timing belt

[achim212]

Hy,

I must change my timing belt ,I do not know which, org Lotus or Gates 5206 or the blue belt

which timing belt drives you ?

[DaKa]

I was tempted by some cheaper online alternatives but believe that knowing the source and provenance of such a vital component is essential.

I used a prominent Lotus parts supplier SJS but at circa £80 for the high compression it was a bit more than expected.

I believe they supply alternatives at a fraction of the price so must presume that they have confidence in them but perhaps not their durability and stress tolerances?

[Sparky]

Gates Powergrip 5206/5146.  Perfectly capable belts fitted to plenty of Esprits.  I'm willing to bet a new 5206 has greater tolerance/durability than a 'genuine' Lotus belt.

[achim212]

Hy,

is nobody here ,how drives the blue belt on 4 cylinder esprit ?

[pete]

sparky gave you the only answer you need

[Barrykearley]

He's right ^^

[89esprit]

On 9/10/2017 at 12:08, Sparky said:

Gates Powergrip 5206/5146.  Perfectly capable belts fitted to plenty of Esprits.  I'm willing to bet a new 5206 has greater tolerance/durability than a 'genuine' Lotus belt.

I'd be willing to bet the farm that Gates makes the belt for Lotus. I put the Gates belt on both my Esprit and Elite. No problems thus far. Tensioning is the key imho.

[Sparky]

They did.

[giorgio67]

Try to ask to Gerry Kemp, he has a German brand and he says it's a lot better than OEM and cheaper.

 

Giorgio

[johnpwalsh]

I recon I would go by sparky's comments as he knows hem inside out and would get ripped to bits for wrong info. Mind you he gets ripped to bits anyway, but his avise is always first notch.

[Sparky]

Cheers John!    In over 10 years I've fitted just 2 'genuine' belts at owners' requests.  I once bought a couple of 'genuine' ones from a Lotus specialist (I won't say who) at approx £80 each and they arrived in branded packaging but they were in fact Gates 5206.  When questioned, the specialist informed me that 'genuine' belts were nil stock so they were supplying these instead at Lotus retail.  I returned them and bought identical elsewhere for less than £25 each.

My Esprits have always run on Gates 5206 belts.

[Glyn Harper]

Slightly off topic, but when my timing belt was changed after being in use for over 10 years, it was still more or less like new on the toothed side! I don't know if it was a genuine Lotus one or not, but it certainly made me feel a little more confident that they do seem to last rather well.

[Barrykearley]

Cam belts do have a habit of looking like brand new until 5 minutes before they scrap an engine though

[Sparky]

Yup, it's the inside you want to worry about.

[molemot]

I have a broken cambelt from my 82 Turbo...the trapezoidal one, granted...but it looks perfect until you get to the bit where it snapped. It broke the second week I had the car, back in 1988 before such things as information from places like this forum existed. The belt change service had been signed off in the service record; when I got into the mechanics it was obvious that the belt had never been changed and the belt tensioner bearing was totally shagged and the service record had been forged. The car had done around 45,000 miles, iirc. As Sparky says...it's the inside you have to worry about...(!)

[Glyn Harper]

Ah, that makes sense I suppose! Well I changed mine anyway a couple of years back so it should be good for a while.

[pete]

Not much longer. Thought it was very 2 years

[andydclements]

Belt service intervals aren't defined as the longest you can safely use a belt, they are the longest time that Lotus feel comfortable with. Comfort is a relative thing, if two manufacturers used the same part in the same situation, one could easily specify a shorter service interval, such as their customers have a higher expectation on reliability, their reputation cannot afford any knocks, they don't have a  big pot of money to pay for high levels of warranty claims.

Those intervals have to assume such things as:

• A (genuine, so low volume usage) belt will be quite old by the time it gets to the car. Perhaps 2 years after production
• The belts will have some variations in terms of strength, so base it on the worst likely belt to get out of the production line
• Some contaminants will get to the belt, 
• Some debris will interfere with the belt (small bits of grit etc, not big stones), so allow for that.
• Sprockets will be less than perfect, so wear the belt.
• the engine will cycle extremes of temperature quite often (they're not sold as classic cars)

So, if all factors that Lotus accounted for are met, 2 years should still be pretty much safe and free of failure (but not guaranteed- Lotus do assume some engines will become junk within the warranty period), if the belt has an easier life than Lotus accounted for,  more than 2 years can easily be achieved.