I think you mean a chain? if so they usually last 100k miles and get noisy before they go , cam belts on the other hand will not switch an engine management light on and give no warning when they break , a performance drop will not be down to a timing belt failing as the timing will stay the same until it snaps.

probably I do, if you want to get really tecky, but it does the same job -- belt or chain or nylon panties - ooops no you cant use one of those, that used to be for the dynamo belt, at least that is what I told the wife......

and no you needn't worry about an EML when a cam belt/chain breaks - there will be enough loud clanking, crashing and snapping noises followed by a juddering emergency stop to warn you something is wrong without looking for a pretty light on a dashboard.

and as for "usually last 100k", well thats the same as saying the MTBF on a light bulb is 4000 hours - give or take. Some last for years some for months, its all about averages, statistics and damned lies.

Your wrong , its about the engine manufacturers recommended change time which is usually 100k miles on chains (they dont want claims made against them for new engines!) , Ive never had a belt or chain snap as Ive always changed them within the recommended period .

Excellent thread. Had a good laugh at some of the replies.

Back to the OP. My suggestion is to join a good car owners forum on the Internet. They know stacks more about older cars (at 10 years old, that is an older car). My last car had a cambelt change interval of 80k miles according to the car handbook. However that was wrong and should have been 40k or 4 years whichever came first. The belts do perish with age. I have owned two vehicles that had cam belt failures and both were fine with just a new belt. However more modern vehicles have much closer tolerances on engine components and you are likely to damage a few valves. Lot of labour to take the head(s) off and fix.

Now your EML issues etc will be well known to the members of the forum who all have similar aged cars. Dealers often know diddly squat about older vehicles and just plug in diagnostics and then start changing items(at your expense) until the problem goes away. Even if you are not at all technical minded or practical at least armed with a 99% sure idea of the problem you can then go to a garage and say for example " How much would you charge for a new DIS pack?"

Heh heh ... sorry .... my minds all over the place at the moment

Yes. That's exactly my feelings. Try to rule a few things out..or in before dumping the car on a greedy dealer garage. Did I say greedy. I didn't mean that. I just don't want to pay for their posh windows to be cleaned by paying for unnecessary parts or wrong diagnoses.
My OH does that trawling through forums thing for his computer issues too and is likely to do that fore the car. We'll have 'local alcoholic car mechanic' look at it when he's finished doing his community service in the Ayuntamiento this morning . (Drink driving penalty...he picks them up all the time!) He's actually very good. If you can catch him early enough

This sounds more like our problem. How many different kinds of belt are there on a car? and where is the alternator belt? Would there be one on a zetec engine?

you might like to look here, includes diagram

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/s...threadid=43557

That depends.
On mine there is one belt for the alternator and power steering and another for aircon. Thats why when my alternator belt went I also lost my pwer steering, which was not fun. The battery light also came on. Had it been slipping then its possible you could have a flickering battery light. I didnt, but my power steering hadnt felt right for a week or so

oh the inexperience of youth, never had a belt snap.
when I was driving mini's etc they were the bain of my life, hence the comment about a pair of nylons, usually last long enough to get you home.

that was back in the 60's when we drove by the seat of our pants, had a feel for the engine, could hear every little tickle and cough.

none of this mamby pamby EML business, aircon was for Rollers, and we had only just come out of the time when we had to pay for a licence to listen to a car radio - so they were usually fitted for (a hole with a blanking plate) but not with. My first hazard flashers were controlled by a board I made up from a car DIY magazine diagram.

modern car drivers have it easy now - and it costs them £ooodddles

You will have a serpentine belt to run all pulleys, then the cam belt.
On the zetec you need to remove the cam cover, therefore you should replace the cam cover gasket also. Reason for this is there are (2) slots that must be parallel on the rear of each cam. You line them up and place a specific metal ruler into the cam slots. Locking the cams.

Then remove / replace belt in reverse order.
DSB.

FYI, reason why the management light comes on if the alt belt goes is because the main voltage must be min above 12.5+ , lack of charging circuit will result in the engine ecu seeing a low voltage to itself and illuminating the light. Normally, SRS / ABS also can come on at this point. Prevents many assistant systems trying to function with improper voltage.

If you are coming here long term or to live and need a car. Can i suggest you buy a LHD vehicle before you arrive (to drive here with) or look for expats leaving Spain.

New cars and second hand cars from dealers are overpriced in Spain compared to UK but there is often good bargains to be had from people leaving Spain as dealers want to sell high but buy at the ridiculous.

Just an update.
We got laughed at by 'local alcoholic mechanic' and his friend because our spark plugs were waaaay past their best. These have been replaced but there seems to be a safe mode where the engine warning light stays on, and the car won't give full power. We've disconnected the battery in the hope that it will re-set. Will check this later today. Unfortunately my recent business trip didn't yield enough to pay for the full service I know the car needs. If this tweak doesn't get us back on the road we may have to be car-less for a few more weeks :-(
Although coming all the way back to our little village from Faro took an overnight stay followed by 2x 2 and a half hour bus trips, on the plus side we did get to see the inside of lots of small towns and villages we wouldn't normally pass through, including seeing where our nearest Ford garage is. Plus we saw a few shops and businesses that we might like to visit in the future.

Doesn't matter how much of a bargain another car is, Bjime...we can't afford it right now while OH is unemployed, and won't get (or want) credit for the forseeable future. This car has to be fixed whatever the cost until we climb out of our own personal financial crisis. B'sides. The car is still young in miles for a zetec engine in a car of it's age so it's worth giving a good service to, and expecting several more years from I hope.
Thanks for all your ideas. We'll keep them all in mind if the little car doesn't rev it's way back to health this morning.

You may want to take advice on this. You say it is in Safe Mode, therefore I'm assuming the engine management system has instigated this. If you find where the ECU is, it is possible to disconnect it, and then reconnect. It re sets the Management system.

It's something I know many people have done in my car club, as have I. Take advice though, as I dont know your car

Sounds like your local mechanic is a fool and best avoided , ask Ford how much they want to clear any fault codes / diagnose on your car , it should not be much for that alone.