Cambelt for 2004 Jap Import

alisam · Post by **alisam** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 6:38 pm

Hi

I am in the process (nearly there) of buying a 2004 automatic MX-5 and have just had the AA Pre-Purchase Inspection done. The car came out Grade 1 so I will definately proceed with the purchase.

What I am concerned about is the replacement of the cambelt as the car is a 2004, travelled 69,400 km and is a Japanese import (with everything in Japanese).

Does anyone know how much I should budget for the replacement to be made and should I go to a main Mazda dealer. I live in West Auckland but can easily get to the North Shore or City.

Naturally I can ring round but I wondered what experiences other owners had.

poison · Post by **poison** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:43 pm

Hi Alisam

First of all buy it!!! You'll never regret buying an MX5. I thought cam belts were good for 100K?? Not sure though, did mine and it cost over $600 but that was with a water pump and a few other bits, but with your k's there may be a few less parts, The water pump (not Genuine Mazda ) was $120 and it sits behind the cam belt so a good idea to do at the same time. I think $500 is about normal. Not a small job, if you are buying off a dealer do him a deal, you may save half.

Good luck. And no one would quote on it. Average suggested time seemed to be 3 1/2 hours just for the belt, add a few others bits 1hr, then parts $100+, then pump $120 so you are easily back above $500, maybe others did better.

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:27 pm

alisam wrote:Hi

I am in the process (nearly there) of buying a 2004 automatic MX-5 and have just had the AA Pre-Purchase Inspection done. The car came out Grade 1 so I will definately proceed with the purchase.

What I am concerned about is the replacement of the cambelt as the car is a 2004, travelled 69,400 km and is a Japanese import (with everything in Japanese).

Does anyone know how much I should budget for the replacement to be made and should I go to a main Mazda dealer. I live in West Auckland but can easily get to the North Shore or City.

Naturally I can ring round but I wondered what experiences other owners had.

Without wishing to offend, do you have a particular requirement which necessitates buying an automatic ? The MX5 manual gearbox has been a shining feature of the car since 1989........and is seen by most enthusiasts as a 'must have' - a factor to be taken into account further down the line.

Growler · Post by **Growler** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:54 pm

They recommend changing the belt every 100k as an average.
I know of belts that have been fine after 130k and belts that have broken after 75k.
I would say average price would be $500 - $600 at most garages. You could take it to Mazda and pay an arm and a leg on top of that!
You could change the water pump as a mater of course but it wouldn't have done much work over 65k (Unless they have over tightened the fan belts!) Again you could change the two idler bearings...more for preventative maintenance - but again 65k is nothing for them.
You don't need to use the genuine Mazda cam belt either. I have used a Gates one with no issues at all. (Most of the OEM Mazda stuff is from suppliers like Gates etc anyway. Gates cambelts - $29.00. Mazda $120something).
You could change it yourself and save some dollars. Or as posted above you could haggle with the dealer about getting the cambelt replaced as part of the deal.

alisam · Post by **alisam** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 6:52 am

Ian wrote:
Without wishing to offend, do you have a particular requirement which necessitates buying an automatic ? The MX5 manual gearbox has been a shining feature of the car since 1989........and is seen by most enthusiasts as a 'must have' - a factor to be taken into account further down the line.

A valid observation and no doubt the reason why there are very few automatics in the whole of the North Island. However, the car is primarily for my wife and there is no way she is going to have a manual, full stop.

cheeseontoast · Post by **cheeseontoast** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 1:57 pm

Alisam, how about as the cambelt is non interference (ie: it won't damage anything if it breaks) that you leave it until 100k and spend your $500 on a weekend away enjoying your car. I have never heard of an MX5 cambelt letting go early, in fact I've read a thread asking how long people have left their cambelt unchanged for and many had gone beyond 200,000 kms and none of them had ever let go.

MX5PWR · Post by **MX5PWR** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 7:00 pm

Hi Alisam, great choice to purchase an MX5 for the wife, you will never regret it.

I had a 1990 that I spent months saying “Must do the cambelt” and when it went while driving on the Auckland motorway (had done 130km) I said a little more than DAMN. The $150 it cost to get transported home would have gone a long way to paying the cost of having the belt done. I would recommend around 90km to get it done. Around $500 for cambelt, tension rollers and cam cover seal should do it.

Take a Saturday drive to Hamilton and get Dr Don at Autoway services to do it for you. He is a club sponsor and knows more about MX5’s than most of the local garages put together and will get the right parts at the right price for you.

MX5PWR

alisam · Post by **alisam** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:08 pm

I made a stupid error in that I said it was a 2004 when it is in fact a 2002.

Nevertheless, I have done a deal with the garage that is selling the car and we are going halves. I wont post what I am going to pay for changing the cambelt until it is done and the sale goes goes through (which should be by the end of the week).

Growler · Post by **Growler** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:36 am

cheeseontoast wrote:Alisam, how about as the cambelt is non interference (ie: it won't damage anything if it breaks) that you leave it until 100k and spend your $500 on a weekend away enjoying your car. I have never heard of an MX5 cambelt letting go early, in fact I've read a thread asking how long people have left their cambelt unchanged for and many had gone beyond 200,000 kms and none of them had ever let go.

Umm...preventative maintenance comes to mind...
And it was a previous club member who had the cam belt go well under 100k.

Post by **zorruno** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:09 pm

on 18/08/2008 6:38 p.m. alisam wrote:

What I am concerned about is the replacement of the cambelt as the car
is a 2004, travelled 69,400 km and is a Japanese import (with everything
in Japanese).

Don't be scared that if you cam belt breaks there will be problems.

The MX5 (NA, NB - assume NC) have non-interference engines - valves will
not hit the pistons if the belt breaks.

The worst that can happen is that if the cam belt breaks, you car will
stop and need pushing to the side of the road.

So, if you wait until 100kms to change the belt you'll be fine. if it
breaks beforehand - call the AA and get it to a garage to get the cam
belt replaced. A bummer if you are in the middle of a nice driving
holiday, but no big deal & money saved.

Cheers

alisam · Post by **alisam** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:24 pm

The total cost to replace the Cambelt was $260.80 and I paid half.