, and only 71 were 160s (and several have been recorded scrapped).

If you decide not to repair it, I would certainly sell rather than scrap it - an Express 160 will sell for more as spares or repairs than it will make for scrap (that's if you can find a breaker/scrapper willing to pay for it to start with!)
 
#12 ·
He probably did change it but it was done wrong.

I've had a cam belt go on me after just 50 miles of it being replaced because the tensioner was on too tight and I had a cheesy string remains of a cam belt.

If it went at low speed such as pulling out of a junction, chances are the valves are fine. (anything below 3000rpm)

You need several revolutions of the engine to do a full stroke to smash the pistons into it.

It'd require taking the cylinder head off but it's unlikely to have ruined your head and valves are not expensive to replace.

If you are comfortable you can do this sort of thing yourself if you buy a spring compressor.

But essentially a garage will charge a lot because you're having to replace the head gasket if you take the cylinder head of.

Replacing the belt and seeing if the engine grinds itself into destruction is one option but a risk of making it even more expensive.
 
#13 ·
I'm not worried about doing it as I'm a hgv mechanic so it's just a little smaller than the usual things I do lol.

I removed the head, and stripped it last night. I have damaged 12 valves, the seats look fine, only trouble is I have damaged the guides. I have had a quote from a machine shop to replace the guides at £8 each. I phoned a few places for replacement valves, ranging from 18 each to 10 each. I'm gonna change all the valves, for the sake of 4 I may as well...
Trouble is it works out very expensive.

I found a full set of valves on eBay for 69.99, but I'm not sure about the quality of eBay parts. I also found a site online called dmgrs, (discount MGrover spares) They stock the valves at about 5 and 6 quid each but again I have never used them so don't know about the quality.

Anyone used dgmrs.co.uk?
 
#14 ·
I also found a site online called dmgrs, (discount MGrover spares) They stock the valves at about 5 and 6 quid each but again I have never used them so don't know about the quality.

Anyone used dgmrs.co.uk?
IMHO you can rely on them. They sell good stuff. I've bought some. No problem.
 
#18 ·
Thanks everyone for the replies. It fills me with confidence about dmgrs so I'll happily get my headset and belts from them.

On another note I dropped the head off at the machine shop today, so hopefully it will have nice shiny new guides in a day or so...

While I was there I asked about valves, of course they recommended their suppliers but they will cost 170ish for the whole set. I emailed dmgrs about their valves, asking who makes them. They replied they are straight from the SAIC-MG production line and are genuine MG units. This may be true but they seem very cheap compared to every other place I enquired from.

Anyone used valves from them in the past? I can't help thinking the old 'buy cheap buy twice'

Cheers again everyone
 
#19 ·
The other valves may be VVC or performance ones. If the car is not VVC you don't want to put those in unless you are planning on porting the head for more power.

With regards to the issue of removing the guides, yes you do need to freeze guides to fit them. I think Dave Andrews has a brief guide to doing it.
 
#20 ·
Thanks for the quick reply. It's a VVC engine and the valves I asked him about were the VVC ones on the website.
They may be excellent, and genuine MG valves, it's just they seem very cheap. I love a bargain as does everyone else and they seem to be a reputable shop from reviews on here, I just don't want to risk breaking a valve in 6 months if they are too good to be true. I just can't get over how cheap they are.
 
#22 ·
Not yet. I dropped my head off to have new guides fitted a week or so ago. Unfortunately for me the bloke who does the machine work has been ill and only returned to work yesterday, so he has a bit of work built up until he gets to mine. It's not the end of the world, just annoying, but I'm not in a rush for it and I had work done by him before so I'm happy to wait.
As for the valves I ended up getting the machine shop to supply me their own valves. They are a little more expensive but they can guarantee the quality and give warranty on them so a bit of piece of mind.
That said I am still going to buy the headset and belts from dmgrs, just not the valves. I will keep everyone updated as this goes on...
 
#23 ·
Well I finally had a call from the machine shop today, my head is ready for collection ?.
I went online to dgmrs and ordered myself a headset and cambelt kit along with a new set of head bolts. Although my bolts are within spec I don't know the history of them so I thought I'd order new ones to be on the safe side.
The machine shop seated all my valves and built them up for free as a sorry for the delay. All I have to do now it fit the cams, take apart and clean the vvc gears and fit new gaskets and then I'm ready to go.
Just waiting on a delivery from dgmrs and then I can start getting it back together.
 
#24 ·
Well I picked up my head today and it's looking good. Brand new valves, guides, seals and a skim as well as a good clean. Looks brand new, well I guess it basically is now...
Now I just have to wait for the vvc unit gaskets, then I can refit the cam carrier and fit the covers and belts and time it all up.
Hopefully I can have it running again by the weekend. Just waiting for a package from dmgrs...
 
#26 ·
Thanks, me too. .

Well I got a package today when I got in with my vvc gaskets, so tomorrow I can fit the new gaskets, time it up and seal the cam carrier and bolt it all together, then once the timing belts arrive I can get the engine back together.

Finally feel like I'm getting somewhere now ?
 
#27 ·
Well I built up my head this evening and now it's all ready to bolt back together. Changed the vvc gaskets, stripped and cleaned the vvc units and bolted them back together, fitted new camshaft seals, refitted all the followers, sealed the cam housing to the head, timed up the rear camshafts, fitted the belt, loctited the rear pulleys and torqued, fitted the covers, fitted the front cover, fitted the front pulleys. Torqued and fitted timing key. Checked rear timing again and it's all good.
Now if the weather is nice for me the weekend I'll stick it back on the van and see what happens...
 
#28 ·
Well it's alive. Laying down in the mud and snow wasn't fun but it's all back together now.
Ticks over nice, no leaks, a little bit smokey from the exhaust but that's to be expected after sitting for a month.
Took it for a spin up the road and it performed ok, now just need to get an mot on it and hopefully it's back to work.
I'm glad that's done and over with, I'm getting too old to be crawling in the snow fixing cars lol.
 
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