Hi,

I have decided to have a go myself (due to silly priced dealer charges)at changing the Cambelt on my '05 1.9tdi PD Octavia and have purchased a Haynes manual.

Everything seems reasonably straightforward to me, however they recommend removing the glowplugs to enable the engine to be turned over easily. Is this necessary?..Can it be done without? I am a bit nervous about taking the glowplugs out because I understand they are a bit delicate/ breakable.

 

Any thoughts , tips, gotcha's on this or the process of changing the belt myself would be greatly appreciated. I do intend to buy the T10050/T10100 locking tools.

 

 

 

 

 

Its not vital... you will still be able to turn the engine but it will be pretty hard to turn it over by hand. Usually made easier by getting a socket on the crank and turning it that way.

 

Or as I have done in the past is to put it in gear and rock the car to turn the engine over and get it near TDC.

 

Phil

It's unnecessary to remove the glowplugs. When I did the belt on my 2.0 PD, it was relatively easy to turn it over, but as Phil says you do need a socket on the crank to do it. 

 

The only tips I would give is to buy a full belt kit (gates or VAG kit) which includes a new tensioner and various replacement nuts and idler rollers and replace all these items too. As your car is 9 years old, I would also replace the water pump while the cam belt is off.....it will only cost you a little extra in parts, but could save you big headaches in future. Also you might as well get a new Aux belt as that has to come off anyway. Definitely don't be tempted to do it without the locking kit, as it's not possible to properly tension the belt without it.    

 

Good luck!

I would try your local TPS for the timing belt kit and water pump etc. they often have deals on towards the end of the month.

Thanks for the advice guys....Much appreciated. Wish me luck!

Don't you need to undo engine mounts and stuff, if you do you need new stretch bolts

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OK guys to those who have followed this thread I thought I would tell you the outcome. Yesterday  I plucked up the courage and did the job.

 

For those who have yet to do it, changing the belt, tensioners and water pump is straightforward and not at all hard using the locking tools etc. The struggle for me (BXC engine) was the removal and refitment of the engine mount, a real PITA. Even after you have got all the bolts undone removing and getting it back in the restricted space is a struggle and took me ages and lots of bad language. I understand that on later engines removal of the mount is not necessary? For the benefit of the last poster I didn't use new bolts. 

 

I chose to use genuine VAG (TPS) CamBelt kit + Water pump and 2 litres of G13 coolant. The total cost after discount was £163. There is £35.35+vat surcharge on the old pump so that brings it down to £121. I used Laser locking tools from ebay £32. The whole job has cost me £153.00.

If I had gone to Europarts I could have probably saved another £50.

I was quoted by my local Skoda dealer £485 to change belt, tensioners and pump, so my Bank account is £332 better off than it would have been going down the dealer route.

Would I do it again...I would say a resounding yes but only after the memory of struggling with that engine mount has faded!

Edited 4 July, 201411 yr by Alan R

The engine mounts are horrendous to remove on both PD and TFSI engines mate. Totally feel your pain, but as you say, there isn't anything to fear doing cambelts, it's all in the tooling and quality of components.

Well done for having a go!

Dale

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Good job.

 

It's very pleasing to have achieved a job like this and saved a load of cash in the process!

 

You can do mine for me in 3 years or 44,000 miles whichever comes sooner

 

Phil