I saw an old post about Cam belts etc but the thread was closed. Anyone know what a cam belt is called in Spanish?

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Cheers Fred
Our car has been a bit 'twittery' for several weeks now and the engine warning light has come on on his last journey when OH says it's gone "frumbly".
looks to me like its a timing issue. Belt plugs or sdistribution. (Did car maintainance at school but only to a very basic level as the boys tended to push me to one side)
Since we're *very* hard up we're a bit worried and trying to find as much out about the possibilities BEFORE going to a garage. Forewarned is forearmed.
Saved ourselves a fortune in new brake drums last time by not taking expensive garage's word for it and finding out the bleed nipples on the brakes were shot and that was all!

I'm no expert but I believe the timing belt is an all-or-nothing component - i.e. it's either working or it's not. What warning light is showing?

If your cam belt goes, you will know about it and may be looking for a new engine .. it's never a bit "twittery", it's there, or its gone

I have had two alternator belts go on two different cars over the last few months. Thats when you might see the battery warning light make an appearance, not when the cam belt goes.

I'm not sure I agree (but then I'm no mechanic).

I had a belt that was starting to wear and consequently caused the timing to be slightly out and the engine did not run well. I changed the belt and instantly all was well again.

I take it that this is an old car (brake drums)
As has been said in the vast bulk of cases when a bely goes, it goes !

What car, and what warning light ?

Alternator went on my C type Corsa and the Engine Management Light came on??

So the belt that is attached to that could possibly be the one?

if the cam belt goes then you may need a new engine or a major rebuild.
the cam belt is not just responsible for the battery charge (most cars have another belt for that which is usually visible the cam belt runs under a cover and provides a power pulley for the battery belt.

the cam belt is responsible for the whole of the way the engine functions. it ensures the valves open at the correct times. associated with it are tension pulley and idler pulleys. as they get worn the cam belt also gets slack, but it is always recommended that the whole lot are replaced at the same time

but there are other things that effect the performance. my car hiccuped at 70 and the EML came on. I drove home 50-60 miles at 40mph, everyone passed me including a few pushbikes, I was walking on eggs. my garage said that the use of low cost petrol from supermarkets had caused gumming up in the fuel system and I had to have £200 of clean up work done - better than £600 for new valves etc.

if your car has an engine management system get a good garage to read the computer and check the performance figures.

hth

Thanks guys. Yes its an engine management light. It's a ford Fiesta with a Zetec engine. Googling about a bit for answers my hubby thinks it may be as simple as a spark plug or coil pack problem. Lets hope so. One of you guys said something about the alternator ?? The car is 10 years old but has only done about 62 thousand miles. But most of it is original and prob could do with a damn good full service. ...If it lives!
Things could be very bad for us if it doesn't! All advice is very welcome.

Well .... If you dont agree about cam belts then please .... be my guest and run your car until it goes ... and then your car will run no more

I'm assuming you dont know the difference between the different belts and what they do?

An alternator belt can slip if its not tensioned properly, and that can cause charging problems. If it breaks, (as mine have twice as mentioned) your battery will flatten. If you lose a cam belt, more often than not, it's goodbye engine.

Dominic .... the cam belt and alternator belts are normally different belts

I certainly do know my way around an engine - I have completely restored a few Jaguars that I've owned.

But, I totally agree with you that Cam belts MUST be changed before they break - no question!

However, they can also cause problems BEFORE they actually break and this can show up as poor engine running.

I didn't know that so I've learnt something today - that's good. However I guess that most people (certainly me!) change their belts well before that happens. Every second hand car I've bought, if it doesn't come with a service record - I renew the belt.

Mitzy - is that for me ?
I thought I had said so, all that I have said that some may disagree about is that a pully that drives the cam belt has an additional pully going outside the CB cover to drive the alternator.

luckily I have a metal cambelt which I have checked every 20k

when my battery started acting up I ensured the belt wasnt over or under tightened and then threw away the battery, fitting a new one with about twice the amperage to give more leeway with aircon running for so long. It was the original battery so 8 years old but only 52k on the clock and not a drop of crud on the terminals. hope the new one (from car manuf) is as good.

Whether or not the cam belt is the cause of your current problem i would advise checking if it has had a cam belt in it's lifetime or whether it needs one. Hope this helps.
http://www.fiestaguides.co.uk/phpBB2...14b42c3e68cd23
Some garages will only fit a new cambelt and not a cambelt kit(this as well as a cambelt includes some important bearings/pulleys that need renewing really). Majority of cost in renewing a cambelt is labour not parts so i would advise don't scrimp on a few extra quid, it could cost a lot more not much further down the line.
Hope this helps. If anyone knows better please correct me, no offence taken. Also, spot on Domino, cam belt goes, no mistaking it, and bin the car.