Cambelt Replacement

[DavidofHook]

I am coming up to my 4th year with our T5 and I have been told by two garages that VW advise that the cam belt be replaced after 4 years. This costs in the region of £500 if you have the water pump etc done at the same time. The van has only done 26000 miles.
The service schedule says no such thing, it refers to checking the belt at 30000kms (yes I know, it's not in miles) for petrol engines only and at 40000kms for diesel engines in high levels of dust.
Only at 120,000 kms the belt should be changed but not at 4 years!
(A further complexity is that my garage seems to consider the Kms in the book should be read as miles, so for example, 40,000 kms read 40,000 miles for service purposes!)
I also had this with my T4 but I would be interested in other members views and what they do at the 4 year point
Sorry this is so long and I hope that it is in the right Forum.

 

[snowy55]

If it snaps your looking at a £4k bill, feelin lucky!!

 

[jts46]

friends of mine every 4 years or the mileage + water pump

John

 

[Hotel California]

http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/cambelt-change.7226/

http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/cambelt-change-replace-at-4-years.8151/

http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/cambelt-replacement-quandry.6507/

Just using the search funtcion took me two minutes bringing on lots of info.....

 

[Borris]

I am coming up to my 4th year with our T5 and I have been told by two garages that VW advise that the cam belt be replaced after 4 years. This costs in the region of £500 if you have the water pump etc done at the same time. The van has only done 26000 miles.
The service schedule says no such thing, it refers to checking the belt at 30000kms (yes I know, it's not in miles) for petrol engines only and at 40000kms for diesel engines in high levels of dust.
Only at 120,000 kms the belt should be changed but not at 4 years!
(A further complexity is that my garage seems to consider the Kms in the book should be read as miles, so for example, 40,000 kms read 40,000 miles for service purposes!)
I also had this with my T4 but I would be interested in other members views and what they do at the 4 year point
Sorry this is so long and I hope that it is in the right Forum.

Hello David,
Two years ago I sold my 2002 T4 2.5 diesel van after 9 years of ownership. I had the cam belt and water pump replaced for the first time just before I sold it at 72000 miles. I had not replaced it before that point as I had been following the instructions in the service book. The only reason for having it done then was because of a chance conversation with a VW Commercial dealer who said it needed doing every four years and also because I wanted to maximise my return when selling.

I am not advocating that anyone should leave it this long but just agreeing with you that the service books didn't use to mention the four year thing. Either they have experienced cam belt failures before the original 120000kms point or VW are trying to drum up more lucrative work by playing on peoples fear of it's premature failure?

Personally, I am going to take no chances and shall be having mine done every four years.

However, I can't help wondering that if they have changed their minds about the frequency of Cam belt changes probably due to premature failures, is their current long life service regime of going 20000 plus miles before an oil change also going to be found to be un-wise at some point in the future?

 

[Alan]

Can you believe this.....when I inquired at my local VW garage and asked about changing a cam belt (l couldn't find it in my manual) I was told 80,000 miles no time limit !!

Alan

 

[Meoncoast]

Out of all the drives I have had over the years VW's 4 years in the shortest time and milage advise cgange I haveever had. I did have a nissan serena which had a chain rather than a belt so did not have to worry (until the chain stapped at 4000 miles on the clock!!!).
Our Cali will be 4 years old May and will be getting the belt and water pump done then.

 

[Freeley]

I changed the belt and pump on my T5.1 transporter last year at 4 years old, I was over the mileage though at approx 55000.
Cost was 300+vat so if you've been quoted 500+ you're being overcharged.

Sent from my Galaxy S6

 

[Meoncoast]

VW have set price when I looked last week think it was about £430 with water pump ( expect that is plus vat) last year dealers were offering a special price which i hope they repeat

 

[Freeley]

Think that's including VAT. I had a flyer through from VW at the time and from memory I think it was 360+VAT

Sent from my Galaxy S6

 

[reserves]

Always get the Water Pump replaced when you do the timing belt, only an extra £50 or so.

VW do offer great fixed priced deals.

 

[DavidofHook]

Thanks guys for the ever helpful response. Also Hotel California for the other threads, I should have known that there would be lots of stuff around. (And I should have known that you would find it!)
I have also spoken to VWCS who confirmed the 4 year change but could not explain why it is not in the book! It seems that the book is printed for world wide use, so I asked why then does the 4 year requirement only apply to the UK? He was unable to answer but will ring me back ( he says). I will report back if I do hear.
In the meantime I am going to have to do the deed and get it done (which in my heart of hearts i knew that I would) but thanks again for the info. This is a great club.

