Dead van...

aaamusements.co.uk · Post by **aaamusements.co.uk** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 2:48 pm

Escort van has died, I now know that it suddenly started running so badly due to the suddenly missing teeth on the timing belt...

New engine required.

Never buy a Ford.

Mattb · Post by **Mattb** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 4:28 pm

Old cambelt?

If not its very unlucky. It's one of those bits that costs virtually nothing (£30 odd for the part itself), but if it snaps or goes wrong then it chews the entire engine and valves up most of the time. Nothing you can check either without taking the whole lot to bits, so you just have to go by the 5 year/50k mileage rule and hope. Just had mine changed when i bought my new car, 7 years old (Y Reg) but only 41k on the clock....so good on the mileage, bad on the age. Never been changed though, so got it done pronto. Got that and the water pump done for £320 to be safe, and after my last car catastrophe i'm hoping this one serves me better! 4 months and no probs....yet

Slammer · Post by **Slammer** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 4:40 pm

Mattb wrote:Old cambelt?

If not its very unlucky. It's one of those bits that costs virtually nothing (£30 odd for the part itself), but if it snaps or goes wrong then it chews the entire engine and valves up most of the time. Nothing you can check either without taking the whole lot to bits, so you just have to go by the 5 year/50k mileage rule and hope. Just had mine changed when i bought my new car, 7 years old (Y Reg) but only 41k on the clock....so good on the mileage, bad on the age. Never been changed though, so got it done pronto. Got that and the water pump done for £320 to be safe, and after my last car catastrophe i'm hoping this one serves me better! 4 months and no probs....yet

Surprises me - I'd have had you down as a scooter lad.

Mattb · Post by **Mattb** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 5:19 pm

Scooter? What the bloomin' hell would i want one of those gutless pieces of shite for?!

Unfortunately last year i spent a bloody fortune on repairs alone (about £1100 in 10 months

) i just had to get rid and buy something newer and more reliable.

Work of the devil cars though, when you have to pay £10 a month to tax it, £50 a month to insure it, an average over the year of £15 per month to MOT and service it, in my case £120 odd a month to fuel it....you are nearly £200 out of pocket a month before you start! That's not even including the inevitable repair costs! :x

aaamusements.co.uk · Post by **aaamusements.co.uk** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 5:22 pm

Mattb wrote:Old cambelt?

If not its very unlucky. It's one of those bits that costs virtually nothing (£30 odd for the part itself), but if it snaps or goes wrong then it chews the entire engine and valves up most of the time. Nothing you can check either without taking the whole lot to bits, so you just have to go by the 5 year/50k mileage rule and hope. Just had mine changed when i bought my new car, 7 years old (Y Reg) but only 41k on the clock....so good on the mileage, bad on the age. Never been changed though, so got it done pronto. Got that and the water pump done for £320 to be safe, and after my last car catastrophe i'm hoping this one serves me better! 4 months and no probs....yet

Yes indeed, the previous owner thought that the belt had been recently changed. It evidently hadn't...

Slammer · Post by **Slammer** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:05 am

Mattb wrote:Scooter? What the bloomin' hell would i want one of those gutless pieces of shite for?!

Unfortunately last year i spent a bloody fortune on repairs alone (about £1100 in 10 months ) i just had to get rid and buy something newer and more reliable.

Work of the devil cars though, when you have to pay £10 a month to tax it, £50 a month to insure it, an average over the year of £15 per month to MOT and service it, in my case £120 odd a month to fuel it....you are nearly £200 out of pocket a month before you start! That's not even including the inevitable repair costs! :x

Well fuel should come out of your profits so is neither here nor there. I used to do over 1000 miles a week back in the day. Now THATS what you call a fuel bill.

Mattb · Post by **Mattb** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:12 am

Yep that is the case, but i was just putting it as a base figure. It's a correlation anyway, more mileage should mean more profit, which should mean fuel paid for. 1000 miles a week is big dedication, so kudos for that! 50k a year mileage on your car is taxi-like! Only going to get a good 2-3 years from any car running that many miles out of it, did you just buy cheaper ones to get you from A-B, or fork out a bit for something nicer?

I don't have the commitment for the driving that far, i had one big day on tuesday where i made £270, so i did bugger all yesterday, and am doing sod all today.

I'll probably get through 1250-1500 miles a month which is plenty enough for me, i'd probably go round the twist doing too many more. :x

Slammer · Post by **Slammer** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 12:32 pm

Mattb wrote:Yep that is the case, but i was just putting it as a base figure. It's a correlation anyway, more mileage should mean more profit, which should mean fuel paid for. 1000 miles a week is big dedication, so kudos for that! 50k a year mileage on your car is taxi-like! Only going to get a good 2-3 years from any car running that many miles out of it, did you just buy cheaper ones to get you from A-B, or fork out a bit for something nicer?

I don't have the commitment for the driving that far, i had one big day on tuesday where i made £270, so i did bugger all yesterday, and am doing sod all today. I'll probably get through 1250-1500 miles a month which is plenty enough for me, i'd probably go round the twist doing too many more. :x

I try to buy ex-demos (so basically new without losing a few k the minute you drive off the forecourt) or 2nd hand, low+warranted mileage and run them into the ground.

I stopped driving for slotting a few years back, couldnt handle it anymore apart from the odd 'social' day out to somewhere like Leicester and go out with an old-skool player, lol.