Cam belt advice please

[vwcabriolet1971]

Oh Christ I know that but if you were to go above the recommended figure you can have no complaints if she snapped on ya. I once had a belt go on a Vectra and it broke my heart to pay for the repair. Collected the car this evening, turns out the car has covered 85k klms so a bit more breathing space than I expected. Bought the car without OH seeing it in person and she's delighted with it. Her previous car was a Honda HRV and thinks this the bomb !! Happy days.

It would appear that you thought my comments were directed towards you.You are mistaken in this belief. You can't assume that just because my post to this thread appeared immediately after your query that it was in answer to your post. Indeed when I started my comments , your query was not visible to me. Also my comments were not quoted against any other persons posts.

My comments were directed towards those members who thought that the VW/Skoda recommended intervals were too short because they thought that VW/Skoda wanted to make extra profits from early belt replacements. And also to give reasons why some drivers may choose to replace earlier than the recommended intervals.

I do not think the use of profanities is required when discussing cam belts.

[YMe]

I was recommended to check that one of the engine mountings are on your invoice when you have a cam belt changed as the mounting has to be removed to get at the cam belt and it (the mounting that it is) is a one shot fixing so needs replacing if removed.

Any comments?

[FriendlyFire]

I was recommended to check that one of the engine mountings are on your invoice when you have a cam belt changed as the mounting has to be removed to get at the cam belt and it (the mounting that it is) is a one shot fixing so needs replacing if removed.

Any comments?

Well don't quote me, but my understanding is that the belt is "trapped" by the engine mounting which consequently needs removing to get the belt off.

The mounting is reused (no problem) but it is the bolts on the engine mounting which must be replaced.

Apparently, they stretch when torqued up and are thus one use only since they can't stretch twice.

If there isn't a couple of "stretch" bolts on the invoice it may be they have been reused. There is a risk then they would snap in the future with resulting damage.

edit : font size

Edited 7 April, 2010 by FriendlyFire

[cheezemonkhai]

Well don't quote me, but my understanding is that the belt is "trapped" by the engine mounting which consequently needs removing to get the belt off.

The mounting is reused (no problem) but it is the bolts on the engine mounting which must be replaced.

Apparently, they stretch when torqued up and are thus one use only since they can't stretch twice.

If there isn't a couple of "stretch" bolts on the invoice it may be they have been reused. There is a risk then they would snap in the future with resulting damage.

edit : font size

I had 6 or 7 stretch bolts on the bill for mine.

[FriendlyFire]

I had 6 or 7 stretch bolts on the bill for mine.

I said "don't quote me"

[cheezemonkhai]

I said "don't quote me"

I was agreeing with you that it's the stretch bolt or did you mean the use of the quote tags :p

[FriendlyFire]

I was agreeing with you that it's the stretch bolt or did you mean the use of the quote tags :p

Just joking about your use of quotes when I had used the expression "don't quote me".

[numptie-boy]

I have never actually heard of a belt failure on any Skoda, but no doubt there has been. I have heard of engine mount failure and it is indeed the bolts snapping that's the cause. Many Dundee taxi's have had this failure and it's because the bolts have not been replaced by so called reputable garages who don't have the first clue what they are doing.

Unfortunately some taxi drivers here are very penny pinching when it comes to repairs and some of their cars are driven to destruction costing far more in the long run!!

[ajex]

My 1.9 TDI Octy service schedule says 150000 kM for toothed belt change .it is March 2007 so despite the mileage I need to change and thats official advice from skoda is it ??

Edited 3 November, 2010 by ajex

[pinkcupra]

My 1.9 TDI Octy service schedule says 150000 kM for toothed belt change .it is March 2007 so despite the mileage I need to change and thats official advice from skoda is it ??

Guys, beware, 2.0TFSI Leon FR, belt replaced along with the rest of the engine after tensioner failure at just short of 17K ( 2.5 yrs old), the £500 pails into insignificance if Mr warranty was not available.

[Tech1e]

I have never actually heard of a belt failure on any Skoda, but no doubt there has been. I have heard of engine mount failure and it is indeed the bolts snapping that's the cause. Many Dundee taxi's have had this failure and it's because the bolts have not been replaced by so called reputable garages who don't have the first clue what they are doing.

Unfortunately some taxi drivers here are very penny pinching when it comes to repairs and some of their cars are driven to destruction costing far more in the long run!!

The bolts dont need replacing on all of them, what is however important that they are tightened to the correct torque with most of the issues coming from over tightened bolts.

[deecee]

Had my cam belt just done 34000 miles . Four years old Octavia VRS 2.0 TFSI £450.00 with water pump and for that obviously collant change at Mitchell Skoda , Cheshire Oaks (No service) . Could have paid £300.00 at Independant but thought I'd pay extra for genuine and guaranteed for two years . Your price seems good though .

Mitchells quoted me £650 for the same job :'( , needless to say i went to a local VAG specialist indy QRsport who did it for £351 using genuine VAG parts

[ajex]

Ok here is the reply from Skoda UK to my query..

..................................

I have been advised by Technical Support that the correct change interval for your cam belt is 95,000 miles or 4 years,

whichever comes first.

Thank you again for contacting Skoda Customer Services.

Kind Regards