WHEN did you last have your timing belt changed? This is one of the first questions I ask when a new customer brings me a vehicle that I haven’t seen before: more often than not the answer turns out to be either “can’t remember,” or “never”.
Not all Land Rover engines have toothed rubber timing belts: the Series engines are all chain-drive, as is the Rover V8. Timing belts became popular in the 1970s. Not only are they cheaper than a chain and hydraulic tensioner, the Kevlar reinforcement in the belt prevents it from stretching; anyone familiar with the old two and a quarter diesel will know that the injection pump timing has to be gradually advanced as the engine gets older, to compensate for the timing chain stretching and throwing out the pump timing.
The Land Rover diesel engines fitted withsubstantially lower.
