Fabia vRS timing belt change DIY

[skudmissile]

Guide to Changing the timing belt and water pump on a Fabia Vrs with engine code ASZ.

Disclaimer

This guide is just that..... A guide I am not a qualified mechanic and this guide is simply a walk through of what I did. If you don’t think you have the mechanical ability to pull this off then please don’t attempt this. It’s very expensive if you get this wrong. If in any doubt, do not attempt.

Parts needed

Timing belt: 038109119P

Tensioner: 038109243M

Relay roller 038109244J

Water Pump, Loads to choose from, I used a QH metal impeller one from Andrew pages

2l of concentrated g12 coolant, I used 5l of pre-mixed g12 spec coolant from Halfords.

Aux drive belt, lost invoice for this but dealer should know part number.

Specialist tools needed.

Crank locking tool

Camshaft locking tool or 6mm drill bit, it’s easier with the correct tool.

Tensioner tool, handle with 2 pins on for turning of tensioner. Can be made but I bought one from laser.

13mm spanner, 15mm spanner, 13mm socket, 10mm long reaches for removal of glow plugs. Short reach 16mm socket for removal of awkward engine mount bolts.

19mm star socket to turn engine over with.

T20 torx screwdriver for removal of wheel arch liner.

Various other hitting, cutting and jacking toolage: wink: I can’t remember them all but most are listed above. If you haven’t got a wide range of tools you should really be taking it to a proper mechanic.

How to.

Position the car on a nice level surface and then loosen the driver’s side front wheel nuts.

Remove the negative battery lead, we wouldn’t want anyone trying to start the engine with the crack locking tool in place. .......... Nasty!

Jack up the car and place on axle stands- both sides front.

Remove OSF wheel , and place under driver’s side sill (if the car falls off the stands it crushes the wheel

and not you )

Remove under tray using T20 Screwdriver

Remove driver’s side wheel arch liner, again using T20

Remove the coolant reservoir cap (caution if car has been running and hot)

Locate the coolant drain valve- on the bottom of the radiator towards the near side of the car

Turn the valve anti clockwise and watch the coolant drain away.

Now remove the coolant reservoir ,top intercooler pipe , lower intercooler pipe and rubber dust cover from the crank ribbed belt pulley.

Then to remove the aux drive belt. Turn the 16mm nut on the belt tensioner clockwise to release the belt. Slip the belt off the alternator pulley and then turn anti clockwise to relax the tensioner. ( Extra car needed here, if the spanner slips off the nut the tensioner will tighten up the belt, (should your finger be under the belt when this happens then you’ll have one less finger to worry about.)

Loop the belt off all the pulleys and place to one side, or the bin if replacing.

Then Using a 6mm Allen key remove the lower pulley bolts and remove the pulley.

[skudmissile]

Right this bit gets tricky.......

Place a jack under the sump as far to the driver’s side as possible.

Remove the lower engine stabiliser mount (dog bone mount)

Slacken the three 16mm top engine mounting bolts and take up the weight of the engine with the jack.

Remove the top bracket of the engine mount and the engine mount itself from the body.

Jack the engine slightly to gain access to the three 16mm bolts that hold the mount to the engine.

Here’s a pic of the mount of the car to show the location of the bolts.

Then remove the top cam belt cover and lower cam belt cover. Using a 10mm socket and ratchet.

Remove the glow plus with the long reach 10mm socket and ratchet.

Using the 19mm star socket and a ratchet, turn the engine until the marker on the crank sprocket is near to the top. Then lock the crank sprocket into place with the crank locking tool as shown below.

Then lock the cam sprocket using the 6mm locking tool or a 6mm drill bit.

With the belt still in place loosen but don’t remove the three 13mm bolts that hold the cam sprocket to the cam shaft.

With both sprockets locked into place, use a 15mm spanner to loosen the nut on the tensioner and then turn the tensioner fully anti clockwise to release tension on the belt. The using a 13mm spanner remove the relay roller. Then slip the belt off the water pump, crank and cam sprocket.

