going a little over 80,000 miles on timing belt

my car has just hit 80,000 miles but i will not have the money to get the timing belt done at the dealer right now, will be about 2 more weeks. I have to drive about 500 miles this weekend and am a little scared that my car will have 81,000 miles on it. am i being silly? has anyone gone over? how much over? i looked at my belt as good as i could and didnt see any rips or tears or anything like that

Only thing I'd say is silly is letting a dealer do the job...

well i emailed a bunch of people in minnesota and around here in florida (was just in minnesota so i was going to do it up there) and no one replied so... yeah

TB Change

Batman,

I just bought an '03. It had 132,000 miles on the original TB. I bought it and parked it in the garage until I got an appointment made with a Guru. Luckily I got a hold of Jason of JasonTDI and he did an awesome job on mine! I was shaking in my boots all the way to his place. I seriously considered trailering the car to him. Get yours done by a guru now.
Just my 2 cents worth.

Doug.

BatmanMN_M said:

my car has just hit 80,000 miles but i will not have the money to get the timing belt done at the dealer right now, will be about 2 more weeks. I have to drive about 500 miles this weekend and am a little scared that my car will have 81,000 miles on it. am i being silly? has anyone gone over? how much over? i looked at my belt as good as i could and didnt see any rips or tears or anything like that

Click to expand...

batman, what kind of car is it? Is it fitted with a 100k mile belt

Don't sweat it. If it's the 2003 listed in your profile, it's rated for 100K miles.

03 manual sedan
and it will go 100,000 miles? i thought it was rated for 80,000?

100k miles. What are you worrying about?

Batman,

Like others have said, you should be all set because 03s have 100k rated belt.
But, one footnote to that- listen for noises. If you're hearing metalicy, chirping, squeaking, whooshing noise from passenger side front when the car is cold, you could have a failing tb tensioner bearing, or idler bearing.
In that case, you would need to have the belt changed earlier.
I have an '03, and I had to have mine changed at 68k miles for this very reason.

dieseldorf said:

100k miles. What are you worrying about?

Click to expand...

Am I missing something here or is the following paste from TDI FAQ out of date?
"The replacement interval varies depending upon model but is generally 96,000 km for manual transmission models for the 2001 and prior model years, and 64,000 km for automatic transmission modeis for the 2001 and prior model years, and 128,000 km for 2002 model year regardless of transmission. The 2002 model has an updated belt and tensioner design which may be retrofitted to A4-chassis models of prior years to take advantage of the extended change interval provided that both the belt and tensioner are replaced. "

I am replacing my TB soon because of the above. If indeed the replacement interval is now greater that will suit me just fine. Thanks... Don

2003 had an additional upgrade to the large idler pulley, thus making the 2003 and onward 100,000 miles. The pulley being the only change from the 2002-2003 model year, everything else is identical with the exception of a few harmonic balancers, but that was limited production and the 2004 PD went back to the old style damper...go figure.

DB

I had a mecano from VW stealearhip do the timing belt on my Golf 1999.5 TDI with oem parts, since he did it as a side job, i have asked him many times personally how many miles the timing belt would last, and he has not been able to give me a straight answer,,, does anyone know how many miles they go on,,, I already have 45,000 miles on it, I am so sorry to ask this dumb question to all of you, thanks for all your replies.

Manual or automatic ?

If 4 speed automatic - you're already 5000 miles overdue

If 5 speed manual, you're good until 60,000 miles from the last change.

In both cases - switch to the newer 2003 parts, then both are good for 100,000 miles until the next TB change (subject to what basskleff said in his post)

Drivbiwire said:

2003 had an additional upgrade to the large idler pulley, thus making the 2003 and onward 100,000 miles. The pulley being the only change from the 2002-2003 model year, everything else is identical with the exception of a few harmonic balancers, but that was limited production and the 2004 PD went back to the old style damper...go figure.

DB

Click to expand...

Without beating this thing to death, what do I need to do to my 2001 ALH to make it a 100,000 mile change interval or is that even possible with this engine and model year? It goes without saying that a new water pump will be installed anyway regardless of the interval as the engine currently has 223,000 km ($138,600 miles). Thanks for your responses. ..........Don

The original belt on my 2000 Jetta TDI was not changed until it had 85,471 miles on it. Looked great! At the next change, 167,687 (82,216 miles), I changed all the rollers and water pump........ no issues! (Changed tensioner each time).

