Hi people

I've got a 2009 Superb, FDSH, 65k. Last week, the fanbelt let go, debris from the shredding fanbelt got into the cambelt/pulley, and basically lunched the head - camshaft is a goner. My local non-Skoda garage is quoting me £2100-£2500 for a recon head with cambelt inc vat and labour. And that's assuming there's no damage to the bottom end.

Now, given that the car was serviced a few months back, I'm wondering if anyone else had similar problems, and whether I should chase my local Skoda shop which did the last service for any comeback. Any advice, or even sympathy, would be much appreciated.

You have plenty of sympathy from me!!

That sounds really bad. Didn't realise a fan belt could do all that damage?? It sounds almost as bad as a Cambelt snapping?

I would definatley go to your local Skoda garage and have a word.

Doesn't sound good at all, especially at 65k miles.

As above, would go back and "discuss" with your local agent/Skoda who completed the service. Not sure what the specifics are regarding the fanbelt, probably just a visual inspection which couldn't be proved either way.

Even though your car is outside of warranty, you stand a better chance of getting a goodwill contribution from SUK as you have a full Skoda service history. Would you reasonably expect a fan belt to go so soon after an inspection? And in the event of failure would you expect it to cause catastrophic failure of the engine? I think the answer to both of these is "no, you wouldn't reasonably expect that to happen".

Get your local dealer onside, and they then need to present your case to SUK. Good luck.

Fan belts ( Generator Belts) can snap at any time, even after an inspection, I doubt any dealer or garage will remove the belt to examine it, if they removed it they would certainly not refit it to the vehicle.To try and turn the engine to examine the belt is absolutely useless as the whole surface cannot be seen. The most causes of belt failure were readjusting the tension on a service, many vehicles now have automatic adjusters which in theory require no manual adjusting.Over 40 years in the trade I have had new belts snap some after just a few miles, if a belt became very slack I would never adjust the tension but fit a new belt, despite customer complaints about the cost

It is very possible that a broken belt will jam the camshaft, only vehicles with an enclosed cambelt have better protection, but if the camshaft is jammed goodbye engine, damage will have occured throughout the unit and replacement is the only safe outcome. Not wanting to cause more alarm but if your engine jammed solid you will quite possibly have damaged the entire drive chain to the wheels, gearbox diff etc.

we had a belt go after just 12,000 miles / 14 months after a new one had been fitted to a 5 cylinder Volvo V70... we would probably have been better off leaving the original on..!

Al.

Right, an update.

My beloved Superb is back on the road, at a cost of just over £2600. Fortunately, there was no damage to the bottom end. The repairs were carried out by the local garage, as Skoda offered me a 10% goodwill discount, which even the guy at Skoda customer services said wasn't worth it - it'd be cheaper getting the locals to do it.

And now for the interesting bit.

The local garage have diagnosed the original cause of the failure as a leaking diesel filter housing. Leaking diesel weakened the fanbelt which failed, and then, crunch! They further told me that this filter leak is a known problem with Skodas with the same engine, so much so that the local factors keep four camshaft kits in stock for a local taxi firm's fleet of Octavias running PD140s, though the problem usually occurs at higher mileages.

So, I think I shall be talking to Skoda again. Anyone ever hear anything about these filters/housings being dodgy?

Before you even go to Skoda you need the original housing and belt. Then you can expect them to give you the brush off and you almost certainly will need to take this to small claims court. I expect you will win judging by what you are saying but you will need to get 'experts' who can verify what you are saying.

I would expect Skoda to fold long before it got to that point and pay up your bill plus expenses.

Where the valves bent???.

If not the whole job should have cost no more than £800 and thats being generous

I had the cam shaft go on my Octavia, cost all in £630, for hardened cam, lifters oil change, and gaskets

Anyone ever hear anything about these filters/housings being dodgy?

I think this is the identical part that was in my last car, a Passat 140 diesel and there was nothing wrong with it before it went for a service.

The guys(monkeys would be a better name) at the VW garage that serviced the car probably prised it open with a flat head screwdriver to separate the top part so they could get the new filter in,

By the time I got back from the garage (15 miles) I smelled fuel and on opening the bonnet was greeted by the site of the area around the filter saturated in fuel.

Since I went back almost immediately, they put their hands up and admitted it. A first in 32 years of owning cars for me, and yes I trust none of them.

They fixed it and cleaned up, but would they have admitted it if I went back, say a week later? I think not.

Since I treat all mechanics with suspicion (sorry I can't help it) , I would be looking at the possibility that they in fact broke the filter housing.

Raymond.

Edited 4 April, 201313 yr by smiffy64

You have my sympathy. I had a similar problem recently on my second car, a Vectra. It was due a cam belt so I had it changed and as a preventative measure I had the water pump replaced at the same time. Bad idea, the replacement pump failed after less than 10k miles. I was very lucky in that it leaked all its water all over the floor and I had to call out the RAC. the bearing going in the pump had caused the belt to be running off line and was only a few miles from letting go. The company that produced the replacement pump went into liquidation in the mean time so I ended up paying for the job twice.

Sometimes, if it ain't broke, don't try and fix it.