stuart147 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 I have booked my 1.6 K Series Caterham in to have the cam belt changed. I know the mechanics quite well having had my car M.O.T'd with them for the last 5 years. They have given me a reasonable price for the work including changing the water pump at the same time. However, they then went on to say that if the vernier pulleys have worn then they will have to be changed as well. Obviously this sends the cost soaring. I had the pulleys fitted as part of an upgrade carried out by Dave Andrews in June 2009. The car has covered 20000 miles mainly touring and blatting since then. What is the life expectancy of these pulleys? Can I expect to have to replace them? Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vine Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 I fitted Piper alloy (red) verniers to my old 1.8K SS-R in 2004. When I next saw them in 2009, after about 22k miles, I was horrified by the amount of wear - notably very rounded teeth. They were replaced. I read somewhere that the earlier alloy pulleys were not hard anodised, and that this had contributed to the wear. So, I guess it depends how old, and what type, your pulleys are. Sounds like you need to call Oily for advice. JV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonpa Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 You can take teh top/front of the cambelt cover off by undoing 4 or 5 x 8mm bolts (not the 10mm one lower down - the cover has a slot at that point and can be pulled off). rounding of the camwheel teeth is pretty obvius, but if not, then post a decently-lit pic up for BC comment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbster Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 I just had mine replaced as a precautionary measure, a bit of rounding on the edges of the teeth. I'd be a bit surprised if the belt could actually slip but due to the cost of an engine rebuild if it ever did slip it made sense to go with the recommendation and have new ones fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilyhands Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Later pullies have hard anodised rims, these are characterised by black anodising and only three pinch bolts holding the pullies together , I' m pretty sure yours are later ones, have a quick peek under the cambelt cover. Oily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart147 Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 Thanks for the replies so far. I will get a photo posted on here tomorrow of the pulley's.I have just removed the cover and they have "only 3 pinch bolts" . Thanks oily. This could be better news. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilyhands Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Pretty certain to be the hard anodised ones, make sure you get a shot of the bare teeth so any wear can be assessed. Oily Edited by - oilyhands on 31 Jul 2014 22:13:06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vine Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 For info, my original verniers were like these, with four pinch bolts. JV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuB Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Quoting stuart147: Thanks for the replies so far. I will get a photo posted on here tomorrow of the pulley's.I have just removed the cover and they have "only 3 pinch bolts" . Thanks oily. This could be better news. Stuart Pictures of the pulleys: Picture 1 Picture 2 Stu Stuart147's IT support 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonpa Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 They look more than fine - I can't see any wear through the anodising to the metal below. When they wear they normally: o wear away the anodised colouring over a wide area o leave a noticeable 'lip' between where the tooth is rounded and where the belt doesn't touch the tooth (as the wheel is slightly wider than the belt). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 It would help if you took a picture of the teeth other than from the front. I'd link to pictures of my worn ones (these were from the original batch of three-leg pulleys in around 2004) - but my site has had a few pages defaced and I need to reload it. Anyway, my belts were not covered and I did a lot of touring in dusty/gritty conditions. You could feel/see a small lip at the front of the teeth (my belt stopped a mm or two short of the front edge) and the teeth under the belt were silver and slightly rounded. Upshot was that my belt eventually slipped and this and/or the two attempts to bump-start it before we spotted the problem broke all my valves. ☹️ Good news is that while waiting for the engine to be fixed, I bought my Westie BEC and met my partner 😬 My belts are still uncovered, but the Caterham only does a few commuting miles at the moment, so doesn't overly concern me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vine Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 IMHO, those teeth don't appear to be worn at all. Looking along the length of the teeth in your second pic, I can't detect any deterioration, and each peak and valley looks perfect. The teeth of the belt sit squarely, and the width appears to match the pulley exactly. No doubt Oily will give the definitive diagnosis shortly. (I note that your MOT chap said "if the verniers are worn...") JV Edited by - John Vine on 1 Aug 2014 16:32:06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilyhands Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 They are fine... Oily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart147 Posted August 1, 2014 Author Share Posted August 1, 2014 Looking at the responses, the general opinion is that they are still very serviceable. This is good news and certainly what I wanted to hear. Thanks Dave. Your memory serves you well !!! Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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