Ford Courier: WL / WL-T 2.5 timing belt also drives the injection pump - a snapped belt wrecks the head

The 2.5 litre WL and WL-T diesel is a rubber-belt engine, and that one belt turns both the camshaft and the mechanical injection pump. Ford's change interval is around 120,000 km, but every Courier on the road is now twenty years old or more, so the belt is almost always past its age limit regardless of how few kilometres it has done - rubber perishes on a calendar, not an odometer. When it lets go the valves stop moving while the pistons keep going: documented Courier failures have needed a new camshaft, bent valves replaced and a complete head fitted. There is no warning noise before it breaks, so the only protection is paperwork proving when it was last done. Treat a Courier with no belt receipt as one that needs a belt, water pump and tensioner before you drive it anywhere.

• No symptoms at all until the belt breaks - the engine simply stops and will not restart
• Engine cranks over unusually fast and freely after the failure, with no compression
• Rattle or squeal from the front of the engine as the tensioner bearing wears
• Fine black rubber dust around the edges of the timing cover

1. 1

   Ask the seller straight out when the timing belt was last changed and ask to see the invoice - a date and a kilometre reading on a workshop receipt is the only real evidence, and it is normal for the water pump and tensioner to be listed on the same bill.

2. 2

   Look for a service sticker on the underside of the bonnet or inside the door frame with a belt date on it, and photograph it.

3. 3

   Check the odometer reading against the date on any belt invoice to work out how far it has run since.

4. 4

   Look at the black plastic timing cover on the front of the engine for fresh clean fasteners or scuff marks, which suggest recent work, and for fine black rubber dust around its edges, which suggests an old belt shedding.

5. 5

   With the bonnet up and the engine idling, listen at the front of the engine for a squeal or a dry rattle from the tensioner bearing.

6. 6

   If the owner cannot produce a receipt, treat the belt as due and price the job into your offer.

7. 7

   If a workshop inspection is possible: have a diesel specialist inspect the belt condition and tension behind the timing cover.

Parts involved: High-pressure fuel pump, Timing belt.

$700 to $5,500 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. That is for this job on its own, not for the car.

An estimate, in NZD, for the repair as normally carried out. What a specific car costs depends on which part has failed and what it damaged on the way — treat this as the floor for a negotiation, not a quote.

• “When was the timing belt last changed, and do you have the invoice?”
• “Was the water pump and tensioner done at the same time?”
• “What was the odometer reading when the belt was done?”
• “Has this engine ever had a belt let go?”

The failure described above is documented in the sources below. The inspection instructions and the cost estimate are KickTyres’ own interpretation of them.

• CarsGuide Q&A 'Timing belt for Ford Courier' - recommended change interval every 120,000 km on the turbo-diesel Courier
• Biofuels Forum thread 'Mazda Bravo / Ford Courier 2.5 Turbodiesel Tips n Tricks' - documented case of a snapped belt requiring a complete new head with a broken camshaft
• Allied Auto Online / Endurotec (AU) timing belt kit listings for Ford Courier PD/PE/PG/PH and Mazda B2500 WL, WLAT 2.5L