Hey all,

Had a quick browe through the forums and that but cant seem to find a guide that is specific to my needs.

Picked up my 1.5 GLx about a month ago - 114500 miles on the clock but the service around about 108000 didnt give a conclusive "yes" that the cambelt had been changed.

There was a list of parts over to the right hand side of the invoice such as brake pads and everything, and a high labour charge, but the only mention of a cambelt was on the left of the invoice, just written by itself, so inconclusive.

Got a £130 price including VAT from the local mazda dealerships for a cambelt change but my girlfriends dad used to be a mechanic and he said we could take a look at it. Problem is, I cant find any guides that may actually help with the change or to identify if it needs one.

How much would a cambelt cost if I picked one up and tried to fit it myself? And has anybody CHANGED the cambelt of a 1.5 themselves and can tell me hw its done?

Whilst Im at it, would you recommend a full oil change at this point, and how do I replace the oil filter as I take it that I might as well do it when I'm having a go?

Cheers,
John

Hey yeah I'd do the oil aswell. Take the left wheel off and you'll get to the oil filter easy enough. As for the belt I aint sure mate

Odd - I usually get at the oil filter through the right wheel arch. (That's 'right' when facing forwards ...)

I was just going to say about the right and left things as well lol!

So is the access through the drivers side wheel then?

How much for the Castrol Oil that everyone seems to use on here then?

its about £8 a litre I think.

Castrol Magnetec - about £15-£20 for 4 litres.

[color=red][b]Mark[/b][/color]

Trip to halfords coming on then lol

Cambelt anyone?

Castrol RS: 1 Litre = FREE from Mark!! Thanks mate!!

Sorry another blond day its the right wheel mate!

I suppose you could do the filter through the left wheel, if you have really long double jointed arms ???

Well done to those who passed my test. I was checking to see if you people were awake enough to realise that I had intentionally put the wrong side down. lol (feeling embarrassed!)

[quote="Smotter"]I suppose you could do the filter through the left wheel, if you have really long double jointed arms ???[/quote]

Like Mr Tickle

Lol, you lot are mad!

So we've got it down to it beign the right wheel then, but is that from looking at the car from the front (passenger side) or looking from the front seat out (driver side) lol!

Depends whether your 323F is left-hand or right-hand drive ...

In order to remove any further doubt, try the wheel nearest the cam belt, unless of course you have a cam chain, in which case it will be the wheel nearest the cam chain.

unless you have arms like Mr Tickle, and then it doesnt matter what wheel you take off!

But it might be best if it's a front one (thoses are the ones in front of you as you sit in a seat (any seat within the car you're working on)).

I love being helpful




[b][color=red]Mark[/color][/b]

But not the steering wheel

Good Point!

Lol cheers for that mark :P

Ok, moving onto the cam belt change then....anyone?

Hang on there - if you made a suitable inspection hole in the firewall - that might work ???

Cam belt change not sure about but as for the oil filter, why bother taking the wheel off when you can just stick it on some axle stands and get under it, then its a piece of p*ss to change, plus you'll be near the sump plug to drain it?! Let me know if I'm being stupid and taking the wheel off is easier?

As you have no doubt noticed, it appears that people are very non-commital regarding the cam-belt. It is quite a big job, and I'd recommend you track down an appropriate owner's manual and see what needs to be done, 'cause it's quite an involved job.

Then you can decide whether you can do it yourself or take it to a garage. Don't forget - you can do anything a garage can do, provided you have the necessary tools, instructions and knowledge. (for the larger jobs, a bit of courage is also required !)

Also its good to get the CAM belt changed by a garage, because then you get the stamp in the service book and a little note saying that the cambelt was changed.... Which is one of the major things that people look for when buying old cars...

Good advice all round.

The girlfriends dad is a mechanic and reckons it'll only take him 2hours once he gets hold of the correct timing info he needs, so fingers crossed with that one.

The cambelt situation is pretty weird - as I say Im not sure if it has been chanegd with the previous 111,000 service it's had. The previous owner didnt know and he rang the garage to verify - they said the invoice would indicate it has, but because it was 2 years ago, they cant check it. Due to the inconclusiveness of it all i reckon it'd be better to change it, and as her dad volunteered, thought I might as well whilst the offer stands.

He's got the axl stands so chances are we'll go down that route just for easier access to the sump valve.

Cheers for the advice all!

Another wee snippet of advice - inspect the water pump & oil pump while you've got the cam belt off. My water pump went at +- 150 000 km's (nearly 100 000 miles) and they replaced the cam belt while they were doing the job, 'cause it had to come off anyway.

Right, all done.

Had an all day session yesterday and replaced the cam belt, air filter, oil filter, spark plugs, oil and reg plates and inspected the water and oil pumps.

Altogether it was a 5 hour job (including a couple of breaks).

With regards to the cam belt, the haynes manual i got was pretty useful, but forgot to mention that as well as having to remove the fan and pas belts to get to the cam belt, we'd also have to remove the engine mount (and therefore the pas amongst other things) to actually get the cam belt off and the new one on - good job there were axl stands to hand to stop the engine falling through the bottom of the car lol!