Can anyone provide any information about when the Cambelt should be changed on the  Fabia MK3 1.2 TSI, please?

Humm, interesting that you ask that question as someone on the Polo motoring forum was talking about this!

 

The general loose statement, at least in VW world is that this belt needs replacing at 5 yearly intervals or XYK miles, now that is a fact going back maybe to all cars from 2008(maybe) onwards, prior to that it was 4 years or ZYK miles.

 

I read an Erwin documentation covering a modern SEAT Leon and for this engine in a Leon it states that these belts are for the life of the engine or until they start to degrade and should be checked along their full length either first at 6 years or more and checked every or every other year, this extension to the belts life, it stated is due to the change of materials used from what earlier engines were fitted with.

 

I am still a bit concerned about the possible handing out of duff info so that more cars come in for a belt change, honesty might work better as it seems that anyone who is still in the dealer network for servicing are getting the comment this year, for cars in for their year 4 service, that the belt will need replaced next year.

 

What will I do doing if no further and solid advice is being given - I'll be planning to get the belt replaced every 5 years as mileage will not be an issue with our cars.

2 hours ago, SteveSum said:

Can anyone provide any information about when the Cambelt should be changed on the  Fabia MK3 1.2 TSI, please?

 

Steve, welcome to the site.

 

If you check your car owners warranty docs you will find the information regarding the cambelt service life. At least, that's where it was on both my MK3 Fabia's. The 1.2TSI engine come with lifetime cambelts. But my dealer mentioned the belt should be changed at 6 yearly intervals or 60,000 miles. I felt comfortable with that. My Citroen has a lifetime belt which should be changed at 12 years or 128,000 miles. I think that's too long. Best check with your dealer to get the actual Skoda advice. 

Made some enquiries on this issue recently at Skoda UK no less. I am a low mileage user and could not believe that my now four year old 1.2 90 would need a cam belt change next year at around 20k miles and said so. A very nice man phoned me yesterday from them with the low down:- Apparently the five year change recommendation is merely that and not mandatory. They could not originally decide what to tell owners bearing in mind that the belt is probably good for 60k miles but there is always someone who insults his car by driving in dusty or even salt water situations. So they decided to play it safe considering the average driver does 12 - 15k per annum and some much more than that and go for the five year advice. Then I said to him point blank, "What if I leave it for say 7 years?" To which his reply was "Well it's your risk but if you carry on doing 4/5k per annum you will probably be OK."  Guess what, bearing in mind that other manufacturers do indeed talk about 60k miles and more recently some are even saying that it is for the life of the car (possibly due to improvements in belt quality), I will not be shelling out for a new cam belt for a while yet.

I've have just bought an official workshop manual for my wife's 2015 Polo, it is the 2017 version of the official manual, and that really does not suggest anything much wrt the cambelt on these engines other than checking it over its entire length at maybe 60K miles for the first time, it is not part of the service program, only a repair on failure item, which is not too helpful unless it has been spotted to be starting to fail during an extended inspection requested by the owner at extra cost.

 

My wife's 2015 Polo is an 28K miles at almost its 3rd birthday, so I'd like to think that I could leave it until the 8 year mark, but I think that I'll play safe and maybe aim for the 6 year mark - while looking/reading/listening for any earlier horror stories! 

 

I don't plan on relying on being lucky, I'd rather stick with being sensible and spending the belt change money at a good VWG Indie "in time".

I spoke to my dealer about this last monday (8th) when it was in for MOT, they said cam-belts are usually changed at the 6th year but it's mainly depending on the mileage of the car, at their estimated 12K miles per year, that would be about 75k miles.

 

He mentioned with my car currently at 52K just under 4 years old (august 2015 registered), it would most likely be the 6th year service.

Edited 12 July, 20196 yr by FabiaGonzales

My car will be 5 years old in April 2020 the handbook suggests the timing belt should be change by age or milage so far my car has 28K on the clock. My Last car a Skoda 1.9 PD diesel engined estate the timeing belt was changed and also a new water pump fitted at 5 years about 18 months later the water pump seized and the car was towed in. They found the timing belt teeth were almost non existant fortuneately the engine was ok. Can anyone confirm if the waterpump on the Fabia SEL 1.2 TSI 90PS is driven by the timing belt and if so should the pump be exchanged at the same time Joe 

Water pump has a separate belt and is located on the opposite side of the engine, but it's not much more work to change it while changing timing belt. 

 

I personally would leave an old water pump on a low millage car.

Autodata have two intervals listed for the 1.2 TSI CJZC engine.

