Hi,

It is 5 years since Midlands VW replaced the cambelt on my BBZ 1.4 16v. Mileage since the change approx 40K. 
I was not going to get it changed as there could be a new car on the horizon and most of my mileage at the moment is fairly local. 
However, we have been invited to my niece's wedding which will be a 500 mile round trip.  
I have inspected the belt which is probably an INA as that is what Midlands VW will use when I enquired last month. The belt looks fine with no obvious cracks etc. 

 

So I’m not asking should I get it changed, it is more about your experiences of not having it done and what sort of age / mileage did you reach with no problems. 
 

At £565 to replace both belts and water pump, it is more than the car is worth as that has done 120k miles total.

 

All thoughts welcome!

I guess you had a good look down towards waterpump?

I did mine on my 1.4/16v Polo over Christmas, just cos it had been ten years since belt kit and waterpump were done last (at VW). Only maybe 50k miles in that time, maybe even less..

 

Everything was  still functionally OK, but the waterpump seal to block had been leaking, for a long time.

Worth looking for any similar residue.

 I had noticed nothing visually from outside the lower cover, surprisingly. Guess it was leaking slowly enough to all evaporate in there.

Thank you for getting back to me Pete. 
I did have a good look round and did not see anything to cause concern. 
However, now you mentioned it, I’ll look again in that area. 
The coolant level never alters so I may be OK. 
In fact the oil level never changes either. 
This car just keeps on going. I fixed most things a couple of years ago.
In comparison to my wife’s TT 2.0T that has cost a fortune recently. I’d get rid but she likes it. 

10 minutes ago, prt57 said:

The coolant level never alters so I may be OK. 

Yeah, that pretty much rules out a similar problem. I wasn't losing a lot, and there were a couple of other suspect (pipework/joints) spots that I'd blamed 'til I saw that.

I’ve just been to check the water pump area and everything looks brand new down there!!

Another check on the cambelts and I cannot see any evidence of cracking or deterioration. 
 

Has anyone else done mega mileage or many extra years between cambelt changes?

225000 miles on MK1 Octavia 1.9Tdi, at that inspection I could see that the belt plies were beginning to separate.

 

150K miles on a MK2 Octavia PD engine that puts additional stresses on the belt and no signs of degradation.

 

I'm currently at 140 something K miles and 10 years on the 2.0 Tdi Yeti but VAG have now increased the service limit to 150K miles I believe, I am going to start inspections now.

 

 

If there's no signs of any damage and especially no sign of oil contamination then the belt will be fine, the reason is that the cambelt has very light duty due to the roller rocker valve gear putting very little stress on it. I've not heard of a cambelt failure on any 1.4 petrol engine in all the years I've been here. You'll be fine.

29 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

If there's no signs of any damage and especially no sign of oil contamination then the belt will be fine, the reason is that the cambelt has very light duty due to the roller rocker valve gear putting very little stress on it. I've not heard of a cambelt failure on any 1.4 petrol engine in all the years I've been here. You'll be fine.

This is reassuring, thank you for your thoughts. 

I gambled my high mileage Octy2005 TDi had 3 or more belts by meand when it was costing more than I could sell it for I decided not to change. I did no inspections on mine at all. Sold at 265k. The replacement recommended was 4 years or 85k whichever sooner. For mine. 

Reckon if the belt looks ok an it was fitted by a VW garage it should be upto OEM spec and decent quality. I change mine around 5 years but have gone as much as 6 if the mileage is low for the belt. After that I think the age of the belt would worry me. If it was a DIY job using a cheap belt then it would be another matter. I have come accross a few cheap ones that are ready to go after only three years. Take it easy and you should be ok.

Alasdair

I've just bought a 2019 Octavia estate with 90K miles on the clock and I have since put another 1K on. Service history offers no indication that the cambelt has ever been changed (ex lease) so I have it booked in for next month to be on the safe side. This was reflected in the purchase price. I've read that some countries suggest 210k km as a lifespan for the cambelt, while the UK recommendation is 5 yrs or 60k miles (I think). I am unsure if this offers anyone reassurance to anyone. I'm moderately sceptical of past service histories, so would likely get certain things like this done fairly sharpish anyway.

There seems to be a huge difference in cambelt changing advice. If it costs you £300 and you work out how much per mile its cost you its 0.5pence per mile over 60,000. I change mine every 5 years or 60,000. I have always used Gates kits.  0.5p per mile is a lot cheaper or in my case works out about £1-00 a week than a new engine.

Alasdair

Alasdair, I will post (if I remember) at the end of March what it cost me and then it will be fun to speculate. It's one of those things, isn't it, where you can keep eeking out a £700 bill (or whatever) that one keeps delaying, until it becomes a £3+K bill because you chanced it but there was no way of knowing when it would all go teets up and you gambled wrongly on this occasion. 

