hi all can anyone tell me how difficult the 3 cylinder  cambelt is to do? been looking for a diy talk through but can't find one anywhere? thanks

 Depends how handy you are on the spanners, basically the same as the 4 cylinder, with the advantage of much more space to work in. I used the following to change the belt on both out Mk1 and Mk2 1.4 TDI's. I didn't even need to remove the arch liner due to the extra room available.

 

 

Edited 6 March, 20179 yr by KeithCheetham

thanks very much i think i can do this but would have to order the lock tools. did you need to jack the engine up slightly to take the weight off the engine mount to remove it?

 

Yes you have to support the engine when you take the engine mount off, just be carefull where you jack from as the sump is aluminium and you could crack it easily. One of the hardest parts is making sure that you wind the tensioner the correct way - take photos before you slacken the old one off as the instructions that came with my timing belt kit were vague.

 Assume that you are replacing the water pump also.

yes water pump being done at same time. would a piece of wood underneath help? I've watched a few videos on the pd engine belt being done all be it not the 3 cylinder so i take it its easier if you remove the front wheel and arch liner to clear view of the crank and pulley?

also is there anything like soundproofing that can help with the noise from this thing? the engine noise in the cabin is ridiculous and I'm actually thinking of selling it if i can't do anything with it. the longer i have it the more its driving me mad!  also this is the 70bhp model and it seems very lacking in torque infact power in general and i heard the 80 was better? i have also seen a few tuning boxes that claim about 15-20 bhp increase which would bring this at least inline if not above the 80 and would imagine give the 70 that bit of drivability it lacks? thanks for the replies keith

 

Edited 7 March, 20179 yr by richie1971

 Didn't remove the arch liner as the gearbox is in the same place so the engine is 1 cylinder shorter on the cam belt side giving much more room. Didn't think the Mk2 was supplied in 70 bhp form, but I had a 70bhp Mk1 and we have a 80bhp Mk2 and they are like night/day - the 80bhp is so much quicker as there is a torque hike (30lb/ft?) as well as the extra 10bhp.