For the Continental lifetime cam belt it suggests to check at 160,000 and then every 20,000. 😮

For the same engine ( CJZC  1.2 TSI ) is suggests to change at 60,000.

 

Thanks AG Falco

According to workshop manual there are different intervals for different countries. UK is 240.000km and dust rich countries have lower interval at 120.000km

15 hours ago, AGFalco said:

Autodata have two intervals listed for the 1.2 TSI CJZC engine.

For the Continental lifetime cam belt it suggests to check at 160,000 and then every 20,000. 😮

For the same engine ( CJZC  1.2 TSI ) is suggests to change at 60,000.

 

Thanks AG Falco

Makes sense to me (60k miles I mean) especially in view of the fact that other manufacturers also use this figure. E.g. Next door neighbour has a Citroen C4 and changed his belt at, guess what - 62,000 miles with no problems.

On the Peugeot diesel I had it was 140,000 miles or 10 years. I did it at 96,000 miles and 8 years.

Just noticed that at the last MOT they advised on the rear disks. They are only 16 years old with 133,000 miles done.

 

 

It does vary according to the engine, year of manufacture, country, climate, belt fitted and use that the car gets.

 

Thanks AG Falco

23 hours ago, AGFalco said:

Autodata have two intervals listed for the 1.2 TSI CJZC engine.

For the Continental lifetime cam belt it suggests to check at 160,000 and then every 20,000. 😮

For the same engine ( CJZC  1.2 TSI ) is suggests to change at 60,000.

 

Thanks AG Falco

Hi AG Falco how do you find engine type or are all the 1.2TSI fitted with a CJZC engind. My car is April 2015 pre week 22 Joe

iirc either in the owners manual there is a sticker with all the info or if you lift the boot liner there is also a sticker with engine code, paint, gearbox etc. 

16 minutes ago, JoePeddos said:

Hi AG Falco how do you find engine type or are all the 1.2TSI fitted with a CJZC engind. My car is April 2015 pre week 22 Joe

 

The MK2's are CBZx

 

The MK3's are CJZx

 

The x usually denotes variations in mapping and tunes. Usually, with very few exceptions, tuned maps which work on the higher factory tuned engines will work on lower factory tuned engines and produce the same tuned output. (Both the 90/110 1.2s in the MK3 1.2 would reach 130 bhp once tuned)

 

Occasionally there are more significant differences, one may have Variable Valve Timing on intake cam only, where the other has Variable Valve Timing on both Intake and Exhaust cams, in this case a map may not be simply able to be re-used.

 

I read somewhere this was the case with the 1.2 in the Fabia, so i'd probably ask a dealer or two if they could provide any more information.

 

Of course if you're mapping, the best idea is to custom map to each individual car/engine. No engine is alike, and different engines with the same codes can produce different outputs with the same map. One map may be really efficient and powerful on one engine but simply too rich or too advanced timing on another. It's all about keeping within safe limits of all components. Stressing one beyond its limit will end up grenading the engine and destroying everything (and your wallet!)

 I'm sure that it is only the inlet camshaft that has variable timing on all the CJZx, some VW Group marques fit bigger front brakes with the higher power output versions in this car class.

 

Edit:- actually for a DIYer, checking the belt condition every year and also, while the cover is off, checking that the inlet camshaft variable timing pulley is not slackening off and starting to leak is a very good idea. I do that after hearing bad tales of the odd pulley bolts slackening off, costs nothing, does not take much time, and could save you having a serious problem.

Edited 14 July, 20196 yr by rum4mo

2 hours ago, FabiaGonzales said:

No engine is alike, and different engines with the same codes can produce different outputs with the same map. One map may be really efficient and powerful on one engine but simply too rich or too advanced timing on another.

 

They all have the same generic map as standard though and don’t have timing or fueling issues. So how can two engines be different?

1 hour ago, Tech1e said:

 

They all have the same generic map as standard though and don’t have timing or fueling issues. So how can two engines be different?

 

Of course at standard, i was more pointing towards when mapped towards their limits.

 

From factory they are all designed to a set of tolerances, at the stock maps, they'll all perform very similarly, as the tolerances of the maps are quite wide. When you're on the limits of fueling, boost, and timing advance before knock, then the tolerances are much finer.

 

It's kind of similar to how computer processors can be overclocked, one processor might run at 5 GHz using 1.2volt input and run fine, while for another the 1.2v is not enough and the system crashes (or in an engines case, the turbo overheats because it was unable to reach the desired boost pressure or something). They all run near identical at their default speed of say 4GHz at 1volt input, and can do for much of their lives, but when pushed to the limit, some are stronger/better in some ways than others.

