Diesel price/Fuel Protests

Do you accept the government fuel support package published on the 12th of April 2026?

  • Yes

  • No

Results are only viewable after voting.
JohnBoy said:
The transit at least looks good.

I've two wet belts in the yard here, I think if you service them at reasonable intervals not the stupid recommendations they're safe enough these days.
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What’s the wet belt?
It’s not a rubber timing belt in oil is it?
Hilux has a chain
 
feckless fenian said:
What’s the wet belt?
It’s not a rubber timing belt in oil is it?
Hilux has a chain
Click to expand...
Exactly that.

The concept's been in use for a long time with toothed belts running oil pumps but then Peugeot started doing the whole timing belt and ford followed suit.

Both ford and Peugeot had serious issues with them.

They've both improved the belts so they're less disintegratey but they still need to be serviced way more than the manufacturers recommendations
 
JohnBoy said:
Exactly that.

The concept's been in use for a long time with toothed belts running oil pumps but then Peugeot started doing the whole timing belt and ford followed suit.

Both ford and Peugeot had serious issues with them.

They've both improved the belts so they're less disintegratey but they still need to be serviced way more than the manufacturers recommendations
Click to expand...
Stupid question here: why do these manufacturers use belts and chains as opposed to cogs for the timing of engines? Fuel efficiency I guess?
 
Crops said:
Stupid question here: why do these manufacturers use belts and chains as opposed to cogs for the timing of engines? Fuel efficiency I guess?
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Noise would be the original reason not to use gears I think.


But nowadays with much taller engines with multiple cams it would take an awful lot of gears to get the drive up to the cams
 
Crops said:
Stupid question here: why do these manufacturers use belts and chains as opposed to cogs for the timing of engines? Fuel efficiency I guess?
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They're a way cheaper to make work reliably in an engine. A belt or chain with a tensioner can be mounted on fairly rough cut cogs and deal with imperfections and the expansion of the engine, espically with overhead cams.

A cog would require much more precision machining and it'd have no flexibility to deal with block expansion, espically with longer stroke engines and overhead cams. Older pushrod engines with a cam shaft right beside the crankshaft don't suffer this as much.

Also noise, especially belts. I had a 1.3 chain cam fiesta once and my brother's 1.25 belt cam was like a sowing machine beside it.
 
JohnBoy said:
Exactly that.

The concept's been in use for a long time with toothed belts running oil pumps but then Peugeot started doing the whole timing belt and ford followed suit.

Both ford and Peugeot had serious issues with them.

They've both improved the belts so they're less disintegratey but they still need to be serviced way more than the manufacturers recommendations
Click to expand...

I’d be a fan of the timing chain over the belt.
A Mondeo gave up due to belt failure 20 yrs ago.
Only had it 5 weeks and hadn’t got around to doing the belt!
Had another oul van, a cat got caught up in the belt😂. ,only slipped a tooth or 2 and didn’t do much harm!
A mate had a rough yolk, the fan belt broke, made its way into the timing belt and left him with more work than fixing the fan belt!!

Chain will get noisy and rattley, you’d know when it needs changed!

Did I read a while back JD tractors have a timing belt to reduce noise? Could be imagining this
 
feckless fenian said:
I’d be a fan of the timing chain over the belt.
A Mondeo gave up due to belt failure 20 yrs ago.
Only had it 5 weeks and hadn’t got around to doing the belt!
Had another oul van, a cat got caught up in the belt😂. ,only slipped a tooth or 2 and didn’t do much harm!
A mate had a rough yolk, the fan belt broke, made its way into the timing belt and left him with more work than fixing the fan belt!!

Chain will get noisy and rattley, you’d know when it needs changed!

Did I read a while back JD tractors have a timing belt to reduce noise? Could be imagining this
Click to expand...
Had similar on a focus, didn't get it done soon enough after buying.

Time was I'd have been pro chain, but they have cost-cut those into uselessness it seems these days too.
 
feckless fenian said:
I’d be a fan of the timing chain over the belt.
A Mondeo gave up due to belt failure 20 yrs ago.
Only had it 5 weeks and hadn’t got around to doing the belt!
Had another oul van, a cat got caught up in the belt😂. ,only slipped a tooth or 2 and didn’t do much harm!
A mate had a rough yolk, the fan belt broke, made its way into the timing belt and left him with more work than fixing the fan belt!!

Chain will get noisy and rattley, you’d know when it needs changed!

Did I read a while back JD tractors have a timing belt to reduce noise? Could be imagining this
Click to expand...

How did the cat fare out?!
 
JohnBoy said:
Had similar on a focus, didn't get it done soon enough after buying.

Time was I'd have been pro chain, but they have cost-cut those into uselessness it seems these days too.
Click to expand...
feckless fenian said:
I’d be a fan of the timing chain over the belt.
A Mondeo gave up due to belt failure 20 yrs ago.
Only had it 5 weeks and hadn’t got around to doing the belt!
Had another oul van, a cat got caught up in the belt😂. ,only slipped a tooth or 2 and didn’t do much harm!
A mate had a rough yolk, the fan belt broke, made its way into the timing belt and left him with more work than fixing the fan belt!!

Chain will get noisy and rattley, you’d know when it needs changed!

Did I read a while back JD tractors have a timing belt to reduce noise? Could be imagining this
Click to expand...
Had a 1.9 sierra here and the timing belt went. Made enquiries and found out that they could go at any time. Mondeos were worse again. Heard of belts going with less than 1000miles.
The sierra was a lovely comfortable car, but the engine was a ball of shit. Timing belts and turbos used go on them. Both did for us within 6 months.
 
JohnBoy said:
Had similar on a focus, didn't get it done soon enough after buying.

Time was I'd have been pro chain, but they have cost-cut those into uselessness it seems these days too.
Click to expand...
Precisely

Had a bmw engine here that was written off as the chain guides failed because they were made of plastic, I kid you not

And no noise to warn off impending failure so you can’t always rely on that either
 
Deerehunter said:
Had a 1.9 sierra here and the timing belt went. Made enquiries and found out that they could go at any time. Mondeos were worse again. Heard of belts going with less than 1000miles.
The sierra was a lovely comfortable car, but the engine was a ball of shit. Timing belts and turbos used go on them. Both did for us within 6 months.
Click to expand...
The cure for them was a higher tick over speed. The slower the tick over speed the higher the torque. Heard of a car getting a service and the apprentice was being careful driving up on a ramp and the timing belt broke. There would have been no problem if he had floored it.
 
Deerehunter said:
Had a 1.9 sierra here and the timing belt went. Made enquiries and found out that they could go at any time. Mondeos were worse again. Heard of belts going with less than 1000miles.
The sierra was a lovely comfortable car, but the engine was a ball of shit. Timing belts and turbos used go on them. Both did for us within 6 months.
Click to expand...

Was a 1.8 TD sierra sapphire here.
Never engine trouble but many a gearbox and clutch I put in it from doing the work of a jeep.
Was straight forward enough to do on the rear wheel drive
 
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