When the car mechanic said ‘it’s your wet belt, mate’ and slowly shook his head I thought he was having a laugh.

Sadly, he was being deadly serious and I became the latest person to discover there’s nothing remotely funny about your wet belt despite its slightly silly-sounding name.

I’d never heard of it before but a wet belt is your timing belt – some would call it a cambelt – which synchronises the top and bottom of the engine.

Traditionally, timing belts are just that, dry belts, but wet belts are timing belts that run in oil. The theory is this keeps the belt cool, reduces noise and helps emissions targets.

The reality for many though is that the oil can quickly make them degrade with bits flaking off, getting stuck in the engine and causing major and extremely costly damage running into several thousands of pounds.

And that’s why the mechanic shook his head and dropped the bombshell I’d need to take my Citroen Spacetourer seven-seater to the main Citroen dealer to be repaired as it needed specialist tools and skills to take it all to pieces and replace it.

So I did what most frustrated drivers would do in this situation and took Google for a test spin to see what information it could reveal about wet belts.

It seems the problem is widespread and well-known throughout the car industry, but I began to feel it’s all been kept as quiet as possible with very little from the manufacturers themselves about the issue on the internet.

Turned out Citroen knew of a problem with wet belts and some of their models a while back to the point it actually recalled thousands of cars.

Our car had done 35,000 miles and we’d had it from new for five years … and had a couple of other Citroen cars on the motability scheme before that too, so we’d been loyal customers for around 12 years which ended up counting for nothing.

We’d had motability cars as our son, George, had complex physical and mental disabilities and we’d had this Spacetourer since January 2019.

Very sadly George died suddenly in July 2021 and we made the decision to buy the car in August 2021 from Motability as we’d always known it as George’s car and it has immense sentimental significance for us.

According to the service schedule the timing kit would need replacing after 128,000 miles or 12 years yet, after a costly inspection of the engine by the Citroen dealership – the diagnostics alone were a whopping £387 - I was told I needed a new kit. By my reckoning that was 93,000 miles and six years too early.

More research showed Citroen has a track record of wet belt woes so would they help us out by paying for the repair, especially as the Citroen slogan from its customer care department  promises “We Care About You.”

They insisted right from the start that the service history had to be exactly done to its recommended schedule or there was no way they would help at all. If it was all in place they would help even though the car was out of warranty, surely an admission there is something wrong with these wet belts.

As it was, all was in order except one service which had been done a few months late. The schedule said 16,000 miles or 12 months whichever comes first but although the service was over time, the car had only done 11,000 miles inbetween services.

Are wet belts so fragile that if the oil is in for a few months longer they degrade? How many people miss a service or delay one, perhaps due to the cost in these times of financial crisis. It makes you wonder why anyone would risk buying a secondhand Citroen as the wet belt could go at any time and if the service schedule isn’t spot on then no help is coming your way.

So Citroen refused pointblank to help with the cost – I’d even have accepted a contribution – so I was left to pick up the £1,600 repair bill myself which caused not insignificant financial hardship.

It could have been worse. If the flaking bits had gone into the engine the damage would have been catastrophic to the point of needing a new engine which would have cost thousands of pounds. If that had been the case the car may not have been worth replacing and we would have lost everything.

In 2015 Citroen recalled 21,226 of its C4 Cactus models because “the brake vacuum pump may be affected by material detaching from the timing belt.”

In May 2023 Citroen recalled some of its 2017-2020 C3 Aircross, C3 and C4 Cactus models due to an issue with the timing belt degrading, saying in its recall notice: “The timing belt may degrade due to aged engine oil. If left unrepaired it may result in a reduction or a loss of braking performance.

“A reduction or loss in braking performance could increase the risk of an accident, causing injury or death to vehicle occupants and/or other road users.”

Worrying words and that’s the other main concern about all of this … road safety. The first we knew there was a problem was when the oil pressure warning light came on red saying Oil Pressure Low – STOP on the dashboard and the car immediately lost all power as it lurched into safe mode. When we turned the engine off and on again at first it seemed to clear the issue and the warning light went out … until the next time.

What if this happened on a motorway at high speed and the car suddenly lost all power? The fear is it could cause a serious accident.

Other manufacturers also use wet belts so I’d suggest you find out if a car you’re thinking of buying has one and check out the service history and if the wet belt has been replaced. If not, I’d suggest you think very carefully about buying that vehicle.

And after all this I’m left very disillusioned with Citroen.

