hi there...it wont be long before our long drive to the french riviera....i was looking under the bonnet and noticed most of the bolts connecting various items like alternator ect are torx type bolts...i'm thinking of purchasing a set of these torx sockets, and was wondering what are the main sizes required in order to effect a repair ie fanbelt? god forbid something should snap going on our travels.

any help on sizes reqired would be much appreciated...also any idea on a cost of a fanbelt? regards..andy

Fanbelt is about 12-15 quid iirc, and you need a 17mm iirc spanner and another to go over it for leverage on the tensioner to fit a new one, I almost certain you don't need to undo anything to put the alt belt on, the other one that runs the aircon I'm not sure about.

I almost certain you don't need to undo anything to put the alt belt on, the other one that runs the aircon I'm not sure about.

Not sure on the 140, but on the 130 AWX engine the alternator belt runs behind the aircon belt, so that would need removing first (which by the look of it is not a roadside repair - under tray would need to come off first)

thanks supurbia and gizmo68 for your replies...having looked at the cramped conditions inside the engine bay of my superb, i quite agree that a road side repair although possible...would not be considered safe doing on a busy french motorway should i have the misfortune of a belt snap on me.

of course i will have the neccesary breakdown insurance for getting the car fixed if it does decide to not want to go further....after all 720 miles in a day and a half shouldnt be a problem for the car as it has low mileage, and regulary been serviced...its just unfortunate these sophisticated engines what with their sensors and ecu's and a host of other electronics, makes me realize how much i miss tinkering with the engines of the 70's and 80's...ie ford pinto 2.0ltr and rover V8 s p6...and here i am basically looking under the bonnet of the superb and closing it after checking the fluids.

The days of removing a cylinder head on a ford cortina mk111 and replacing the camshaft and decarbonizing it and polishing the ports and re-fitting with new points and condensors all in a day is long gone....i dont even think a stealer could beat that lol

Buy the belts (cheap from Euro Car Parts) and take them with you. 9/10 of the battle with a breakdown is having the bits - and you will use them eventually when you change the cambelt anyway.

The compressor belt has to come off first which would mean lowering the undertray and using a 6 AF hex key on the tensioner bracket bolts. If I needed to change a serp belt by the roadside, I'd cut the compressor belt off - changing the serp belt is then dead easy. You need a 19 AF spanner to release the tensioner spring.

So, buy the belts and take a knife and a 19 AF spanner with you and you can deal with a broken serp belt. Change the compressor belt when you have time and in a safe place.

rotodiesel.

thanks for the info rotodiesel

Hi i went from Rotterdam to Vienna in15 hours, average speed 80/90mph except when i had a big bm/merc up my bottom so took it up to 100/120mph for short bursts.it did well on fuel ,got 51.5mpg on shell ultra,not bad for a loaded car with 2 adults+2teenagers.only stopping on those excellent German lay-bys for food and to splash the floor. i got my cam belt +w/pump done at 56,000 at volkservice (indie) of Blackpool for 300.00 which i could live with after getting spooked by the VAG stealers 4 year rubbish and for piece of mind for the long trip. My car is a superb classic 1.9 tdi 130bhp on a 03 plate .The car never missed a beat in the 4 thousand mile/3 week holiday, it only used 1/4 litre of oil.I changed the oil+filter just before the trip with 507.00spec shell helix 5/30 just for piece of mind [again].Enjoy your trip.