A friend of mine (some here in the club know the story), had the original TB to strip teeth off on his 99.5 New Beetle at 105k miles. He purchased the Beetle used (65k miles on it) from a VW dealer. The dealer assured him that the TB had been changed at 60k. Go figure......... 75% past the recommended change interval (assuming the 99.5s had 60k mile belts)!

reiddo1 said:

Without beating this thing to death, what do I need to do to my 2001 ALH to make it a 100,000 mile change interval or is that even possible with this engine and model year? It goes without saying that a new water pump will be installed anyway regardless of the interval as the engine currently has 223,000 km ($138,600 miles). Thanks for your responses. ..........Don

Click to expand...

__. Don, you need a "100K" belt kit (these are the '03 MY parts) from one of the online suppliers - I've bought kits from World-Impex and Diesel-Geek; both very satisfactory experiences. Be sure to specify the non-OEM metal-impeller waterpump. Once you've put the components from the '03 MY spec on your car, it's good for 100K miles from that point.

__. I like to change all the components that the belt touches (except the "gears" - toothed cogs on the cam, crank and I-pump) if I'm expecting that install to go 100K miles. The "deluxe" kits have all these parts you'll need.

Thanks for all the replys, I assumed it was 80,000 because of the FAQ as well (maybe a tiny *note* is appropriate).

Start planning for the time that your timing belt will need to be replaced...

Make contact with whatever regional Guru happens to be most convenient...

A slightly earlier change is not a bad idea (the bearing on one of rollers went very bad in a very short while at 94500 miles on my 2003), so pay attention to those noises mentioned above... as well, keep an eye on your coolant level... the water pumps have been known to die on these cars as well...

(BTW: there are a number of highly regarded people in FL for this... one in Tampa, one in Jacksonville, another near Ft. Lauderdale... you can find parts kits at some of the vendors on this site... they all contain all the needed components...)

All the best,

Yuri.

Without beating this thing to death, what do I need to do to my 2001 ALH to make it a 100,000 mile change interval or is that even possible with this engine and model year? It goes without saying that a new water pump will be installed anyway regardless of the interval as the engine currently has 223,000 km ($138,600 miles). Thanks for your responses. ..........Don

Click to expand...

The parts that were updated from the 60k/40k to the 80k setup are the belt and tensioner.
The only part updated from the 80k setup to the 100k setup is the big roller.
You would want to change all the rollers and the water pump too.

I have 126,500 miles on my original TB. meganuke is going to be changing mine here very shortly

AndyBees said:

The original belt on my 2000 Jetta TDI was not changed until it had 85,471 miles on it. Looked great! At the next change, 167,687 (82,216 miles), I changed all the rollers and water pump........ no issues! (Changed tensioner each time).

A friend of mine (some here in the club know the story), had the original TB to strip teeth off on his 99.5 New Beetle at 105k miles. He purchased the Beetle used (65k miles on it) from a VW dealer. The dealer assured him that the TB had been changed at 60k. Go figure......... 75% past the recommended change interval (assuming the 99.5s had 60k mile belts)!

Click to expand...

YMMV.

I HIGHLY don't recomend this length of mileage on a 60K belt. Why bring it up? Dealers are still installing them. Change them when they are supposed to be done. Looks have zero to do with it.

reiddo1 said:

Without beating this thing to death...

Click to expand...

Aw... why not beat it to death???

You'll find that all the online suppliers to be found here will automatically supply you with the 2003-model-year parts, unlike your friendly local VW dealer and most of the import shops / garages that order the parts from them... with very few exceptions, most will happily give you the same 96,000 km belt system that came on the car (unless you have an automatic... 64,000 km for those...), and you'll probably have to argue with them for them to also replace the 3 idlers and at least 5 "stretch" bolts...

In Canada, many of us buy our parts from Brian Harrison, who for some reason doesn't include the serpentine belt in his "deluxe" kit... http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/roseland/VWPartsA4.htm (do keep in mind that most shops will not allow you to bring your own parts, so just use Brian's list for the exact parts numbers you'll want the shop to install...) (of course, another option is to do it yourself or with a friend/neighbor/relative/enemy^H^H^H^H^H)

Yuri.

Batman, I am in Atlanta. I know it is a little bit of a drive, but we might be able to work out a belt change between myself or several others up here that are more than able to do the work on your car. PM me if you need more info.

