Thinking caps on!
 

Hello David. Just for the benefit of those who are less experienced than you are, "looking" at the belts alone will reveal very little. I have proved that. My belts were perfect after 90,000 miles and 19 years. It is the tensioner and idler pulleys which are the weak point and need the attention (but not every 6 years).
:wot:
Exactly Richard, it's ludicrous isn't it. Read on to discover how the six years period was arrived at.
:wot:
Precisely Malcolm. You are one of the few who appreciates that fact. :bowdown:
I do. It's the mileage and I've proved it (see above). :D Unfortunately a few members are determined not to listen and interestingly those happen to be club traders. Vested interest anyone? :duh:
You're absolutely right again Malcolm. I consider "use by" dates on food as a prompt only. The old fashioned method of using your eyes, sense of smell and your brains is far more reliable! And it keeps the family finances healthy too. :}

Simon

Not us, we're on your side as per my previous post - probably fine for a while longer. :D

Selling stuff people don't need just isn't cricket :)

Of great relevance to this post, is a post from Bolin, on the 9th Jan. 2020 at 21.48; entitled "Info from Gates.............."

Apparently Gates were the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) for the KV6 belts.

Apologies for explaining OEM, but worth doing, if only for a small handful of people.

Simon, please show your proof. How many samples did you test? How the control was monitored etc. What you used to determine the current characteristics of the material in each group of belts tested etc.

I dont believe you have done any of this, which is my issue with you saying these things.

I have taken my chances successfully with belts in the past, with the same 'opinion' and logic as yours (and I do concur to it!). But this is NOT proof, and you cannot recommend this as an engineer as fact.

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Hello Alan,

I already know that you take the opposite view to me on this, and indeed on many other topics. To answer your questions though:
It's freely available on this forum (April to June 2018).
I did not carry out laboratory tests. My investigation was pragmatic on my car only. My belts were 19 years old and were perfect. They could have continued in service for many more years. A handful of other club members have reported the same findings. That's sufficient proof for me that the six year rule is not technically based.

I could also issue a similar challenge to you. How many KV6 belt failures have been proven to be caused by age or faulty tensioner and/or idler pulleys?

I do not want to get involved in a lengthy and repetitive exchange with you Alan. For one thing, it's a distraction from the question posted by the author of this thread. He has now heard both sides of the argument and can make up his own mind.

Best wishes to you.

Simon

You miss the point Simon. Are you willing to underwrite everyone's engine based on your 'proof'? (Your proof proves nothing, only that you believe your belts to be serviceable - which to be honest is probably what I would have thought too, however would still have changed them since they were all off anyway)

Your advice could cause an issue for others, please just quantify things with 'my own experience' etc. That is all I am asking.

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Vested interest! Not from me, I don’t like doing kv6 belt changes, makes my back ache these days with all the bending over the engine.

The last set of KV6 belts I changed, were on an engine where the main front belt had failed, not the tensioner, not the idler, not the water pump, but the belt itself.

Note this was the original belt, and the car had covered 86,000 miles at the point of failure, and the car was thirteen years old.

The replacement of 24 damaged valves, eight valve guides, six pistons, and two liners was considerably more costly than a timely belt replacement :getmecoat:

I wouldn't undertake any sort of job like this for anyone these days, everyone appears to want everything done for free, and my time is fairly valuable to me.

I do however love the selective wilful neglect of the servicing schedules laid down by certain tightfisted members of the forum, based upon the dogged
adherence to the most stupidly moronic insistence that based upon a sample of one vehicle this person has worked on, it is safe to neglect such schedules.

Brian :duh:

I love this selective claim ...
I doubt that you even looked for the cause of that belt breakage Brian, since you have always preached that they spontaneously break at any time after six years have elapsed, irrespective of use. :rolleyes: Why would you bother? The fact is that it's highly likely that the tensioner and/or idler pulley was responsible and if not, contamination of the belt or incompetent fitting probably due to avoiding using the proper service tools should have been considered.

Simon

Factory fitted belts, no oil or coolant contamination, no runout or play nor rougnness of any bearing, and the belt looked perfect apart from the fact it was no longer in a loop ;)

I'm more fastidious than you will ever be Simon, and I can assure you one thing, having had considerably wider and varied experience than you will ever gain if you live to be a thousand years old, I would never "advise" any owner to take the risk of not doing this particular job by the book.

If you want to take risks, however calculated you may consider them to be with your own vehicle, that is one thing, however advising others that this is a wise route to take is another thin entirely.

I doubt you would advocate running around on 19 year old tyres simply as the the tread depth was in excess of 1.6mm.........but then again you probably do, I've met your type before :getmecoat:

Doing a job once over a period of weeks, does not make you either competent, nor qualified to advise others as to how the best way to proceed with unknown variables, the very same can be said about any other job carried out with a control sample of one vehicle.

I've no issue with your "servicing" regime with your own car, but merely that you without a care in the world, advise others that playing Russian Roulette is a good thing :getmecoat:


Brian :D