Translation English to French please

[mogs]

for cam belt?

thank you

[Gardengirl]

I've heard it called a Courroie de distribution

Useful link for car parts, not always accurate.................:

http://www.the-burgund.com/trad_cadre.htm

[Judith]

Yes, courroie de distribution - or timing chain ... though cars don't have chains these days, they have the same thing as a belt I think I am not at all all knowledgable about the mechanics of a car engine, but when advised by the garage to have it done within the year, I chatted to brother-in-law, who explained that if it goes it can mean a new engine, so change it sooner rather than later.  I did.  If you have been recommended to change it do - hubby didn't, nor did he know anything about it, like me, and so was car-less for some time, when it went and did the engine in one day in the summer. 

[mint]

Agree totally with Judith on this one.

[alittlebitfrench]

Call me Mr Picky but a 'timing chain' is called a 'chaine de distribution'. It is a 'chain'. made from metal.

A 'courroie de distribution' is a belt 'BELT' made out of rubber.

As said, it depends on the car of what type of 'thingy' it has.

[Hereford]

We had a new one fitted a few years ago and it was called (on the invoice) a "kit de distribution"  ...

[dave21478]

courroie de distribution - timing belt.

kit de distribution - timing kit, comprising of timing belt, idler pulleys and usually the tensioner.

Its recommended to change the whole kit as if one of the pulley bearings or tensioner fails, its just as catastrophic as the belt snapping. Having said that, its very common for me to remove old original metal parts and fit replacements from the new kit that are plastic and have poor machining tolerances and low quality bearings. Thats "progress" for you.

If its driven by the timing belt, you might also need/want the water pump changed at the same time..... Pompe a eau.

[richard51]

albf is absolutely right to question if it is a "timing belt" or "timing chain". Gardengirls link gives the appropriate translations (268 or 272).

This link gives some idea about costs of timing belts for hatchbacks. Note that timing chains do not usually need replacing.

http://www.micksgarage.com/blog/average-running-costs-of-top-10-family-hatchbacks/

NB it is an Irish blog

[Chancer]

[quote user="dave21478"]Its recommended to change the whole kit as if one of the pulley bearings or tensioner fails, its just as catastrophic as the belt snapping. Having said that, its very common for me to remove old original metal parts and fit replacements from the new kit that are plastic and have poor machining tolerances and low quality bearings. Thats "progress" for you. If its driven by the timing belt, you might also need/want the water pump changed at the same time..... Pompe a eau.[/quote]

 

At 250K miles my vehicle was due for its 3rd cam belt change, my pal the previous owner had been relieved of a lot of money for the previous changes but i had my doubts as lots of work he was invoiced for had not been carried out, on dismantling I found the original belt, tensioner pulleys etc, the belt was showing signs of wear but I took the view that nothing I could buy kit wise even from a VW dealer would have the same quality as that fitted originally, if they had done that many miles they would probably do a few more so I changed just the belt at £8

 

Vehicle has done 320K miles now, I keep an ear open for any bearing noises and for water pump leaks, every couple of years I look at the belt condition, I dont expect to renew it again for at least another 6 years.

[minnie]

Hope that you get the courroire de distribution sorted relatively easily.

[mogs]

Thanks to all.

The car is around 21 years old, a diesel Skoda Fabia and for its age still just keeps going on and on. It's just passed the CT. It does many miles each year, but is good on fuel consumption. So we think it is still worth having jobs done.

We've decided to go with a UK mechanic as the price quoted here - 500 euros - is more than half the cost in the UK and that is allowing for the exchange rate.