O/T Vauxhall/Bedford 2.3 slant four cambelt

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Hopefully someone on here will know the answer. My daughter has an old Bedford CF250 campervan with a 2.3 'slant' four Vauxhall engine. My son has an Audi TT 1.8 turbo and that just threw its cambelt in an expensive way (well within recommended life, but that's another tale) which prompted me to wonder if the slant 4 engine is a 'safe' non-clashing design like the standard Pinto. Does anybody know or am I committed to a cambelt change on an urgent basis while the frost is still on the ground? Older members may know...

Thanks in advance and also in hope  

[Matt Seabrook]

No sorry it can contact

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

No sorry it can contact

Thanks Matt. Woolly underpants on, then.  

[fatbaldbloke]

As above - I was working at Millbrook, which was then Vauxhall Motors Proving Ground when this engine was being developed, and it was definitely possible to bend the valves.  The other thing to look for, as I remember, was failing oil pickup.  The oil pump is situated high up on these engines (just under the distributor) and as soon as it starts to wear it shows by taking increasingly long times for the oil pressure light to go off, as the pump has to suck the oil a long way up from the sump.  As I recall 20-30 seconds wasn't unusual!  The good news is, it's easy to change, for the same reasons that cause the failing performance in the first place...

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Thanks FBB. The access to the engine in a CF250 is lousy. It's half under the bonnet and half in the cabin with the middle bit hard to get at from either end. But a cambelt change should be easy, I hope.

The camper was registered in 1984 with the plate TV1 and belonged to the late Bob Danvers-Walker (the voiceover of Pathe News among other things) whose heirs sold the registration and the van separately. It's in superb condition and has done only 34,000 miles - it even has the original crockery in the cabinets. His other cherished number - RAD10 - is still on one of the family's cars in Oxfordshire.