Service Question

[Race2theredline]

So 219 is now 3 years old and at 26k miles, the annual service is due in December but its my intention to bring it forward before a small road trip to Wales.

Now how many people have taken the precaution of having the Aux Belts changed when there car got to 3 years.

I’m in two minds to have this done at the same time at the service or wait?

R2TR

 

[chunktrophy]

technically you only have to change it at 36k or 5 years, i believe g40 steve did his to make his car more 'saleable'

personally i wouldnt bother, especially if your car hasnt lived a hard life. You will probably hit 36k before 5 years anyway so get it done then

 

[hoolio]

Even more than you in two minds about about this as it's sub 10k but my feelings are that it has to be done some time, better now than sorry.

 

[oldmanspeed]

My local renault dealer said the aux belt and pulleys (its a kit) needs changing at 3 years for me as my milage is 26000 and will be 3 in december at a cost of £316 or thereabouts they also said the engine is euro 4 and the car needs servicing every two years

 

[Race2theredline]

technically you only have to change it at 36k or 5 years, i believe g40 steve did his to make his car more 'saleable'

personally i wouldnt bother, especially if your car hasnt lived a hard life. You will probably hit 36k before 5 years anyway so get it done then

My car has had a relatively easy life (certainly in my hands) and has never seen any track work, you just can't help but worry about the potential damage a 'snapped belt' could do.....

There also seems to be a lot of conflicting information and opinions about it.

R2TR

 

[Cue]

it's indeed a grey area - even dealers are giving conflicting info.... i'd air on the side of caution.... and do them every 3 years /36k

 

[Race2theredline]

Thats my decision now, price from Angelworks for the 36k Service and Aux belt change (including the kit) is £302 +vat.

R2TR

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I have a question regarding this again...sorry.

My 182 is a 55 plate & has covered 16K, now Mike & Dave @ Rentech are doing the 36K service this month.
Mike said they will change the AUX belt & check the pulley bearings, if they are fine & dandy then just the AUX belt will be change & not pullies. Should he deem the pullies unfit for purpose he'll change these also. He said this will not affect warranty either way.

Now G40 Steve recommended having the pullies changed regardless.

Now to affect warranty is there anywhere that stipulates that the pullies must be change to honour anything warranty related??

 

[Berty]

There's quite a big thread on RS forum about some who's belt went at 4 years, but a long way off 36k, took the cambelt with it which in turn inflicted the usual cambelt damage to the engine. Reading that makes it seem worthwhile to change at 3 years. The £300 that Renault want to charge seems a lot better than the £4.5k they want to charge when it all goes bang.

 

[TrophyDan]

Got my aux belt done by mark fish almost 2 weeks ago now. Car has done 20k but is now 3 yrs old - he charged £100.
The belt was in no way worn at all so it was probably a waste of money, however, after seeing that poor guys thread about his snapped aux belt at 4 yrs and 25k - it might have been worth it.
The pullies where in no way damaged / remotely worn either.

Just out of interest, what is it they do for your 36k service other than a normal service + change the aux belt?

 

[hoolio]

Spacemonkey, does that mean that you've gone for the extended warranty? it was something i was considering but after my second failed warranty claim come the 15th i shall be happy to be rid of them, seems you're damned if you do and damned if you don't, at least i'll know where i stand. My point is that it's anyone's guess as to what they would do if you had a claim involving the belts.

 

[g40steve]

Some of you don't drive your cars hard, you like to polish & admire :roll: ie the odd quick blast down a b road.

Others like to spend several hours between 5 & 7K, those are the people more at risk & i was one of them.

I don't have the prices to hand but the kit was not a huge amount of money.

A belt can go at any time, it may look like new, this is no reason not to change.

If you can't get a seat runner from Renault what chance an engine & fitting etc #-o

Make sure you get the genuine Renault parts in your services & not motrio parts [-X you have been warned.

 

[Berty]

As for extended warranties, I saw one that's done by elephant and someone else that advertised covering premature failure of parts such as belts, including the cost of all the bits taken out by it.

Is there anything about changing the belt that makes it need to be done by a specialist or main dealer ? I've been phoning around and the cheapest I've got is £250 which still seems a bit pricey so I'm tempted to go back to the mechanic that has done all my other cars, I've never had a problem with him and he does know his stuff and loves little performance cars.

 

[SharkyUK]

The RenaultSport specialist at Cardiff main stealers insisted that I didn't need the aux and pulleys changing at 36k... even though the car gets driven 'with spirit.' He stated that it needed to be done at 5 years or some several 10k's of miles later. In the end an argument ensued until I finally got what I wanted and they changed the items (after they had done the service and 'forgotten' to do the belts initially).

My advice - get the belts changed, use genuine parts and avoid main dealers as they know jack cr@p generally. Yes, one too many bad experiences with Renault main dealers I'm afraid.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Spacemonkey, does that mean that you've gone for the extended warranty?

No mate, my 182 is a very late 55 plate.

 

[murcod]

I had mine changed on my 182 Cup at 14000km / 30 months. Here in Australia they spec it as 36mths or 50000km, but I figured it was best to get it changed prior to the warranty expiring at 36mths (just incase they stuffed up and something let go!) It needs to be replaced again when the timing belt is done at 36mths which is a huge waste of money and stupid intervals...

As it turned out they found the tensioner pulley was noisy and replaced it under warranty for free. It's a big job and apparently the front bumper bar needs to come off for access.