You can remove the water pump with a 10mm socket, some coolant will flow out so place a bucket under it.

Then remove the tensioner completely.

Fit the new water pump

Loosen the 13mm bolts on the camshaft sprocket some more and rotate the sprocket so that the bolts sit in the middle of the slots. Leave these loose for the time being.

Loop the new belt over the crank sprocket, water pump and camshaft sprocket.

Slide the new tensioner into place, making sure it locates in the cut out notch on the cylinder head.

Re-fit the new relay roller and tighten the nut.

Turn the tensioner clockwise till the marker is in the middle of the cut out and tighten the nut that holds it in place.

Tighten the three 13mm cam sprocket bolts and then remove the locking tools.

Rotate the engine with the 19mm socket through 2 or 3 complete turns. Refit the crank shaft locking tool and fit the cam locking pin. If this is not possible then you’ve not got the timing right and need to slacken the cam sprocket again and align the cam locking pin. Making sure the tensioner arrow is still bang in the middle of the cut-out.

Once you’re happy the engine is all timed up correctly, refit everything is reverse order not forgetting to put the glow plugs back in and not forgetting to ill the engine with coolant.

Replace the engine mounting bolts as they are stretch bolts and should be replaced.

Once rebuild test! Hopefully you won’t bend a valve on the first run

Disclaimer

This guide is just that..... A guide I am not a qualified mechanic and this guide is simply a walk through of what I did. If you don’t think you have the mechanical ability to pull this off then please don’t attempt this. It’s very expensive if you get this wrong. If in any doubt, do not attempt.

You will see that I haven’t included any torque settings for various bolts etc. These can be obtained from the Haynes manual.

One last note, I am willing to lend any brisky member my locking tools at cost of postage to you and then back to me.

Please don’t hesitate to pm me if you have any questions.

If anyone would like to add something, please do post up your thoughts.

[skudmissile]

Finished! What you recon? Easy enough to follow??

Cheers John

[Basil]

nice one mate -

[Td-eye]

Good guide Skudmisile !

One thing I would recommend though is replacing the top engine mounting bolts on re-assembly as they are stretch bolts and not designed to be re-used. I have heard of quite a few cases now on VAG engined vehicles where the bolts have not been replaced and the engines have dropped when the bolts snapped causing considerable damage.:eek:

I suspect that this Briskoda post may be yet another sad example of this.:(

Great guide though and well done !

[skudmissile]

Good guide Skudmisile !

One thing I would recommend though is replacing the top engine mounting bolts on re-assembly as they are stretch bolts and not designed to be re-used. I have heard of quite a few cases now on VAG engined vehicles where the bolts have not been replaced and the engines have dropped when the bolts snapped causing considerable damage.:eek:

I suspect that this Briskoda post may be yet another sad example of this.:(

Great guide though and well done !

Ar yes i changed them but left them out of the guide for some reason, adding now

cheers for the heads up

[aak]

Hi there

Excellent 'how to'. Shows in great detail what the Haynes manual doesn't!!!!

Would now seriously consider doing this very necessary job myself thanks to skudmissile's photos/step by step guide.

Alan

[oilburninnut]

this is a must as a sticky:thumbup:

[tom_beverley]

Very good guide, nice and easy to follow. Think I'll tackle this soon.

[iety2004]

I would also highly advise following torque settings when doing this procedure. As already mentioned, the engine mounts are stretch bolts, making torque settings even more important

[mathepac]

Great guide, thanks.

Can anyone tell me if this is correct part number for the auxiliary drive belt, AKA ribbed V-belt - 038903137AA ? Thanks.

Also would anyone know the part number for the three (?) top engine mounting bolts that need replacing?

Thanks guys.

[OCTAVIA2008]

Goto vagcat.com where you can find all oe part numbers etc.

[TommyC]

Sopt on guide, massive help during my spannering sesh today (shame my printer wasn't working so i had to use Mr Haynes help too but....) Nice one Skud :thumbup:

Superb

[friday]

Dude, you're a star!!! I've just been quoted £575 for a cam belt change. I think I'll do it with your guide's help. Mr.Haynes will be there too but he's black&white.

