VW Touran Cambelt

[Charlie Woody]

I got a very nice card (not a Christmas Card) from Mann Egerton today informing me that the cambelt in my Touran was due for replacement - only £349! Current mileage 48k

The car is due for service and MOT next month and there 2 services & 2 MOT's deal is £349. I had checked this with other places - franchised and locals - and is a good deal at least £60 cheaper than anywhere else.

However due to the time of year I don't fancy spending another £349, so wondering if I could damage the car by putting off the cambelt change for 3 or 4 months?

Is there anybody in the trade who can advise me please?

 

[Noel]

1.9 / 2.0 Tdi? Assuming diesel engined you should be ok until 60k. Petrol? No idea.

 

[Karl]

We've got the petrol model, and it has a chain instead of a belt. 90k and still going strong.

 

[Charlie Woody]

Diesel 1.9 tdi Noel. Does that mean I can postpone till 60k without risk of doing any damage?

If so why are Mann Egerton sending me reminders - they have serviced the car since I purchased it when it was 6 months old, so they should know what mileage I am doing.

 

[Karl]

I'd phone them up and ask them what the recommended intervals are. X miles or Y years, whichever comes first.

Cheers

Karl

 

[theartfulbodger]

A cambelt change is preventative medicine...it won't necessarily cause damage to anything by gradually wearing out, but it could cause very expensive smashing noises if it fails.

 

[powertools]

It's vehicle age as well as miles, go by what it says in the handbook and make sure that the price includes new tension rollers.

 

[Dibs-h]

VAG (Volkswagon Audi Group) cars with a 1.9TDI (PDI) engine - timing belt renewal is every 60K, give or take a few thousand. Or 4 yrs since the last change. This last bit I think is taking the p!ss slightly.

Suspect yours might be on variable service, which can result in cars running 20K between services - which if it was the case, woudl take you to 68k. A bit past the replacement point.

Leave it till the car gets to 58k and then have a think about replacing it & getting prices etc.

Most reputable places will use a cambelt kit, which includes a new tensioner, idle roller and belt along with the 2 bolts. IIRC it might be wise to replace the water pump at the same time. Can confirm that if you wish.

HIH

Dibs

 

[chippy1970]

I had one go on a B or D reg diesel astra van a very long time ago and it smashed all the cam followers and cost a lot of money to fix but that had done more mileage. Im not sure what they are like now as engines have come on quite a bit since then but it used to be the case that if it was petrol engined than it would be ok if the belt snapped but diesels would always be damaged as the tolerances are much tighter on a diesel engine.

If I were you I would just bite the bullet and get it done, we had our Golf done a couple of years back but I used a local mechanic not VW our Golf at the time had only done 30,000 but we have had it from new (2002) so it was more the age not the mileage that made us get the cam belt done.

I think VW do go over the top some times though, my T5 09 van has to get its first MOT next year and even though it only needs servicing every two years VW asked that I bring it in to get the brake fluid changed god only knows what that's gonna cost me.

 

[Dibs-h]

If I were you I would just bite the bullet and get it done, we had our Golf done a couple of years back but I used a local mechanic not VW our Golf at the time had only done 30,000 but we have had it from new (2002) so it was more the age not the mileage that made us get the cam belt done.

Sorry got to disagree - bit like over-engineering something with a safety factor of 5 rather than 1.5-2.

VAG's own service bulletin's on ELSA (their computerised workshop system) which I have, don't state 40k. It's just an opportunistic punt by the dealers for revenue this side of Xmas.

If you want to double check - ring the service department and ask them what the ELSA schedule states? You might get a slightly different answer.

Dibs

p.s. PM me your reg nbr and I'll confirm for you (in the morning) what the official schedule is and what gets (or should get) changed.

 

[Charlie Woody]

Many thanks to everyone for their input.

I have taken Dibs kind offer to check this out (pm sent).

However I have been getting the car serviced every 10k or 12 months so not sure if this changes things.

 

[Dibs-h]

However I have been getting the car serviced every 10k or 12 months so not sure if this changes things.

VAG cars from 2000 onwards are capable of being serviced either as

1. Fixed interval (10k)
2. Variable service

1 is obvious. 2 is where the car checks the condition of the oil (has a oil quality sensor in the sump) and adjusts the remaining mileage to service according to oil temp, distance, revs, etc.

Mine is set to variable service and checking the remaining mileage to service & making a note of the distance - I can do a motorway run of a few hundrend miles (say 400) and then check the remaining mileage to service the day after and it hasn't changed. Long runs hardly affect the remaining mileage to service whilst local stop & start can bring it down quicker.

It's not unknown for folk who do 99% of their driving on the motorway to get around 20K between services when using variable servicing.

If you do a reasonable amount of non-town (i.e. stop and start) mileage - you can get around 15k between services.

The garage servicing your car - assuming they have the correct equipment, can set your car to variable servicing the next time you have your car serviced.

HIH

Dibs

 

[Noel]

As mentioned ensure water pump and tensioners are changed too.
Why do garages send out reminders, on time or well before? The workshop generates the most revenue, no real money in sales or parts these days.
I'm sure waiting until 58 or 60k will not be a problem. Absolutely no point in getting it done before that. The garage couldn't care two hoots when it's done as long as they get paid.

 

[Charlie Woody]

Earlier today I googled this issue and to cut a long story short the consensus appeared to be that the cambelt wear is affected by both mileage and age. Consequently the X miles or Y years whichever is sooner scenario.

In my case the years - 4 recommended by VW - will run out in Jan 2012.

I realise that some of you have suggested waiting until near the 60k mark, which I guesstimate would be Jan / Feb 2013, and well past the 4 years recommendation. However given the carnage and cost (that I could not afford) that I would suffer if the belt broke during this 12/13 month period I think I'll have to get in done Jan 2012.

Thanks all for your assistance.