wonkey eyed barmaid Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 hi, my friend has just had the timing belt go on his 1999 golf gti [20v T]. motorway speed + lots of valves = big bill. the car is high mileage [110k] but has always been serviced. he is almost convinced that the timing belt was not changed at 80k like it should have been - even though he was charged for it by servicing dealer we want to cross ref the reference numbers on the broken belt, and see if we can find something relating to date of manufacture, or something that would give us a strong case that the belt was old... any help appreciated. thanks. Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YellowSeven Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 Try posting your question here http://www.uk-mkivs.net/forum/default.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 And if it was changed then surely it was a damaged or otherwise defective belt... Edited by - Mike Bees on 8 Feb 2005 15:47:52 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Normans_Ghost Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 Grant, I've spoken to the parts manager of a VW dealer and he says, as far as he knows, there is no difference between the factory belt and the genuine VW part. Having thought about this i suspect the belt has been changed on it's 80k service but either not tensioned correctly or the tensioner has come loose and the belt has stripped. Norman Verona, 1989 BDR 220bhp, Mem No 2166, the full story here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bare Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 Same thing happened recently to my Son's Friend.. except his was the V6 variant..poor kid got to eat the Repair bill. Myth of German engineering died with the Last V2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonkey eyed barmaid Posted February 8, 2005 Author Share Posted February 8, 2005 oz7, my friend is already a member there. thanks though. mike bees, exactly..... norman, thank you. apparently its not normal procedure to change or check the tensioner when the belt is done at 80k. at least this is what my friend is being told. [crap?] the car is being taken care of at a local sportscar specialist, who will likely carry out the repairs, or fit a transplant engine. not sure where the servicing info is coming from. norman, can your VW friend tell us if there are any reference numbers on the belt which could be correlated against date of manufacture info... we would like to know if the belt was made recently, or before his car was registered. give us something to go on concerning the 80k service... thanks *thumbup* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 It may well not be written in the schedule to check the tensioner at 80k. On the Alfa 155 they never mentioned it and I saw one that had run a tensioner and subsequently snapped a belt with an £1100 bill. The specialist I used replaced the belt every 35k (scheduled 70k) and checked the bearing each time and replaced every 70k. They only cost about £75 even from Alfa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Normans_Ghost Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 I would'nt risk a cam belt for 80k miles. I wasn't suggesting changing the tensioner bearing. My experience is that most people overtighten things on cars. This applies to fan and cam belts. I know the VW tech is supposed to use the tension tool but did he? Or did he just tighten the tensioner - till the belt was tight. I used to change the belt on my BDR every 4k but Roger (King) says that 6k will do (every other oil change) as I'm not racing. I've got two trackdays next month so will change oil and filter after each and will change cam belt (fitted over christmas) before going to Le Mans. I only mention this to show that in the scheme of things oil, filters and cam belts are very cheap compared to replacement engines. Boss, You'd think that a technician changing a cam belt would notice if tensioner bearing was in need of replacing. If I was the service manager I would advise the customer to have a new tensioner bearing as a matter of course. I would also recommend private users to have the belt changed before 80k. That way the dealer makes more money and the customer is protected. If the customer refuses the dealer can't be blamed. I'm always hearing about dealers who have failed to change a cam belt having bto foot the bill for repairs after it has snapped. It's usualy the dealer that complains he hasn't enough work. Norman Verona, 1989 BDR 220bhp, Mem No 2166, the full story here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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