Hi guys,

 

wonder if you could offer some advice:

 

in order to change the cam belt, would the engine need to be removed from an 54 plate Octavia?  If so, I assume this means that the engine would be detached from the engine mountings for removal?

 

Sorry, don't really know a lot about cars... so just looking for guidance.

 

 

Thanks

Tony

Edited 29 April, 201412 yr by TonyPark

The engine nose mount needs to be removed because it's through the belt.

 

You need to support but not remove the engine. As a "newbie newbie" i guess you don't know that replacing the water pump when you're changing the cam belt is good preventative maintenance, particularly with the 1.8T engine.

 

Or that you can probably get the job done by an independant specialist for about £350 for all parts inc pump, labour, retiming the injection afterwards (particularly important for diesels) and Clueless George's Cut.

It's not necessarily a particularly taxing job but the consequence of getting it wrong I would have though would make it worth paying someone else to do it. If they stuff it up - they pay to put it right!

Hi guys,

 

thanks - we did get someone else to do the job, 3 weeks ago, and they changed the water pump too, at the same time :-)

 

The problem is, that my wife was going over a speed bump near her sisters, she says slowly, and the engine mountings gave way.  So we're just wondering, if this may be related to the work that was done for the cam belt etc.  They did fail to clip some air pipes back on correctly, and we had to turn round and drop the car off again overnight for this to be sorted, so needless to say, the wife is suspicious that this has taken place so soon after the cam belt.

 

We think the engine is fine, apart from the oil sump, as it was still driveable (just) so she could limp round to her mums, to call the breakdown service.

 

Thanks

Tony

Was it the engine mount or the bolts? Some of the bolts are stretch bolts and must be replaced each time the mount is unbolted.

Hi,

 

not sure, the wife said that the RAC man had said it was the engine mount... but he could have been generalising.

 

Thanks

Tony

Depending on just how closely he looked, he could have taken the mount having shifted as meaning that it rather than the bolt(s) had broken.

 

Best advice now is to get a good mechanic not associated with the firm that did the cambelt to have a look and give you an engineer's report specifying:-

1. What has actually broken. This should state if it's the mount in which case I'd have to say "one of those things" or the bolt(s) in which case I'd say there was contributary negligence, particularly given the issue with the pipework, and double particularly if the broken bolts are stretch bolts. As above, stretch bolts need replaced every time they're undone.
2. Consequent damage. You've said about the sump having hit the road. This also suggests a chance that the crank pulley may have done so. If it has, I also find myself wondering about the possibility of the crankshaft and/or its thrust bearings having been shocked.

It's quite possible for the engine to drop up to three inches at the cambelt end if the bolts snap/work their way out. I've seen several cases where the engine has dropped and then the sump has hit something. Don't assume it is the other way around. What I suspect the RAC man has seen is the engine dropped on the driver's side.

Hi i've done many cambelts on skoda's and find it extremely suspicious that the engine has dropped due to the engine mountain - new bolts should be torqued up if this was correct there is no way the engine would just drop at a speed bump- the only time the engine is designed to do this is in a high speed crash where the engine is designed to be pulled under the bulkhead not in the passenger compartment. Tell the dealer to sort it out or you will go to trading standards. Regards Mark

Make sure that the engine block is examined for damage. I've seen several cases where part of the block is snapped off as the bolts work themselves out.

Hi guys,

 

thanks for all your help and suggestions - the garage has now sorted out the bolts, and replaced any that were removed, they've also replaced the oil sump foc.

 

They say that they've also checked over all the parts mentioned during the history of the thread, and that everything else is fine.

 

We're just going to watch for any leaks, strange noises, feelings and obviously bits that drop off...

 

 

Thanks again, really appreciate all the advice and support!

 

Tony