My sisters r-reg 1.5 323f has gone into the local garage to have the cam belt changed, the garage phoned to say that the kit didn't come with a jockey wheel and that it is v important that this is replaced cos the belt manufactures wont give any guarantee if it is not done. The part itself is £90. I have not heard of this b4 on other cars that we have had done. Has any 1 had the belt changed and been told about this, or know anything about it. Thanks

i've booked mine in for tuesday next week for new belts and the garage owner is a friend of mine, and said only the belts needed changing, i think the jockey wheel is what the belt goes onto, but unsure.

i think the jockey wheel is also called a pulley? i'm booked in for a cambelt change and gonna have the belt, tensioners and pulley replaced all that comes in the kit i'm comming up to 100,000 miles

The jockey wheel, is rightly so called, because it rides on the "back" of the belt, that is to say, the opposite to the ribbed or toothed side of the belt.
It is adjustable on its bracket in order to set the belt to the correct running tension, ie not too slack to cause slipping (screeching) for example on an alternator belt , ( my xedos V6 has a jockey on the alt` belt as well as the cambelt ) and not too tight to "run" the bearings on itself, and the other pulleys it serves.
I would say changeing the jockey is probably a good idea, but not absolutely vital.
At the worst poss scenario if you don`t change it, and its bearing is worn, it could seize, strip the cambelt, and hey your on Shanks`s pony for a while, but using the same argument you could make a case for replacing the bearings on all the pulleys it runs ie both camshaft bearings, but that is well over the top.
If you want to save some dosh and there is no perceiveable play on the wheel and its bearing is nice and quiet, leave it on, these little bearings can run on forever.
Hope that helps.

A word of warning - I had to replace the cam-belt on a friend's VW 1.6 Golf the other day. The "jockey wheel" (I call it the cam-belt tensioner ...) had seized and naturally enough the belt snapped soon after. Luckily the valves were OK, so a new cambelt and a new tensioner got her back on the road. I don't think the 323F valves would be so lucky ...

Unfortunately, the Golf's speedo hasn't been working for some time, so I've got no idea what the car's mileage was !

nahh I drove mine over 50 miles with a bust tensioner and it didnt do it any harm ... by the way only because I had to lol ... even Mazda garage said it should be ok but dont take my word for it lol ...

Thanks for all the info. Just wanted to make sure that it needed doing and wasn't a waste of £90.

Its the Belt tensioner and should be changed at the same time... will save trouble in the future mate

I'd just ask the garage to check the cambelt tensioner and idler when the belt is off and only change them if there is any roughness or exessive play in the bearings

jus taken mine into a garage today. told me £90 and 4 hours. just called and said the part needs changing, as the bearings are shot. £200 any anything up2 three days. going on holiday on saturday. not happy.

[quote="Hull_BA"]jus taken mine into a garage today. told me £90 and 4 hours. just called and said the part needs changing, as the bearings are shot. £200 any anything up2 three days. going on holiday on saturday. not happy.[/quote]

Funny, but they all seem to say that don't they?

Strange - I've done the cambelt on my 1.8 at home in the driveway - took me about 4 hours ! If I'd needed to replace the cam tensioner, I reckon it would have taken me at least 10 minutes longer ....

Strange that it takes these chaps an extra couple of days .....

i was gonna do my own, but bottled it. this is the first time i've ever used a garage probably the last. til next time anyway lol
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