18 minutes ago, LightlySalted said:

until it becomes a £3+K bill because you chanced it but there was no way of knowing when it would all go teets up

 

Visual inspections are all that is needed, you get plenty of warning, earliest that I have replaced a belt was 225k miles.

25 minutes ago, LightlySalted said:

Alasdair, I will post (if I remember) at the end of March what it cost me and then it will be fun to speculate. It's one of those things, isn't it, where you can keep eeking out a £700 bill (or whatever) that one keeps delaying, until it becomes a £3+K bill because you chanced it but there was no way of knowing when it would all go teets up and you gambled wrongly on this occasion. 

I do mine myself. Bought the locking tools etc. My Gates kit including pump etc was £90-00 plus new coolant and replaced alternatorr belt at same time. and an oil change etc Took a while the first time. Interesting to see what a garage will charge, When I changed it the old belt was still good but the tensioner/pully had a bit of play.

Alasdair

I started driving diesels in 1998, in the 27 intervening years I have replaced one cam belt costing £8 at 225K miles, I did not change the waterpump, tensioner or idler bearings as back then if the OE stuff was still in perfect nick at that mileage it was likely to outlive anything which replaced it, I can't say with certainty that the same would apply today.

 

I regularly visually inspect the belt condition and the position of the tensioner.

 

I have the locking tools but still yet to use them, when the time comes I either will not be able to find them or will find they are not compatible with my current engine.

I had what looked like an original belt replaced on a 15 year old, 160k, Ibiza TDI replaced a few years ago, 2 days after I'd done a track day in the car. The mechanic was a VW specialist and was pretty sure the whole kit was factory. 

 

When the belt came off, it hadn't actually broken, but it had cracks behind every tooth and holes in it. The tensioners were all grating when you spun them. The water pump was full of limescale. So yeah, it is possible to get away with it. I really, really wouldn't recommend trying it though 🤣

I agree with OE stuff lasting well. Problem is the new OE doesn't seem to last anywhere as near as long as the original even if you get it from Skoda. Never bothered on my old volvo 940 as they were non interference engines. Snapped one once and did no damage. I suppose if you have the car from new you know whats been fitted. Had a Toyota lucida which had a Sunny belt (I assume cheap chinese rubbish)  fitted by previous owner. No way of inspecting it either. It was only 3 years old and completely cracked and worn. Dodged a bullet that day.

Alasdair

 

1 hour ago, StevesTruck said:

The water pump was full of limescale.

More fool you for topping up the cooling system with hard water then.

Or one of the many dubious previous owners. I only use the finest Lidl Spring to dilute coolant. 

On 26/02/2025 at 13:08, Alasdair1 said:

I do mine myself. Bought the locking tools etc. My Gates kit including pump etc was £90-00 plus new coolant and replaced alternatorr belt at same time. and an oil change etc Took a while the first time. Interesting to see what a garage will charge, When I changed it the old belt was still good but the tensioner/pully had a bit of play.

Alasdair

If I had any ability to do this myself (skill/knowledge/tools/time) I'd enjoy giving it a go. As I don't I rely on a local mechanic and hope I'm not getting screwed for it. With that, I've had the car back from the garage now so I can answer your question and I can find out how much I've been fooled - just shy of £800:

Cambelt kit £184.00 (04L198119K)

Water pump £132.50

Aux Belt £29.45

Anti-freeze £18.00

Labour £300

Plus VAT.

Just to update you all, I’ve just returned from my 539 mile journey with my overdue cambelt and I’m pleased to say everything is fine and no need to call out the RAC!

On inspecting the belt, there is no difference compared to before the journey.

So maybe they do keep on going.

As an additional bit of information, at the wedding we went to, I was chatting about this to my nephew and he told me that recently he took in his diesel Golf to an independent for a cambelt due to the years, not mileage.

They sent him away saying the years guidance had now been deleted and just on mileage now.

Has anyone else heard about this as if this is incorrect, the garage turned away a paying customer?

VAG CAMBELT REPLACEMENT INTERVAL CHANGE - General Automotive Chat - BRISKODA

Lots of stuff about it all over the forum in the last 19 months or so.

Good news for most folk who were binning perfectly good timing kits every 5 years, at their own expense, for no particular reason.

Edited 24 March, 20251 yr by Breezy_Pete

Interesting stuff. My PD130 belt is 4 years or 40k. This summer it will be 4 years but only 20k miles.

I was honestly dreading the price hike over the £550 I paid in 2021 so if an inspection will suffice...well that's great news!