There is less than 25,000 miles on the clock and I'm being told the cam belt will need changing based on the age of the car (W reg), irrespective of the low mileage. The quote is considerable and I'm not sure if this is really needed/standard in a service. Can anyone help?!I have a Mazda MX5 due for a service. Mazda tell me it will need a cam belt change. This sound reasonable?I hate to agree with dealerships or indy shops most of the time, because they're such thieving b@stards.However,I have seen these belts become hard and brittle long before their scheduled replacement mileage.More than once .Its hard to shell out the big bucks for a belt, but the alternative is even bigger bucks.You say the quote is considerable, but it is mostly labor.Remember -If you can buy the part for $50,your %26quot;repair shop%26quot; charges you $100.Labor is figured by %26quot;FLAT RATE%26quot; If the book says 5hrs. you get charged 5hrs,even if it only takes 2hrs.There are so many dishonest shops,I'm embarrassed to admit I'm a mechanic.I have a Mazda MX5 due for a service. Mazda tell me it will need a cam belt change. This sound reasonable?Not at 25,000 unless it is 6 years older or more. You didn't mention how old the vehicle is.
Rubber stuff does go bad with age, but this takes more than 6 years to kick in.
How do the rest of the rubber things look? If your other belts and your hoses look good (no hardening on the hoses, no cracks on the belts) you are OK.
I think that motor normally does not bend valves if the belt breaks, so in the unlikely event it went you still wouldn't tear up your motor.
Since you didn't provide year info I can't confirm this, but check my site http://econofix.com/tbelt.html for a list of %26quot;valve benders%26quot; and a link to some other sites regarding this.I have a Mazda MX5 due for a service. Mazda tell me it will need a cam belt change. This sound reasonable?Timing belt should be changed at 60,000 miles.The age of the car does not matter.
