Yep, I understand fully the point you are making Ben and I agree which is why timing belt services are not black and white... More like one massive grey area. The newer generation F4R is a far better design over the previous found in vehicles from 03-05 but I still wouldn't trust the newer units over 6 years without any form of inspection or maintenance which is why we say 5yrs still.
We've just had an 1.4 16v '07 Clio III in for a timing belt because on its last service with us I noticed an oil leak coming from the upper timing cover. Upon further inspection/pull down the inlet camshaft seal had failed because it was incorrectly installed on a slight angle which resulted in the cam wearing the seal which in turn allowedin timing belt run becoming saturated in oil (which had caused the camshaft pulley to slip/advance). This was on a 19k vehicle to so whilst its not a perfect example it shows you cannot 100% take recommended max service intervals as gospel as some garages would've simply dismissed the oil leak and let the customer carry on until the timing slipped again and bent valves.
Mick
We've just had an 1.4 16v '07 Clio III in for a timing belt because on its last service with us I noticed an oil leak coming from the upper timing cover. Upon further inspection/pull down the inlet camshaft seal had failed because it was incorrectly installed on a slight angle which resulted in the cam wearing the seal which in turn allowedin timing belt run becoming saturated in oil (which had caused the camshaft pulley to slip/advance). This was on a 19k vehicle to so whilst its not a perfect example it shows you cannot 100% take recommended max service intervals as gospel as some garages would've simply dismissed the oil leak and let the customer carry on until the timing slipped again and bent valves.
Mick
