Hello, earlier on in the year I had my Fabia MOT'd and serviced at 55,000 miles with no issues, however afterwards on the receipt the mechanic left a note saying it needs its "Timing belt and water pump service at 64,000 miles." I am already at the 60k mile mark and just wanted to know what exactly he meant by "timing belt" since the 1.2TSI uses a chain. Does the chain need to be replaced or is it just a mistake on the mechanics part and it just needs a water pump changed? Thanks

32 minutes ago, WillSmithy said:

Hello, earlier on in the year I had my Fabia MOT'd and serviced at 55,000 miles with no issues, however afterwards on the receipt the mechanic left a note saying it needs its "Timing belt and water pump service at 64,000 miles." I am already at the 60k mile mark and just wanted to know what exactly he meant by "timing belt" since the 1.2TSI uses a chain. Does the chain need to be replaced or is it just a mistake on the mechanics part and it just needs a water pump changed? Thanks

 

Timing chains on the TSI's don't have a specific lifespan or interval change. The car will soon let you know if it needs done either by an unignorably loud tapping from the engine or various error codes. 

 

The waterpump on the other hand I have no idea on this variant on engine.

1 hour ago, WillSmithy said:

Hello, earlier on in the year I had my Fabia MOT'd and serviced at 55,000 miles with no issues, however afterwards on the receipt the mechanic left a note saying it needs its "Timing belt and water pump service at 64,000 miles." I am already at the 60k mile mark and just wanted to know what exactly he meant by "timing belt" since the 1.2TSI uses a chain. Does the chain need to be replaced or is it just a mistake on the mechanics part and it just needs a water pump changed? Thanks

 

It doesn't need anything, the mechanic was 'trying it on' to see if you'd wear it. Avoid.

No specific interval for water pump, but always use the correct anti freeze as some pumps will fail with the wrong type on certain models and as said you will soon know when the chain needs to be looked at, my only advice is keep your oil changed every year and only before this if you go over the mileage interval, this keeps the chain and engine parts in  in good condition

Ok I wont bother changing it then. Thank you both for the advice, much appreciated.

The advise given was for the belt driven version and the mechanic may be just advising or may have been trying it on. Either way, faith in him/her has been diminished. somewhat.

 

It may just have been advise offered to all and sundry as often, MOT stations suggest tyres, brakes, etc are "Half worn" So need en eye kept on them. (More then that, they won't usually say anything). Now, that may well set alarm bells ringing and many owners may just get them changed for safety reasons. Fine if you are happy with that but half worn, still means half left. I am not suggesting you go down to the full limit but 80% worn would be about the level you want to start pricing up and looking at changing parts. At 55,000 miles, some drivers will still have a few years until belts need changing, others a few weeks/months so the advice, if general, was sound. If specific to your model, they were either uninformed or naughty!