Timing belt replacement interval

First, thank you to all veteran members who have contributed to this forum. As a person considering the purchase of a TDI, I have watched and enjoyed reading the posts to this site for over a year. I have now taken the plunge. I will take delivery of my '02 Golf GLS, 5sp, lux. next week. I plan to Upsolute and brush the CCV ASAP thereafter.

I have a question regarding timing belt replacement. With the number of km which I drive, I was concerned about the frequency with which I would have to do this. The service dept at the dealership said that an '01 model year requires changeout after 60K km. The '02 model year does not require this service until 144k km.
Has there been a change in the actual components? Furthermore, the salesperson told me that the 5sp version requires less frequent timing belt service than does the automatic. I don't understand the logic behind this statement.

Can anyone comment on this?

Welcome, and congrats on your new car! The newer cars have a better timing belt, that is why the changeout time has been increased. I would still check the tension now and then.

I have heard 2 stories about the auto/manual t-belt intervals.

The first was that the injection pump is harder to turn because of slightly higher injection pressures in the auto-trans cars (emissions reasons), and this is an extra load on the belt, as it turns the pump.

The second reason was because the 4 speed auto shifts more harshly and "jolts" the belt more.

I like the first reason better, as the second makes no sense...I stick shift can not only be jolted harder, but much more often!

In my haste to tell the world that I finally purchased a new TDI, I didn't notice that there is an existing thread on this topic. I guess it's been a while since I last looked at this bulletin board. It appears that there is a lot of reading to get caught up on.

Thks for the info anyway...

I am also a relatively new owner of an 01 Golf TDI and would like to thank all those who have contributed to this forum in the past. I have found a wealth of great information here and it is much appreciated. Continuing on this thread, being a newer owner of a TDI with 10k miles, I am interested to know how to "check" the timing belt?
Thanks.

Go by whatever the owner's manual says. With teh old style belt, that would have been 55,000 miles. I don't know whether the new engines are getting the 80K belt or not.

When you do get arond to changing it, make sure you get the 80K belt and tensioner. Then change it after 70K just to be safe. Don't push it! The consequences of snapping a belt are too dire to contemplate.

-mickey