I’m going to be changing the Cambelt on my mk1 VRS in the next few weeks as there is no evidence of it ever being done in the service history. Apart from the obvious, ie water pump and auxiliary belt, is there anything else worth renewing whilst things are apart? It’s done 180k so was thinking maybe engine mounts? What do you guys think? 

This what I always get replaced:-

Timing Belt

Water Pump

Auxilliary Belt

Timing Belt Tensioner with new Idler Roller

Tensioner Damper

Engine mounting bolts

Usually done every 30 - 40K

Plus replace  some Anti -Freeze you will lose (about 1-2 Litres)

 

Its a bit OTT I know but worth it for peace of mind

 

Edited 28 December, 20178 yr by Silver Bullet

That’s every i was thinking. I’ll probably just do that then. What’s this dog bone mount upgrade everyone talks about? 

Regarding the Dog-Bone bush I did this mod early on soon after I got the car.

As Im sure you know, the problem with front wheel drive cars is, if you "give it the beans"  4 things will happen:-

1/ The front of the car will lift.

2/ You will get "wheel hop" as the engine tries to rotate around the crankshaft thereby flexing the engine mounts to and fro.

3/ There will a loss of traction between road and wheel, lots of wheel spinning and little forward movement, visually iimpressive but a waste of petrol and tyre wear.

4/ The exhaust downpipe will have to flex to accomidate the engine radial movement, and over time I believe cause eventual failure of the pipe

 

The counter to all of the above is to fit a more rigid bushing kit to the dog bone, this is the main anti-torsion arrangement for the engine/gearbox.

I initially fitted a Powerflex bushing kit (yellow), but found the cabin vibration was so bad it made your teeth rattle, tolerated it for 500 miles, but coiuldnt put up with it any more,

so I replaced them with a Superpro dog bone kit (2 parts). The blue polyurethane is slightly more softer ( 80 shore), still gave me slight vibration initially

but more more liveable. Wheel hop is almost non existant.

To do the mod takes about 2 hours (cleaning getting the old bushes out / pressing the front one in, this is the round one at the front.

Superpro part numbers bought from Jabbasport Tuning :-

SPF 2576K......... FRONT DOG BONE BUSH

SPF2577 - 80K....REAR DOG BONE BUSH (80 shore)

 

 

 

Edited 28 December, 20178 yr by Silver Bullet

Old ones wear out so I'm assuming you could also just replace them for a newer one?

Silver bullet, thanks for the info! I might as well change it whilst I’ve got stuff in bits 

dutchboyvw       " Silver bullet, thanks for the info! I might as well change it whilst I’ve got stuff in bits"

 

Good Idea, you will find it a very easy job.

 

HI bspman,

I did exactly that, the OEM bushes are made of rubber and eventually lose thier stiffness.

The front bush (the round one),  you can press out in a std vice or use a long nut and bolt and washers / or sockets as spacers.

The rear one is in 2 parts and is held in place with 2 bolts to the subframe and comes apart quite easily.

Do a search using the above part numbers and you will get a idea of how they look.

Edited 29 December, 20178 yr by Silver Bullet

Will the engine mounts have to be bought from a dealer? Also, is the mount I have to undo when doing the Cambelt the dogbone mount or a different mount?

Hi,

Engine mounts best from a dealer.

Regarding the cam belt  work,  I did watch the work being done (never having done it myself) which was :-

1/ Undo the round engine coolant tank from its mounting, leave hoses attached and rest it on area just in front of the screen.

2/ Undo dog bone bolts (long one that is vertical and the shorter one). Leave the d/bone bolted to the sub frame.

3/ Remove plastic cam belt cover (left of engine)

4/  Support engine from underneath (drivers side) and only undo those engine mount bolts on that side. Buy new ones as they are stretch bolts (one off use).

5/ Jack up engine to give access to cam belt, water pump etc.

Thats all i can remember the mechanic doing.

Good Luck.

Edited 29 December, 20178 yr by Silver Bullet

Here is a post I put up a while ago. A video showing the steps to changing a cambelt and water pump.

 

 

Thanks for your help on this guys. Great forum this is!

On 29/12/2017 at 22:09, Silver Bullet said:

4/  Support engine from underneath (drivers side) and only undo those engine mount bolts on that side. Buy new ones as they are stretch bolts (one off use).

 

VERY important, ^this bit...

 

The PO of my own Octy took it to a garage that reused the mounts. Within a day, the bolts sheared and the engine pivoted sideways, crashing into the side and smashing up the belt, cover, and all the bits on the right hand side. The initial estimate for repairs was "£3800 mate, if yer lucky...!!". He brought (towed) it to my mechanic friend, who is generally quite good about these things, but his own initial assessment was still £800. PO just gave him the key in payment for his time (brief as it was) and decided it was the better deal, since he generally just buys old cars and runs them to the ground whenever he's over here doing work.

A more detailed inspection showed that some parts could be salvaged and others replaced, so £150 later that car became my Christmas present last year!

 

In summary - If you try to reuse the engine mount bolts, you run a high risk of the bolts and/or the mounts snapping... which means I get your piece-of-junk car for free, so only reuse the bolts if you're feeling generous and don't mind walking home from Reading to Ireland!!

 

 

haha ok I’ll make sure I get new bolts