If you can pull the top TB cover back enough to inspect the belt, you should be able to see what condition it is in. If you drive on the conservative side, you poblably will be ok until you can get your belt done. You also can search for S Fla . You might find someone close to you to help you out. They are planning a GTG. Here it is: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=177180&highlight=s+fla Send a feeler out for help. Ed.

speed185187 said:

I have 126,500 miles on my original TB. meganuke is going to be changing mine here very shortly

Click to expand...

Hopefully you'll get to him 1 mile before your belt system expires rather than 1 mile after...

Good luck,

Yuri.

Hopefully, I'll get to him tomorrow so he doesn't have to drive the car. Two TBs in one day...

speed185187 said:

I have 126,500 miles on my original TB. meganuke is going to be changing mine here very shortly

Click to expand...

My TB started making that swishing noise this winter and many recommended an immediate TB job. I'm still on the same TB with the same swish on startup and with many more miles on the odo.

What I'm going to say is that there is no panic if you can properly check the system. I'm pretty sure that on majority of these cars equipped with 100K belt it can easily and with no risk go to at least 150K. My belt is now close to the recommended 100K service. I inspect it regularly, check for cracks, leaks on water pump, noises from ball bearings, rubbery dust and other unusual debris under the cover and so far everything is just perfect.

I don't believe in any catastrophic failure of the TB that is regularly checked. Most cars with high mileage that are on the roads are well past the recommended TB replacement. I asked my mechanic how many people decide to do the TB job on their cars and he says practically nobody and he deals with many cars with more than 200K miles still running the same TB! Last week he had a Jetta TDI for the rear brakes service with 320K kms still on the original TB as the owner claims!

So, for the peace of mind listen for any unusual noises and check them with experts and change it at 100K miles even if everything looks good and most probably it will look good as there is a wide margin of safety still left at 100K.

BatmanMN_M said:

my car has just hit 80,000 miles but i will not have the money to get the timing belt done at the dealer right now, will be about 2 more weeks. I have to drive about 500 miles this weekend and am a little scared that my car will have 81,000 miles on it. am i being silly? has anyone gone over? how much over? i looked at my belt as good as i could and didnt see any rips or tears or anything like that

Click to expand...

Ah.. Well, I hope hope in a few months you have the money to get the engine replaced by the dealer too!

dee zell....Maybe. But why risk it? Again, they can and do go further IF they were installed correctly. A lot of TB's were NOT by the second installed. But hey, it's your $5000 for an engine. Stating what you did is just fine for you but really not recomended. Someone might go "hey that guy makes sense" then the engine goes 10K later. Are you going to pay ihim for his loss? I don't think so. That's why there is a recomended interval. The engineers got a number that was a great mean average for use. Lot's of easy canadian low speed limit highway miles are a lot easier on the belt than the traffic jams of chicago. Less miles way, way, way more engine run time.

jasonTDI said:

(snip) Lot's of easy canadian low speed limit highway miles are a lot easier on the belt than the traffic jams of chicago. Less miles way, way, way more engine run time.

Click to expand...

__. Yes and a lot different loads on the belt. Have you noticed that most of the reports of "early TB failure" start with the phrase "I was only going about 20-25 MPH; I slowed for an intersection then when I was accelerating, the engine went 'CLUNK, CLUNK' and quit"? I don't have any proof but it appears to me that steady-state down the highway is easier on the belt than decel/accel/decel.

jasonTDI said:

dee zell....Maybe. But why risk it? Again, they can and do go further IF they were installed correctly. A lot of TB's were NOT by the second installed. But hey, it's your $5000 for an engine. Stating what you did is just fine for you but really not recommended. Someone might go "hey that guy makes sense" then the engine goes 10K later..

Click to expand...

Well, I do not recommend keeping a TB longer than the scheduled interval. I just say it is possible and safe if the belt is frequently and properly inspected and that's something an ordinary user may not opt for and should not without the necessary skills.

jasonTDI said:

Are you going to pay ihim for his loss? I don't think so..

Click to expand...

Obviously not but as a conclusion to my post I wrote:

"So, for the peace of mind listen for any unusual noises and check them with experts and change it at 100K miles even if everything looks good and most probably it will look good as there is a wide margin of safety still left at 100K."

And this is my recommendation in general.

jasonTDI said:

That's why there is a recomended interval. The engineers got a number that was a great mean average for use. Lot's of easy canadian low speed limit highway miles are a lot easier on the belt than the traffic jams of chicago. Less miles way, way, way more engine run time.

Click to expand...

Hey, we also have perfect traffic jams with lots of miles driven at crawling speeds changing quickly to torpedo speeds and then followed by sudden stops. Try our HWY 401.