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Cambelt snapped on motorway


Taximark

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Okay, not had any major problems with this car till this...driving on the m180 today and the car lost all power, it was like it ran out of fuel, anyway recovery bloke came out and said it's the Cambelt, was due to change it next week so I guess I'm a bit unlucky that it couldn't wait a few days !

 

My question is will it have caused more serious issues or could I just replace the old belt...didnt make any bang or anything just very quietly lost all power.

 

Appreciate feedback...thanks .

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17 minutes ago, Dr Zoidberg said:

I'm pretty sure the 2.0 TDI is an interference engine, so you'll likely have plenty of damage unfortunately.
I'd expect noise if it was the cambelt going, so it could possibly be something else.

 

 

Not trying to be insulting but as said if the cambelt has gone then I too would have expected the valves and pistons to clash, which is invariably terminal for engines so it is strange that there was no noise. Unless it is not an intervention engine which would surprise me in a modern engine.

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Could need new valves, cams, complete cylinder head. The bottom end usually survives.

 

You need to get the head stripped off and work from there.

 

How many miles and what is the age of the car?

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It's a 2.0 170 engine with nearly 200k on the clock.

I know people might think it's starship mileage but I serviced it every 10k and the engine was like 40k it was sweet as a nut even with 200k on it.

Strange bcz although I've never had a cambelt go on me ever before, I was always under the impression that it went with a bang and it didn't, in fact I didn't even no the engine had cut out, it was only when I tried to accelerate that nothing happened.

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The recovery bloke might be right, but there's a good chance they are wrong too. I have heard of them diagnosing cam belt failure on engines that don't even have cam belts, and insisting on a fault being head gasket 'because they all do that' though the fault was entirely different (fuel pump from memory). I also had one get funny with me when my clutch hydraulics went and I got it ready to put on the truck. 'I might be able to replace the clutch cable' he said. Hmm.

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15 hours ago, Taximark said:

Okay, not had any major problems with this car till this...driving on the m180 today and the car lost all power, it was like it ran out of fuel, anyway recovery bloke came out and said it's the Cambelt, was due to change it next week so I guess I'm a bit unlucky that it couldn't wait a few days !

 

My question is will it have caused more serious issues or could I just replace the old belt...didnt make any bang or anything just very quietly lost all power.

 

Appreciate feedback...thanks .

When the car stopped did you try to start the engine? if so did it turn over?

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Yeah tried to start it and it just wouldn't start, sounded like no fuel but there was and it quickly went flat (battery)

When the recovery bloke came and asked me to turn it over it tried again but sounded totally different is if it was just turning. 

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10 minutes ago, chimaera said:

The TDI is an interference engine. If the cambelt snaps it's going to stop hard with a bang and won't turn over again. This does not sound anything like a timing belt breaking.

My Honda was also an interference engine (obviously or the valves wouldn't have bent) and behaved exactly as the OP described. The size of the "bang" will depend on the size of the valves (generally quite thin stems these days) and once bent further contact is minimal so will allow engine to turn but won't make much if any additional noise.

Obviously I hope it is something simpler/cheaper

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Belt was changed 2 yrs ago at 85k it's now done 196k so due ...however Skoda today say it's every 4 to 5 or 140k miles which I find too high although I've left it too high imho.

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7 hours ago, Taximark said:

It's a 2.0 170 engine with nearly 200k on the clock.

I know people might think it's starship mileage but I serviced it every 10k and the engine was like 40k it was sweet as a nut even with 200k on it.

Strange bcz although I've never had a cambelt go on me ever before, I was always under the impression that it went with a bang and it didn't, in fact I didn't even no the engine had cut out, it was only when I tried to accelerate that nothing happened.

 

No you don't hear a big bang when the vlaves are squished/bent - there is far too much soundproofing to drown out the normal noise of the diesel going bang.

 

You need to double check if the cam belt has failed. Note sure with this engine but can you see any cam lobes on these through the oil filler to see if they turn when someone cranks the engine - if not try and unclip the upper cover of the cam belt to view the cam pulley.

 

I've had two fail and got away with it.

