Jayboii

Very true, but if the manufacturer themselves don't even take that cover off at servicing, what hope does anyone have (majority of drivers will not be technically equipped to do this) the manufacturer (supposedly number 2 in the world) need to step up and sort this now or risk falling further down the credibility scale. Furthermore, as I understand it is around 70k when the majority of issues start, so as that family of engine may or may not have hit that interval yet. They only understand/listen to one thing and that's money - until the customer base get together and hold them to account.

Oh really? Yes definitely please let us know the outcome - if you need any further evidence as well. I did read of someone else trying to do this as well. I hope they acknowledge it and it gets sorted asap.

I see, but it seems very convoluted advice - as there are people that have clearly had this issue that haven't had any work done on it. As far as my knowledge goes too, my vehicle has never had the cambelt changed or worked on, but yet still developed this fault at not even 70k and full service history.. The AA person attended clearly said it is due to the design of the bolt itself, in that it just works itself loose over time. Other VW specialist that knew well of the issue said they're not thread-locked from the factory, which is why it happens and that concurs.. So what Skoda UK advise is completely unhelpful if true, as by leaving it to 120k you're likely allowing all 5 bolts to come out by then. If lucky, it then just makes enough noise to draw attention to it. But have heard of one of these coming out on a motorway and writing off the whole engine. It should be a service bulletin/recall, updated bolt design and heck I'd even pay to get it done, just for the piece of mind. But all of this rhetoric is just unhelpful and really disappointing by VWAGroup, given at how widely used this engine is and how it's often cited as being "one of the more reliable ones". Makes you want to go back to a Japanese car, they don't build engines that rattle loose, it's clearly a design problem not picked up in manufacturing and denying it, makes them look inadequate a manufacturer. At 70k this should not be happening. Supposedly the previous iteration had a very similar problem too.. No wonder they are citing that 120k is lifespan for a car now. Really poor all around from VW this one.

Seems to vary depending who you speak to. Seems if you have the budget, get it in asap. But a lot of people will go by what the manufacturer advises, 5-year replacements seems way too often.

Had this happen - has anyone managed to do this and has had successful mileage since? Seems pretty simple, only questions are: Loctite - is medium enough? Torque settings - above digram is correct and adequate to stop this happening again with heat/oil pressures etc? Ok to torque without securing the Pulley etc? Rotating the engine - is this ok to do by just turning engine on/off to move the belt etc, or are you meaning with a specific tool? Design of bolts - the AA guy who attended knew the issue so well, he was able to diagnose without even taking off the belt cover... He mentioned the thread/design of bolt being one of the causes, has a improved design been realised? Have mentioned this to three garages so far in total and it's a bit worrying how potentially bad this could be for customers. VWAG Dealer seem to deny it's an issue/common issue and denied ever hearing about it with the 1.4tsi... Two VWAG specialists - one apparently hadn't heard of it, the other advised I do it myself and were generally quite dismissive of it being a massive problem. All three said that the belt isn't checked in a service - Skoda apparently "visually check it" during a service - asked does this include taking the belt cover off? "NO".. Ok so then it seems there would be no reason to check this unless it's getting replaced.... Skoda UK: "It has a lifespan of 150k".... - So then, unless you're preventively replacing this early, against their advice, there would be no tangible reason to check this - unless you're aware of the issue, which VWAG are not currently admitting.... If someone could make a visual/video guide and publish on here or youtube, that would help the customer base out too. Thanks all - as always.