Picked up a new cam belt for the Mi today.

Non genuine (Federal Mogul) & less than 1/2 the price of OEM.

Safe to use, or stick to the OEM Dayco?

I'm sure they're all made to a set standard. And so should be near the same as an OE part.


Damien

Safe to use

i use Gates.

Thanks guys, I'll go ahead & use it then.

has anyone done a cambelt change on the mi, i've heard its a right pig to do and the garage want to charge about £250?

I'm doing mine in the next week or two, as the water pump is shot. It's a bit of a job; you have to remove the RH wheel, wheelarch liner, RH engine mount, jack (or crane) the RH end of the engine up, remove the belt cover, stick special pins in the pulleys to keep them aligned, de-tension the belt, etc. etc. Then you have to make sure the tensioners are OK or replce them, and check the crank and cam seals for leaks.

Don't do what I did and risk the water pump being OK. It's done about 4,000km/1 year since the belt was replaced, and now the pump's gone. Bugger.

As for belts, materials have improved a lot - look for those made from highly satutated nitriles which stand high temperatures better. NOS belts such as those you might get on eBay will usually be inferior materials simply because of the advances in temperature rating over recent years.

Stuey