Timing Belts

MacBuckeye

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2008
Location
North Carolina
TDI
2009 Jetta
$1,350 for the 120K miles TB service?? New pump, new belt, new rollers, and of course labor. Any 2009+ owners have their TB service done? Is this what I expect to pay? I would love to perform this service myself, but have never done something like this. I do my own oil changes and DSG service. How hard or complicated is it? Tools? There's a local VW/Audi shop (Black Forest Industries) that I will probably take it to, but if I could save some $$$, I'm all about it. Appreciate your comments/suggestions... thanks.
 

SmoothVW

Active member
Joined
Jan 30, 2014
Location
Ontario
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI, 99 Beetle TDI
That will be ok only if you don't mind paying 3-5k for repair or replacing your engine and head. Always replace the rollers, tensioner, w/p along with the belt. I have seen and heard of many engines failing because someone only replaced the belt or didn't replace it at the specified time. You can't just tell by looking either. I have a belt off a 03 tdi 102. miles and a belt off 06 jetta with 95k miles only show a little wear. Looks can be decieving, these parts can fail without warning causing major damage. Like the man said find another mechanic. Do a search for someone in the TDI club in your area and ask them who does work on tdi's. Good luck with your car, it will last you a very long time with proper maintenance.
Steve
Absolutely right, I'm in the process of replacing the head and all of the timing train on a 2001 Jetta I just bought. One of the rollers locked up, causing the tensioner to fail and the timing belt to jump. The timing belt looks near new and so does the water pump, but the tensioner was not new and the rollers were still the originals at 320K kilometers. I think doing the timing on TDI's should be treated with an all or nothing approach. The procedure involves a lot of work and I can't fathom to leave old components once I have spent the time to get in there.
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
$1350 is more than I'd want to pay. My local guru quoted me $850 for a complete tb job a little over a year ago. I ended up doing it myself and installing a cp3 pump at the same time. It was my first tdi timing belt job, and was much easier than I thought it would be. The important thing was having the right tools (I used metalnerd alignment tools), a good tb kit, and a detailed guide. Somebody should give myturbodiesel.com a medal for their invaluable guides. If you attempt it yourself, I recommend a kit with a tensioner stud rather than motor mount bolts. So much easier to leave the mounts alone.
 
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Turbodude1

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2005
Location
Auburn Maine
TDI
1999.5 Golf 2dr. RCII, sprint 520s, shine susp
$1350 is more than I'd want to pay. My local guru quoted me $850 for a complete tb job a little over a year ago. I ended up doing it myself and installing a cp3 pump at the same time. It was my first tdi timing belt job, and was much easier than I thought it would be. The important thing was having the right tools (I used metalnerd alignment tools), a good tb kit, and a detailed guide. Somebody should give myturbodiesel.com a medal for their invaluable guides. If you attempt it yourself, I recommend a kit with a tensioner stud rather than motor mount bolts. So much easier to leave the mounts alone.
How do you like the CP3 pump? Was the install straight forward?
 
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