1) Ford Capri 2.0 - was just like running out of fuel

2) Octavia 1.416v at 56k (I still own this at 120k)  - This engine is an inteference engine but the plastic pulleys were failing and hadn't fully thrown the belt off (car was still in warranty anyway and the change interval was 110k at the time (later revised to 40k by VAG)

 

A friend at work had a cambelt fail on a Golf 1.416v (same engine as my Octavia). It had some bent valves - but was fine after a partial head rebuild (no piston damage)

 

Could be worth taking the head off (once diagnosed!) - However at your mileage - is it worth considering a second hand engine?

 

 

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I would start looking for a new (used) engine, might be more economically viable than having to pay for a load of labour to strip the head off to find it needs a new head, cams, valves and all the work that goes into building it back up.

 

I snapped a timing belt on a 306 and tried cranking it over a fair bit afterwards, it smashed the head to pieces as the valves had tried to push the cam out of the top of the engine, everything in the top end was scrap

Edited by SuperbTWM
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20 hours ago, Taximark said:

Belt was changed 2 yrs ago at 85k it's now done 196k so due ...however Skoda today say it's every 4 to 5 or 140k miles which I find too high although I've left it too high imho.

Thanks, looks like it's failed due to mileage rather than age, even so you're only just at the mileage limit (just under 180,000km)

Good luck with it.

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6 hours ago, Taximark said:

Just seen a 15 plate superb 170 elegance estate with 27k on it and dealer wants 14,995.

Could be tempted and just get mine repaired them sold .

 

just noticed you username, has it been a taxi by any chance?

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On 9/3/2017 at 02:23, Taximark said:

Belt was changed 2 yrs ago at 85k it's now done 196k so due ...however Skoda today say it's every 4 to 5 or 140k miles which I find too high although I've left it too high imho.

 

Sorry to hear about the car, good luck with the fix/replacement. It does make me nervous about our car (160,000kms) 7 years old.... and on the original belt. We are planning a big road trip at Xmas and I hadn't intended on replacing the belt before then. Given yours went at 180,000kms I might change my mind and get it done early!

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13 hours ago, williamshatnerspants said:

 

Sorry to hear about the car, good luck with the fix/replacement. It does make me nervous about our car (160,000kms) 7 years old.... and on the original belt. We are planning a big road trip at Xmas and I hadn't intended on replacing the belt before then. Given yours went at 180,000kms I might change my mind and get it done early!

From Taximark's figures that's slightly under 180,000kms, unless you intend to offload the car before you get the belt changed I'd be doing it now.  What's the point in waiting?

I feel like I'm living on borrowed time as I'm over time (5 years) although well under distance.  Your post makes me feel a little better as your belt is (way) older than mine and well up on miles.  I've got it booked in for 19th of this month, don't agree with it but must be worth it for peace of mind.

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@Taximark - Get the cam cover off and look to see if the camshaft has broken. If it hasn't you could try a new belt and see what happens, but I'd not be surprised to find any or all of bent valves, chipped pistons, bent conrods and even a bent or broken crankshaft even if the camshaft and head have survived.

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8 hours ago, Gdcobra said:

From Taximark's figures that's slightly under 180,000kms, unless you intend to offload the car before you get the belt changed I'd be doing it now.  What's the point in waiting?

I feel like I'm living on borrowed time as I'm over time (5 years) although well under distance.  Your post makes me feel a little better as your belt is (way) older than mine and well up on miles.  I've got it booked in for 19th of this month, don't agree with it but must be worth it for peace of mind.

Yes, thats how I feel too. The point in waiting is that if I followed Skoda UK's recommendation I'd be coming up to my second cam belt replacement not my first ;o) which costs nearly 800 GBP to do down here in NZ (including water pump, etc). I've booked our in now. ;o) 

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10 minutes ago, williamshatnerspants said:

Yes, thats how I feel too. The point in waiting is that if I followed Skoda UK's recommendation I'd be coming up to my second cam belt replacement not my first ;o) which costs nearly 800 GBP to do down here in NZ (including water pump, etc). I've booked our in now. ;o) 

Yeah, I'm not happy with the fact we have to change at age or mileage as I've said before but I eventually figured that I'm probably going to have to get this changed once during my ownership so may as well do now and get all the advantage of it.  If I still have the car in 4 years time it will probably have about 50-60k miles more on so if I feel like keeping it I'll just run it until something fails rendering it uneconomic to repair, if it's the cam belt so be it.  Car will have paid for itself by then anyhow all being well.

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