David

 

[David Eccles]

I had w/pump and cambelt done in Dec after 4 years. Dealer agreed it was four years ideally regardless of lowish mileage. Concensus on here was do it too.

 

[DavidofHook]

The VWCS man rang me back. He says that the 4 year rule applies to the UK because of the feedback that VW have had from their dealers, presumably that cam belts are failing after 4 years. (For some reason this does not happen in the rest of the world which is er.... surprising to say the least!) He says that is only a recommendation but, if I were to have it inspected and even if it seems ok the dealer would advise changing it!
So, as I said before, and as most of us seem to have done, I will be getting it replaced. Better a £500 outlay now here in comfort at home, than a say £2000 outlay in the middle of say Spain or Italy just when I need the van the most.

 

[Cwoods1405]

Just had mine done £516 inc water pump (daft not changing it at the same time as doing the belt). Having known the catastrophe that happens inside your engine if one breaks it helps give peace of mind. It will also show the vehicle has been looked after when it's time to sell. I believe many other vehicles have the same sort of timescale for changing the cam belt, VW is just reassuringly expensive!

 

[Freeley]

If your Cali is out of warranty (as most of them are if they're having the cambelt changed) then I would always recommend taking it to a trusted independent garage rather than a VW dealer.
When I had it done on my transporter last year it cost £360, using original VW parts.

Sent from my Galaxy S6

 

[Barryjm]

Water pump failed on my Audi in 2005 which was 4 years old and only 10k miles after the cam belt was changed. Main dealer never recommended changing it. Failure damaged the head gasket and total repair back then was almost £1000 and that was a audi/VW specialist. From what I remember the VW group were suffering early failures of the cam belt even on low mileage vehicles and a change was made to policy to change them at 4 years no matter what the mileage. Not official but just what I heard at the time.

My Cali is the older 2.5l engined T5 so has chain rather that a cam belt, so I believe.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[reserves]

If your Cali is out of warranty (as most of them are if they're having the cambelt changed) then I would always recommend taking it to a trusted independent garage rather than a VW dealer.
When I had it done on my transporter last year it cost £360, using original VW parts.

Sent from my Galaxy S6

I would have agreed in the past but with VW's fixed price servicing these days they are actually very competitive, believe it's £430 but there might be special offers, believe they match local quotes.

Just had my Golf done & VW and at £349 it was the cheapest I could find & I got a stamp in the Service Book,

 

[WelshGas]

I would have agreed in the past but with VW's fixed price servicing these days they are actually very competitive, believe it's £430 but there might be special offers, believe they match local quotes.

Just had my Golf done & VW and at £349 it was the cheapest I could find & I got a stamp in the Service Book,

And you get a 2 yr VW warranty on parts and labour so I gather.

 

[DavidofHook]

Got it done yesterday. £550 including new water pump and MoT and VAT where appropriate. Oh, and they drove me home and collected me once it was done.
Feeling happier so thanks for the advice to push me to do it.
Had a better quote from SMG but Mrs davidofhook was not over the moon about driving for an hour and half and then driving around in Sussex until done and then driving home for another 90 minutes. The extra cost of my local dealer was worth it (she says)!

 

[calicasas]

Got it done yesterday. £550 including new water pump and MoT and VAT where appropriate. Oh, and they drove me home and collected me once it was done.
Feeling happier so thanks for the advice to push me to do it.
Had a better quote from SMG but Mrs davidofhook was not over the moon about driving for an hour and half and then driving around in Sussex until done and then driving home for another 90 minutes. The extra cost of my local dealer was worth it (she says)!

Hi David, can I be so bold as to ask how much you were quoted from SMG?

 

[DavidofHook]

I have lobbed away all the paperwork now but as far as I can recall it was 20% off oil and 10% off labour based on the VW menu of prices.

 

[DavidofHook]

Oops! Nearly forgot. The discounts were because I am a VIP member of the club. Sorry calicas, should have mentioned that.

 

[mapman]

Hi,
Just had my mine done today only 15,000 miles and 4 years old. Would not risk it as recommended by manufacturers.

 

[calicasas]

Ok, called SMG today and was quoted £516 for cambelt and water pump this includes discount! Some 20% off labour and 10% off parts I think they said.
The point is there was absolutely no discount for being part of this forum.
When I asked about forum member discount, they said they didn't know as quote "they never read the forum".
I Got exactly the same quote form Colbournes in Guildford today.... Bet they don't read the forum either.
Considering my options including possibly getting this work done in Spain this summer as I have been quoted €390 (inc. vat) (approx £330) from VW commercial dealership... Mmm......
Oh, final note to SMG: I'm not a happy customer....