Thread: How long does a timing belt last?

I wouldn't let one go past 6 years on a low km engine but IIRC, the roughly same era Astra had a short belt life of around 60K (not sure on the age limit though).


Is there a date in the log book for the belt replacement?

until it breaks lol

sorry couldn't resist

Yeah, it was done nearly 5 years ago.

Originally Posted by Outback 1

until it breaks lol

sorry couldn't resist

There's always one in every crowd...

Originally Posted by bacicat

Yeah, it was done nearly 5 years ago.

Seeing as it's your favourite car, I'd be changing it quick smart.

My sons girlfriend has a secondhand Astra.No service records at all.She put it in for a service and the mechanic said if the timing belt still had the writing on it,it will be OK for ages.

If it was me,yours needs changing,but as said,it is a PITA,but more of a PITA if you leave it and it goes

i am sure you know the way Murphy works........

YOU NEED TO BE AWARE THESE ARE AN INTERFERENCE FIT SO IF IT BREAKS ITS HEAD OFF NEW VALVES ETC ETC

90,00km /5 yrs . Time and distance sensitive. I recently did a similar job on SWMBO's 2005 Astra (55,000km/9 yrs ...) For some reason I thought it was a chain driven cam... discovered otherwise while reading a sad (=$$$$) story of one which broke...and the penny dropped...

It's all done via the RHS of the engine. You'll need to remove the front RHS wheel and with a jack under the sump take the weight of the engine (just!) and remove the RHS engine mount. Jack it just enough to take the weight off the mount, any higher and the flex joint in the exhaust breaks...(don't ask).

You need to set the engine to TDC then insert a plastic extrusion thingo to jam the OHC timing gears in place so as not to stuff the valve timing when you remove the belt. You may as well change the water pump as well. Belts are a very tight fit and there's a bit of a rigmarole to set the tensioner correctly to take account of the inevitable slackening of the belt. You can buy the pump, belt and tensioner as a kit. IIRC "Gates" has a kit which is about 50% of the genuine parts cost. There are several informative forums ...e.g. Opel owners and /or ASTRA owners... The Opel 4 cyl engines share a "similar" architecture.

Once I had all the bits organised it took me about 4 hrs including coffee breaks while I re-read the instructions... A set of 3/8"drive sockets/extension bars is ample. You might also need a set of Torx bits and Hex keys.

cheers