1.9tdi Cambelt Change

[richaber]

Forgive me folks for I have sinned and it has been months since my last post.

Friday I joined the cambelt hall of fame and thanks to tips from this forum it all went pretty smoothly.

I basically followed the Haynes 'remove the four bolts' Manual. Some of the instructions could be in a better order. Next time (if there is a next time) I would remove the auxiliary belt pulley early on, as soon as the belts are off. The four bolts are a t**t to remove and I would suggest buying 4 new ones before you start. One came loose with an impact driver but the other 3 had to be tapped round with hammer and cold chisel. Taking the front wheel off makes things a bit easier but do all this before you remove the engine mounting, or you have to jack the engine and car up together with two jacks... Also as soon as the front wheel is off you need to have someone stand on the foot brake to stop the whole lot turning. I changed both the auxiliary belts while I had them off and a new camshaft cover (rocker) gasket. What no-one mentions is how awkward it is to see the timing mark on the flywheel. Bl**dy Germans! bless. Ok, so it's under a rubber bung in the top of the bell housing. The 'mark' on the flywheel is a dent made by a flea with a twitch and needs an electron microscope to see it! I removed the 2" section of rubber hose that joins 2 sections of the intercooler pipework so that I could see the hole in the bell housing. I used a maglite penlite torch to see in there. I see someone on here has recommended removing the battery and coolant bottle to get a better view, maybe next time I'd do this. I did remove the plastic cowl that goes round the battery and the intercooler to manifold pipe. Taking the temp sensor out of this pipe allows it to drop down past the cooling fan. I borrowed a kit from a Ford garage and used the camshaft locking bar, 2 of my own feeler gauges and the fuel pump locking pin. Both of these could be made yourself. I have read that a suitable size long reach socket would fit in the fuel pump hole. The locking bar could be a piece of flat steel. The slot in the camshaft end is off set so it's impossible to have things the wrong way about. Both the idler and tensioner should be in the kit, don't fit the idler until the belt is on. Getting the belt on was a bit of a job, I started at the top and levered the last bit on to the crank pulley with a small screwdriver :lol: . After it's on fit the new idler and tension the tensioner. I did use the proper 2 prong tool for this but again you could knock something up. I turned the engine round again and again and again using a socket on the crankshaft to reassure myself that all was ok. BTW I did not loosen the camshaft sprocket from the camshaft as per Haynes. I assume this is to allow for slight tolerances that might mean the camshaft sprocket needs to be adjusted on the camshaft. Mine went on ok as I figured it should, being like for like. After I turned the engine over a few times I put it to TDC again and checked that the locking pin and bar just slipped in. Then, as the manual says, reassembly is simply reversal of removal...

I've never been so nervous about turning key.

When it didn't blow up I fitted new drop links and changed the oil and filter!

Sorry for the long post, hope it spurs someone else on to do it.

Rich

[seatkid]

Forgive me folks for I have sinned and it has been months since my last post.

You are forgiven my son..... for your penance, change your oil and pollen filters.

 

Good post and go in peace...... :lol:

[BadHair]

Blimey - and to think that I've just been whingeing about changing an airbox. If I owned a hat I would doff it to you!

[Smilge]

Nice one Rich ....... gonna do mine this year ...... ooohhhh s**t only 1.5K miles to go! I've got a CV boot to change as well as the drop links. Still, will have the help of one sister in laws husband to help. He works for VW so I'll be taking some piccies whilst he cracks on with it ..... :(

[michaelbradford]

I confess to not knowing much about car mechanics ....until a month ago. Have now removed head and had it rebuilt following timing belt failure. Bit job - very big for me but followed Haynes and had bags of help from my friend Chris B - big thank you to him.

 

Well the mechanics could be easier if the timing belt top cover didnt surround the engine bracket on the LHS ...must have had it on and off 15 times I guess and jacking the engine up each time!!.

Take note you do not have to remove Crankshaft bolt....the Haynes (Bible!!) book is a bit vague in places but just take the 4 bolts out on the bottom pully and it will slide off giving access to the bottom to fit the new belt.

 

BIG note when to replace

Ford quote 40000miles I hear and 30000 for heavy use but a database for most of the car spares suppliers quotes 60000

I have heard of an internal letter VW/Audi to replace at 20000!!!!

 

An issue here is of 'Fit for Purpose' If I get replies I will in 2 months make a formal complain to Ford VW about the design life of the belt and likely usage. It seems to me that as it is now so low, the replacement time recommended, and they must have the stats on this, that there should be some notification of an effective nature to owners. Possibly recompence of some sort too - perhaps the belt and tensioner at cost?

 

This is also such an imbalance in the recommended times of replacement that failures must occur which, with the correct advice, could have been avoided. This extends to 'Duty of Care" where failures ....car at 70 mph on motorway.... that some level of accidents will occur as a result of the withholding of this information. This is significant risk and so a notification to the Vehicle Inspectorate is necessary. I will again do this soon.

 

email to projectzinternational@gmail.com

 

if you send details of failures please give ..............milages for the timing belt + when it happened + cost to you + dealer if you used one

 

thanks for all your help reading the links gave me bags of assistance