Low miles but 10yr timing belt opinion on hard parts

[needsmoarturbo]

My 2011 jsw is at 58k miles original timing belt. I'm planning to cha he it soon just because I don't trust that the rubber will last to 120 at the rate I accumulate miles.
My question is should I bother replacing the idlers, tensioner and other stuff? If I was changing because of miles I would no doubt, but I have had bad luck in the past with replacement water pumps specifically failing prematurely.
I'm doing it myself so labor is free and I have to tools, so would I be crazy to just put a new belt only.and keep running the hard parts for another 60k?

 

[Nevada_TDI]

Yes, you would be crazy. Replace all the rollers, bearings, water pump and the like. Trying to save $50.00 now may cost $1000 or more later if one of the old parts crashed causing a head rebuild later.

 

[turbobrick240]

Ten years is a reasonable interval, but I don't doubt that 90%+ would make it to 20 years no problem, provided the mileage isn't way over 130k.

 

[Nevada_TDI]

tb240^^ is telling the truth, most times the belt may last a few miles farther, but, what if it does not?

 

[TurboABA]

Do you even drive bro? What's the point of having a TDI with that use pattern? You will NEVER get ROI on it.

 

[needsmoarturbo]

Do you even drive bro? What's the point of having a TDI with that use pattern? You will NEVER get ROI on it.

Well I just got it this year and it was cheap so my roi isnt really a problem, but you are right I don't really need it for the fuel economy I just wanted to try a tdi.
I might sell the tdi and go back to my old pos 93 S4 that only gets half the mpg after this winter.
Or sell the S4. I dunno.
Maybe it's time for a midlife crisis Porsche.

 

[TurboABA]

It just seems like a couple of the routine maintenance things will cost you way more than you'll ever save in MPGs vs driving gassers or whatever.... But if you're just doing it because you can, then it doesn't really matter. Yolo

 

[blackcloud08]

My 2011 jsw is at 58k miles original timing belt. I'm planning to cha he it soon just because I don't trust that the rubber will last to 120 at the rate I accumulate miles.
My question is should I bother replacing the idlers, tensioner and other stuff? If I was changing because of miles I would no doubt, but I have had bad luck in the past with replacement water pumps specifically failing prematurely.
I'm doing it myself so labor is free and I have to tools, so would I be crazy to just put a new belt only.and keep running the hard parts for another 60k?

Just had my 2011 JSW w/ 83K miles done. Everything looked good except for 1 pulley and it had one very small place where it had some drag/friction. 10 years/120k miles is what is recommended and though you may get 20 years and 200k miles out of it, it's not worth the risk IMO.

 

[turbobrick240]

The official interval from VW is 130k miles with no time limit. In some markets they do specify a time limit, but I suspect that is more related to generating revenue for dealerships than an actual need.

 

[rtking]

I just pulled the timing belt, rollers, water pump and accessory belt at 110K miles on my used JSW. The original belt looked fine, but I didn't want to take a risk with an unknown history prior. Plus it came from an area with weather extremes. If you do the job yourself, it's about $500 (including buying tools and coolant) so well worth doing for the peace of mind.

 

[taleAwaggin]

I'm kind of in this same boat. The cheap used tdi with low miles boat. Belt is going to be 12 or 14 by the time I hit 120. Does there even exist a way to get some hints on belt or pump longevity.. car history of mild climate, no visual defects in the part material? Do those things even clue you in? I'm guessing no.

 

[taleAwaggin]

I'd be inclined to just do the belt in your position.. but I'd probably regret it.

 

[Metal Man]

I don't know that I would worry about the belt just yet, but if you're changing the belt you may as well change the rest.

 

[Mongler98]

IMO spend the money and do the full job with proper parts.
not worth the risk for $50.
the belt is even more subject to failure seeing as it sat for years and years developing a memory.

 

[turbobrick240]

His car may have low miles, but I didn't see anything indicating that it sat for years and years. There are only two instances I'm aware of where members here have had timing belt failures on the common rails. One occured when the accessory belt broke loose and took out the timing belt, and the other was a car that made it to nearly 300k before the factory belt let go.

 

[taleAwaggin]

I was worried about the "belt memory" thing too truth be told. Because of the whole dieselgate storage lots full of cars thing. But that wouldn't be years and years right. More like months. Is months enough to even worry about?

 

[turbobrick240]

I wouldn't worry much about "belt memory" whatever that is supposed to be. The materials science that goes into the top quality modern timing belts(gates, contitech) is quite impressive. Mine looked brand new at 125k miles. They don't turn to dust after a decade.

 

[needsmoarturbo]

Well my brother has a 2014 that he got this year and it had 170k with no record of the belt ever being changed. I told him to do it and it he said the belt still had legible printing with a conti date code of 2013 so we assume it was the original, all the rollers and tensioners were still smooth.
The reason I was playing with the idea of the belt only is because I've had a iirc both hepu and a beru water pump crap out on my Audi after less than 10k miles because the bearing got really wobbly, or started leaking but I've never had a premature failure of an oe pump.
I agree it might be smart to replace while I'm in there but I also I think I would likely be safe to go another 100k on the rollers and pump.

 

[Mongler98]

10 years. 60k miles
I would consider that a garage queen that sat or sits for long periods of time or is driven 2 miles each day or something.
Unless OP is the origional owner it could have sat for many years with no activity. Just saying how I saw it!
More history is needed like the coolant service. If it's been kept up then the pump is probably fine and I personally would leave it. The idlers though I would change.

 

[oilhammer]

I've changed SO MANY belts on TDIs over the years that were well beyond 10 years old and they have really never showed any signs of aging at all. I even did one on a '98 New Beetle that was, at the time, 17 years old and only had 20k miles on it. The belt looked new. And that was still the old smooth backed belt, not the newer type ones they have now.

I don't think I'd lose any sleep over it.... maybe plan to do it at a normal service interval like 80k, just to make it easier to keep track of. And of course, if you are going to go in there, do it all like a normal job.

You may want to visually check the ACCESSORY belt, though, as those sometimes do show signs of age.