+1

Replacement schedules come from the Service Advisor Cambelt Replacement Guide. This is the only official source for this information and takes into account any differences in different regions/markets. This is produced by Skoda - not Skoda UK.

So what you are saying is that service manuals produced by VAG along with manuas from the VAG training department should be ignored.Makes no sense to me.

Edited 17 October, 201213 yr by freelanderman

So what you are saying is that service manuals produced by VAG along with manuas from the VAG training department should be ignored.Makes no sense to me.

ELSA Win (when it was used) included VIN specific, updated service information via it's online components (not available to cloned copies).

ELSA Win (when it was used) included VIN specific, updated service information via it's online components (not available to cloned copies).

So show us all the document that states 4 year cambelt changes,my version of Elsa Win does service info updates no problem.It is also the latest 2012 version and the same info comes up time and time again for all four versions of vag cars using shared engines.

Edited 17 October, 201213 yr by freelanderman

In the dealer network we use ELSA Pro. An online VAG network that is updated daily. ELSA Win was junked by group some 5+ years ago so any copy you have isn't genuine or up to date no matter what date is printed on it.

I have a copy here of the official publication that is mentioned above by rwbaldin. It is provided by Skoda for the use of service advisors and lists four year intervals for belts.

Things like timing belts deteriorate with mileage and time, they are more stressed when in a transient condition, so more engine starts/stops will stress them more. Inspecting a belt thoroughly is not easy, it takes time and there's not really much point in checking just the belt. How many broken plastic belt pulleys have you seen on a 1.4 16V? Add up the extra cost of these inspections and it'll form a fair proportion of the labour involved in a belt change and just looking at a belt isn't a guarantee that it'll be OK for the next few thousand miles.

I've seen a few belts break at 1/6th of their age limit and a third of their mileage. With something as crucial as a timing belt a sensible age/mileage limit has to be set, so is £100 a year really too much?

Yes, the secret protocol document detailing 4 year belt changes... is it issued by Skoda UK by any chance? Could we have a peek at a scan, it'll be quite easy to determine?

Seeing as no other country asks to replace belt every 4 years and all...

In the dealer network we use ELSA Pro. An online VAG network that is updated daily. ELSA Win was junked by group some 5+ years ago so any copy you have isn't genuine or up to date no matter what date is printed on it.

I have a copy here of the official publication that is mentioned above by rwbaldin. It is provided by Skoda for the use of service advisors and lists four year intervals for belts.

As for my version of Elsa Win not being up to date, the softare is 2012 an contains both tech info on Skoda City Go/VW Up

So please lets all see the documentation that recomends 4 year cambelt changes

Your dealer may show it to you if you ask. I am forbidden however to post copies of such info to the web.

But of course.

Too bad German, Dutch, Czech, Belgian, and Swedish Skoda dealers did not get that memo. These are the ones I asked so far...

Edited 19 October, 201213 yr by dieselV6

Its a shame of all those markets you contacted you didn't think to contact the market you live in and bought your car in.

Skoda UK can be contacted on 08457 745745 (option 4).

They'll happily confirm the four year interval for you.

Troll, troll, troll away gently down the stream...

Your xenophobic remarks will get you nowhere, the whole point of checking dealerships in Europe was because the Skoda UK conned me into 4 year belt change on the Octavia in 2006 and messed up my car's head gasket in the process because head was not refilled properly.

Frankly, I do not want to waste any more time for someone who peddles VAG UK 4 year timing belt con just to line up garages pockets.

Bentley, Elsa, and even good old Haynes manuals do not advise 4 year belt change, just mileage change. Nowhere else in Europe the 4 year belt change is advertised, and it is not in service schedule of even the newest cars. Given that the 4 year belt change con has been going on for at least 6 years, makes it extremely unlikely that Skoda Auto Czech Republic would not have updated the service schedules that come with each car, had it been genuine requirement.

Cut the BS, and never, ever count on any help from me if you have a problem (I helped Jonny5ive only this weekend with HID retrofit advice). Over and out.

Edited 22 October, 201213 yr by dieselV6

I picked up on this thread from a search.

I enjoyed the debate but I must say honest john has come up with, for me, the most sensible answer.

Hence my sharing this bit of sage

 

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/answer/39470/is-my-cam-belt-really-due-a-change-

 

Is my cam belt really due a change?

Is it age or mileage that determines when the belt needs replacing? Audi have just written to say that I need it done now at a cost of ONLY £429.00. This car has done 35K miles from new.

Asked on 16 February 2013 by JC

 

Answered byHonest John

The number of cold starts, because that is when a timing belt undergoes the greatest stress. So a 4,000 mile car that has undergone 2,000 cold starts will be in greater need of a new timing belt than a 40,000 mile car that has undergone 500 cold starts.

 

Honest John suggest 60K for VAG diesels - rightly or wrongly

 

"VAG belts on diesels generally good for 60,000 miles. VAG belts on 1.4 and 1.6 16v have plastic pulleys that fail and need changing every 4 years or 40,000 miles. Early VAG 1.8 20v engines had water pumps with plastic impeller which can fail, throwing off the belt, so belt and water pump should be changed by 60,000 miles."

Cut the BS, and never, ever count on any help from me if you have a problem (I helped Jonny5ive only this weekend with HID retrofit advice). Over and out.

 

Trust me, given your tendency to ignore the obvious, despite being presented with the facts, I won't be asking you for any help or advice 

 

You'll be pleased to know since your last tirade against VAG they've clearly succumbed and extended the interval to 5 years on cars registered after September 2010.

Edited 21 July, 201510 yr by silver1011

Trust me, given your tendency to ignore the obvious, despite being presented with the facts, I won't be asking you for any help or advice 

 

You'll be pleased to know since your last tirade against VAG they've clearly succumbed and extended the interval to 5 years on cars registered after September 2010.

....unless it's a Citigo/Up/Mii which have "long-life" belts. These are first INSPECTED at 160,000m...and no belt change is scheduled at all! Progress, eh?

Confirmed here...

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/267676-cambelt-or-camchain/