Gonzales, you are no doubt talking about 'fits and limits' regarding engine builds at the factory. Not all engines are the same even if it's the exact same model engine. But tolerances these days are much closer on individual engines than they were even 15 years ago with little variance due to machine techniques and tooling advances. So in other words, engines don't differ very much in engine power output. But I get your drift.

On 12/07/2019 at 10:15, rum4mo said:

I've have just bought an official workshop manual for my wife's 2015 Polo, it is the 2017 version of the official manual, and that really does not suggest anything much wrt the cambelt on these engines other than checking it over its entire length at maybe 60K miles for the first time, it is not part of the service program, only a repair on failure item, which is not too helpful unless it has been spotted to be starting to fail during an extended inspection requested by the owner at extra cost.

 

My wife's 2015 Polo is an 28K miles at almost its 3rd birthday, so I'd like to think that I could leave it until the 8 year mark, but I think that I'll play safe and maybe aim for the 6 year mark - while looking/reading/listening for any earlier horror stories! 

 

I don't plan on relying on being lucky, I'd rather stick with being sensible and spending the belt change money at a good VWG Indie "in time".

 

Sorry a typo in that posting, as that car is a 2015 one, so in a couple of weeks it will be its 4th birthday!

I too need to know when to change the cam belt.  As none of the knowledgeable contributors above has been able to give a hard-and-fast answer to the original question, and the car's original documentation doesn't contain the answer, I posed the query to Skoda UK via their online form but nothing whatever came back (how rude).  My nearest main dealer has been clamouring at me to change the cam belt but I am suspicious that they are just drumming up business - I don't see that a 30,000 miles engine on a December 2015 car should need any attention yet.  Or am I just living in a Utopian world where stuff is designed to last a reasonable length of time?

I think that as in most aspects of life, you pay your money and/or take your chances.

 

One thing that I would think that you should consider is, "how long do you plan to keep this car in years as it seems that the average annual mileage is quite low?" - it seems like you might see 6 years as an acceptable change period with your average mileage in mind, if so, if you plan to move this car on before its 12th birthday, then why not just get it replaced within the next 8 months.

 

In my case, "mid life" of ownership of the 2015 Polo will be mid 2022, so I'll probably get the belt changed then.

On 13/07/2019 at 18:02, AGFalco said:

Autodata have two intervals listed for the 1.2 TSI CJZC engine.

For the Continental lifetime cam belt it suggests to check at 160,000 and then every 20,000. 😮

For the same engine ( CJZC  1.2 TSI ) is suggests to change at 60,000.

 

The belt manufacture is Continental and they suggest to check it at 160,000 and then every 20,000

 

The car maker, Skoda, suggest ( In the UK ) you change it at 60,000 or 5 years which ever is the soonest.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

Edited 19 April, 20215 yr by AGFalco
added:- in the UK

On 19/04/2021 at 14:50, GlennC said:

I too need to know when to change the cam belt.  As none of the knowledgeable contributors above has been able to give a hard-and-fast answer to the original question, and the car's original documentation doesn't contain the answer, I posed the query to Skoda UK via their online form but nothing whatever came back (how rude).  My nearest main dealer has been clamouring at me to change the cam belt but I am suspicious that they are just drumming up business - I don't see that a 30,000 miles engine on a December 2015 car should need any attention yet.  Or am I just living in a Utopian world where stuff is designed to last a reasonable length of time?

Glenn, can I remind you of what a man from Skoda technical told me:- It's a "recommendation" not a "must do" because VW like to play ultra safe because of the way some people treat their cars. He also said "You should be good for seven years but I can't officially say that." Also if you look up cam belt change for a Honda it wil currently say 7 years or 75k miles and Honda are known for reliability are they not?  Does this mean that Honda use a much better belt than VW do, I think not and will not be changing my belt until next year (2015 1.2 TSI)

Honda gained, earned and keep a reputation for reliability.  VW tell you they have a reputation for reliability but still have not after a century got the hang of procuring reliable belts, chains, tensioners or even designing door seals or wiring looms passing into doors.   Their latest thing is an issue procuring good software or being able to create their own.     By the 4th generation of the Fabia being produced and about the 7th version allowing for facelifts all should be as good as it can get for Skoda as far as reliability and being able to set out service and maintenance schedules for the UK as well as other World Regions.

Edited 21 April, 20215 yr by e-Roottoot