Re: Consider buying American!

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
> In article <TtudnWvzutZBpivanZ2dnUVZ_uGknZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
>    jim beam <spamvortex@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
>>> In article <g7qdnQ0v9ZOgsSvanZ2dnUVZ_sWdnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
>>>    jim beam <spamvortex@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>>> advantages of belts include much better timing precision and quieter
>>>> operation.  the only disadvantage is not allowing for idiots that
>>>> can't look at their mileage every 7 years.
>>> Strange the way then that most makers are going back to chains.
>>> Despite them costing far more - the main reason for belts in the first
>>> place. Cost cutting.
>>>
> 
>> no, belts offer the advantages cited before.  and it's a big deal that 
>> belts don't stretch allowing timing to drift.
> 
> They don't stretch but just break or jump a tooth instead. Result -
> wrecked engine. BTW, 'timing drift' due to chain stretch is
insignificant.
> If it were, two sided tensioning would be easy to implement.
> 
>>  there's no real cost difference between the two.
> 
> Really? Then how come they first appeared on cheap cars? 
> 
>> the only reason manufacturers are going back to chain is because
there's 
>> a certain select bunch of whiners that bleat about the expense of doing

>> belt changes.  every 100k+ miles. 
> 
> There are *very* few belts that have a service life anywhere near this.

not true any more.  most cars don't specify belt change as a service 
item, but they do as part of the 100k mile "tuneup".

but you're right in that a lot of aftermarket belts are 60k.


> And fewer that would risk leaving it that long even where the maker
> claimed it did.

like people that change their oil every 3k miles?


> 
>> and from a bean counter's viewpoint, 
>> it's much better to have a motor go 150k on a chain, then become a 
>> sluggish noisy p.o.s., than have a honda motor go 300k or 400k on 
>> replaceable belts with no noticeable degradation.
> 
> The bean counters are more likely to cream themselves over the lovely
> maintenance costs associated with belts. 

paradoxically, no.  that motor will be maintained and kept running 
almost indefinitely because it's "just a service item".  chains otoh are 
"engine rebuild" and most consumers throw in the towel at that point and 
buy a new vehicle - just what a bean counter wants.


> 
> True they have some advantages but not for road going engines.
>