Timing Belt appears to have jumped

kart17

Member
Joined
May 19, 2006
Location
Petersburg Va.
TDI
99.5 Jetta TDI
Hi Everyone!

OK here is my situation. 99.5 Jetta TDI ALH, manual tranny. TIming belt, water pump, tensioner, etc all replaced by dealer < 5K ago.

Driving along, fell a slight shudder, and car shuts off. Attempt to re-start while clutch is in, it cranks but wont fire. Look over everything, check battery, fuel filter, then notice no accessory belt!!!! See pieces but thats it. Try to crank, it turns but wont start.

Pulled off upper timming belt cover, pieces of twine floating around under gears etc. Not a ton but more then I would like to see.

Set flywheel to TDC mark. Pull vacum pump and check cam slot for horizontal position on head deck, looks good. Check injector pump, and it apears the pump gear is off 30-40 degrees!!!!!! Slot in pully is around 11:00 looking at the pully.

(Didn't check for "lobes up" on cam position on cylinder 1 yet as didn't wnat to buy new valve cover).

Timing belt looks ok.

Is there an easy way to get things back in sync besides:
loosening tension pully, pulling valve cover off and checkiung lobes up, locking down cam, pulling cam gear, taking belt off injector pump gear, syncing things back up and putting it all back together?

Thanks in advance,

Kart
 

GoFaster

Moderator at Large
Joined
Jun 16, 1999
Location
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
Wrong forum, you have an A4 not an A5 ...

But anyway, getting it back in sync is the least of your worries. With the cam timing that far off, it is practically a certainty that you have had valve/piston collisions. Take the valve cover off, take the camshaft off, and note which valves have lifters that aren't coming up as high as the highest one ... those are the smashed-up lifters. Any valve associated with such a smashed-up lifter ought to be replaced, and that means the cylinder head has to come off. If you don't see any smashed-up lifters, perform a cylinder leakdown test (NOT a compression test - different). Excessive cylinder leakdown at this point means bent valves. Again, the head needs to come off.

You might as well figure on taking the cylinder head off, see what's damaged, and go from there. Anything that has taken a hit, whether it looks OK or not, needs to be replaced.
 

TDI 4 RD

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Location
Hamilton, NY
TDI
2006 TDI Pkg 1
Although I'm sure someone in this forum will help you if they can, you may have better luck posting this in the A4 model discussion area or in the appropriate engine discussion area. This forum is for the new MKV models. Good luck.

.....oops, sorry GoFaster.
 
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GoFaster

Moderator at Large
Joined
Jun 16, 1999
Location
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
By the way, you ought to go back to the dealer that did the timing belt job. Be prepared for resistance (because of the EXPENSIVE bill that this is going to run up) ... they may try to tell you the failure was because of something else. BULL. It's because they screwed up the job. They owe you a repaired engine.
 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
>>TIming belt, water pump, tensioner, etc all replaced by dealer < 5K ago<<

Another sad first post... (in the wrong section, but I imagine the OP is a bit upset...)

I'm afraid this is yet another Dealership Timing Belt Success Story...

Please update your profile to indicate your location... you may need the assistance of a veteran TDI owner... you're in for a major league argument with the dealership... in any case, it's under warranty, but getting them to admit that they did anything wrong may not be easy...

Good Luck!!!

Yuri
 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
Nearest Super-Guru to you would be Matt Wallen (UserID "Car 54") here... Please try to get in touch with him, although he's in Woodbridge... it may be worthwhile having him come down to look at the car / consult with the dealer on your behalf...

Good Luck !!!

Yuri.
 

Faster

Veteran Member
Joined
May 5, 2001
Location
Monument, CO
TDI
1999 Jetta ALH, 2007 Specialized Roubaix
I've seen my share of damaged engines due to botched belt jobs but I've also seen a few survive a one-tooth jump with no problems.

Installing a new belt and turning over by hand will tell you if there was major damage. That said, pulling the head isn't hard - just time consuming.

--Faster
 
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