Perhaps Citroen’s customer care department should rethink it’s slogan “We Care About You” and drop the word don’t in there.

As a journalist I asked the Citroen press office some questions and here they are with the replies.

Q: Why were some Citroen models recalled over this issue yet others haven’t been? When they recalled some models the recall notice warned about a potential braking problem due to aged engine oil degrading the belt. Does this not potentially happen on all models and, if not, why not?

A: The recall campaigns launched in 2020 and 2022, at our initiative, were put in place to warn of a potential risk in relation to the braking assistance system. Once the campaign has been carried out, this risk no longer exists. The recall installed updated software to support the braking system. Later models did not require a recall as the software was installed in production. 

Q: How does the engine oil damage the belt if that oil has done less than 16,000 miles between oil changes?

A: The timing belt can be chemically attacked by aged and degraded oil.

Q: Why do the Citroen timing belts disintegrate … what makes them do that in the oil? What damage does it cause to the engine?

A: “Wet” timing belts feature in engines designed by a number of manufacturers. The timing belt can be chemically attacked by aged and degraded oil. Material from the belt can clog the filters in the lubrication circuit which can lead to an oil pressure problem. 

Q: Are these belts so fragile that if a service is not done quite to the specification the belt will disintegrate?

A: No manufacturer can guarantee that compliance with the maintenance plan guarantees the absence of breakdowns and this is why new vehicles are sold with a contractual guarantee. However, non-compliance with the maintenance plan is an aggravating factor.

Q: If the oil is such a vital issue – Citroen stresses it has to be changed exactly to their specifications -  then why has an urgent message not been sent out to all Citroen owners that if the oil is not changed exactly as per the specification the belt could potentially disintegrate and damage the car engine so badly not only the belt, but also the engine would need replacing?

A: All manufacturers advise servicing in line with manufacturers guidelines.

Q: When our oil pressure warning light came on the car suddenly lost a lot of power and kind of lurched forward. I fear this could cause a catastrophic incident if it happened at speed, say on a motorway. We had no warning this loss of power could happen until it actually happened to us. Can you send a warning to Citroen customers that this could potentially happen in these circumstances so they are at least aware?

A: In the event of a loss of power, this remains partial: the driver therefore retains part of the traction as well as all of the functions linked to steering, braking and signalling functions allowing you to stay safe. The ‘degraded’ mode aims to protect the engine is a standard applied in the automotive industry.

Q: If people become aware of this wet belt problem I’m wondering why anyone would buy a second-hand Citroen if they knew there was a possibility it would need the wet belt kit replacing or even a new engine in 5 years rather than the expected 12 years? By the time many cars go on the second-hand market they may not have had servicing through a main Citroen dealer.

A: In the event of an incident on the belt which occurs before the first replacement deadline recommended by the maintenance plan (6 years / 100,000 kms) the replacement of the belt is eligible for reimbursement by the manufacturer provided that the maintenance plan is respected.

Q: Are any Citroen models still manufactured today with wet belts?

A: The vehicles affected were produced from April 2014 to June 20, 2022. Citroen vehicles built after June 2022 featured a new belt in 2022 which has undergone rigorous testing which has confirmed that it is a reliable solution suitable for the GEN1 and GEN2 generations of 3-cylinder petrol engines. The new generation of 3-cylinder GEN3 gasoline engines, involving a major architectural evolution, is today equipped with a chain for the following main reasons:

- hybrid versions (MHEV)

- increase in common parts with 4-cylinder gasoline engines 

With regards to the comment “It’s come about because I have a Citroen Spacetourer which has needed a new timing belt kit at just 5 years old and 35,000 miles yet on my Citroen service schedule it says this should be replaced every 12 years or 128,000 miles” there is an important distinction between the “wet” timing belt which needs to be replaced at 64,000 miles or 6 years (whichever comes first) and the timing kit at 12 years / 128,000 miles. 

As the customer had a premature need to replace the timing belt before the first replacement deadline recommended by the maintenance plan (6 years / 100,000 kms) the replacement of the belt would have been eligible for reimbursement by the manufacturer if the maintenance plan had been respected.

When I showed them the receipt proving the entire wet belt kit had been changed as well as the cambelt itself, Citroen did confirm: “The timing belt kit was installed as a matter of good practice when repairing timing belt issues.

“We can also confirm that the cambelt is required to be replaced at 6 years/64,000 miles and the timing belt kit is to be replaced every 12 years/128,000 miles.”

So the work has been done 7 years earlier than it should be at great cost to myself.

You have been warned!