I know mechanics have to make a living too but I have 2 bikes and a car and I need to eat occassionaly, if I paid that sort of money for everything that needs to be done, then :eek:...DIY is the only option for me at the moment. But why am I apologising?

Skudmissile is the man!

[skudmissile]

Dude, you're a star!!! I've just been quoted £575 for a cam belt change. I think I'll do it with your guide's help. Mr.Haynes will be there too but he's black&white.

I know mechanics have to make a living too but I have 2 bikes and a car and I need to eat occassionaly, if I paid that sort of money for everything that needs to be done, then :eek:...DIY is the only option for me at the moment. But why am I apologising?

Skudmissile is the man!

Be very careful with your engine, Is yours the older style tdi 110bhp? if so you have to be very careful with the fuel pump timing. you will need the TDC from the flywheel, this can be veiwed through the inspection bung on the gearbox housing.

£575 is alot of money for a belt change but not unrealistic if yours is the older bosch vp37 pump based engine.

good luck

John

[Lofty86]

Just done my belt etc... However i didnt take the expansion tank off (would have been easyer if i did tho).

The one thing i MUST point out is the water pump (in 1st pic, teath @ bottom, Black impeller at top).

THESE ARE CRAP!!!

Do NOT get the waterpump with a plastic impeller, reason is VAG ones are known for braking up and then overheating!

Get a cast alloy impeller.

[skudmissile]

Just done my belt etc... However i didnt take the expansion tank off (would have been easyer if i did tho).

The one thing i MUST point out is the water pump (in 1st pic, teath @ bottom, Black impeller at top).

THESE ARE CRAP!!!

Do NOT get the waterpump with a plastic impeller, reason is VAG ones are known for braking up and then overheating!

Get a cast alloy impeller.

That is a cast alloy one Its just painted black

Thats actually not the water pump i fitted in the end as once i had the car stripped it turned out to be the wrong one, would fit the block :thumbdwn:

The one i did fit was very similar

[Lofty86]

Aaah. But the one i took out (OEM) was plastic.

And was shagged @ 54k miles.

[chrisd]

great guide there mate! The question i've got is anyone fancy giving me hand doin the job?!

[RossIbizaTDI]

Hi all,

How do you make sure you've got the correct tension on the belt? Or is there only one tension setting and that's when the indicator is in the middle of the gap? I'll be doing mine on my Seat Ibiza TDI FR soon which I beleive is the same set up as the VRS.

Cheers!

Ross

[rotodiesel]

The tensioner is spring loaded and is correctly set when the pointer is in the centre of the slot.

The Continental belt kit I fitted to my AWX Superb had replacement studs for the tensioner and idler wheels. Did you fit new ones to your car?

rotodiesel.

[disco-barry]

£575 for a timing belt change? I wise we could get away with charging that!

[Grant]

Is this the same for the PD100 engine code ATD?

And roughly how long did it take?

Thanks.

[Ultima]

What's the timing belt change interval on a Fabia vRS ?

Thanks

Edited 18 March, 2010 by Ultima

[green beard]

My 56 reg has just clocked 60k miles and changed the belt using this guide and my mate's help, just make sure you follow everything as is detailed here or it might go wrong!

Mate said not to bother with the crank locking tool as it wont move, well guess what, yes it moved!

Also we didnt correctly locate the cam locking hole, you need to feel for it with something like a small driver or 4mm allen key and then try get the 6mm bit/locking pin in place, its quite a tight fit and goes in over 50mm/2inch.

So spend a tenner on the right tool for the crank, locate the cam locking hole correctly and say no to friends with tippex.

Cost me £115 for belt kit, water pump, engine bolts and auxilliary belt and I re-used the coolant. It took about 5hrs minus the time spent getting it right. All parts genuine VAG from TPS (with a bit of discount)

So I was very lucky that I didnt damage my engine, follow this guide to every detail and you should be fine.

Thanks to Skudmissile

Edited 22 March, 2010 by VeeKar