Timing belt Replacement?

[Ozzy Pete]

Do the same transporter vans with same engines have the same change requirements?

It’s still a VW van so I imagine they have the same requirements.

 

[YvonneGoodwin]

Hello, just had a right to do with VW Van Centre Leeds. Went in for service and MOT, asked them to get sales guy to give us a price as we are thinking of selling it, he asked me if it had its cam belt done. Nobody even mentioned it, although he said I'd been offered it and turned it down!!! Absolutely furious. We also have the All in policy done last July, been poring over the policy - can't see that the cambelt replacement is excluded. Anyone know for definite. Also reading this thread wondering about the water pump too - nobody has mentioned that either. Sorry for garbled message but absolutely furious with them ! Yvonne.

 

[Mr T]

Hello, just had a right to do with VW Van Centre Leeds. Went in for service and MOT, asked them to get sales guy to give us a price as we are thinking of selling it, he asked me if it had its cam belt done. Nobody even mentioned it, although he said I'd been offered it and turned it down!!! Absolutely furious. We also have the All in policy done last July, been poring over the policy - can't see that the cambelt replacement is excluded. Anyone know for definite. Also reading this thread wondering about the water pump too - nobody has mentioned that either. Sorry for garbled message but absolutely furious with them ! Yvonne.

Cambelt is not part of a standard service plan, so will be excluded from the all-in policy. When getting a cambelt changed it is always advisable to have the waterpump replaced too.
How old is you Cali and how many miles has it done?

 

[YvonneGoodwin]

Cambelt is not part of a standard service plan, so will be excluded from the all-in policy. When getting a cambelt changed it is always advisable to have the waterpump replaced too.
How old is you Cali and how many miles has it done?

Thanks for reply. Just 4 years old as at 31st May and done 19,450 miles!

 

[Perfectos]

Here’s the service manual from our 2012 180 BiTDi from my understanding 210,000 KMs is the service interval. This is also what they use in Europe for cambelt changes. Only UK seem to insist it should be every 4 years. I’m sure on another thread someone had an email from the belt manufacturer, Gates I think, stating belts had something like a 10 year service life before any age deterioration. I did change mine at 4 years and garage gave me the old parts, belt looked brand new, I’m not changing at 4 years next time. I decided to err on the side of caution and go with 8 years. We only do about 6K miles per year.

PS I check our cambelt visually each year, easy job, pop 2 clips pull the cover back and inspect the belt. Takes 10 minutes.

View attachment 90647

Here is the thread you refer to

@Loz elicited a response from Gates (post #103) in the attached thread

Cam Belt Query

"may present" "a business decision may have been taken" "may well be preferable " "would probably be minimal " This is what denial looks like. Would you replace perfectly good brake pads to avoid scoring the discs, especially if only one importer (UK) recommended it, even though the European...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[YvonneGoodwin]

So the answer from VW Van Centre Leeds, apologised for the mix up - apparently because it has a private plate the guy that booked it in mistook the model year (which runs August to July) which is why they didnt mention the cam belt. He also said the water pump doesn't need doing because we haven't done 100,000 miles. Cost of cam belt for interest £421.48 .

 

[Ozzy Pete]

So the answer from VW Van Centre Leeds, apologised for the mix up - apparently because it has a private plate the guy that booked it in mistook the model year (which runs August to July) which is why they didnt mention the cam belt. He also said the water pump doesn't need doing because we haven't done 100,000 miles. Cost of cam belt for interest £421.48 .

I’ve not heard that excuse before. Because the waterpump hasn’t done 100k miles it doesn’t need replacing. The reason they normally change both together is because the cost is very similar, maybe not if done at a VW garage but in any other it would be. You normally buy a cambelt and waterpump kit which includes everything. Plus it’s so easy to replace The waterpump when the cambelt is off it’s really silly not to do the lot together. When changing the cambelt you need to change the tensioner and idler bearings so the extra few quid for a waterpump is nothing.

 

[YvonneGoodwin]

I’ve not heard that excuse before. Because the waterpump hasn’t done 100k miles it doesn’t need replacing. The reason they normally change both together is because the cost is very similar, maybe not if done at a VW garage but in any other it would be. You normally buy a cambelt and waterpump kit which includes everything. Plus it’s so easy to replace The waterpump when the cambelt is off it’s really silly not to do the lot together. When changing the cambelt you need to change the tensioner and idler bearings so the extra few quid for a waterpump is nothing.

Well at least I have a contemporaneous note of our telephone conversation that I asked and that they said that, so if the water pump does go, and we've done less than 100,000 miles, it should be covered by the warranty!

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Well at least I have a contemporaneous note of our telephone conversation that I asked and that they said that, so if the water pump does go, and we've done less than 100,000 miles, it should be covered by the warranty!

The warranty would only extend to 3 years or maybe 5 if you bought an extended warranty. So looking at your mileage today it’s going to be 20 years before you would need to replace it according to their criteria. You could be very lucky and never need a replacement but it’s one of those consumables which you would replace as a matter of coarse after a certain amount of time and not particularly mileage.

 

[Nand0]

Just to echo what others have written, I was told by the garage here in Switzerland that cam belt (+ water pump) only needs doing after 210Km or 10yrs. They must use string cheese for UK bound cam belts.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Just to echo what others have written, I was told by the garage here in Switzerland that cam belt (+ water pump) only needs doing after 210Km or 10yrs. They must use string cheese for UK bound cam belts.

VWUK take the public for mugs and just use them as a cash cow. If it’s 210k km or 10 years in mainland Europe then why not in the UK?
VW here in the UK would like you to think that not replacing them at 4 years will cause your engine to explode costing you £10k.