Replacing Timing belt what should I expect!

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Josiah said:
runonbeer - a quick thank you for the pic! I did the timing belt via l1o9s7t6's method... he was nice enough to call me up. Very simple really, and makes a lot of sense. It's just the "mark and pray" method, really, though I'm not sure where the praying comes in. Anyway, worked fine for me, and now I have a new timing belt, though it would have been nice to be able to do the cam seal, which is the disadvantage of doing it this way, as far as I can tell.
Congratulations, you did the job WRONG! :rolleyes: Long before the new belt is ready for replacement, the cam timing will be off (it is actually a bit oiff right now) and your intake valves will contact the piston tops. Nice.

I've got some nice pics from a "mark and pray" method here, apart in my shop. Out-thinking a Gerrman engineer is a lost cause.
 

Josiah

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 21, 2004
Location
Winchester, NH
TDI
'99.5 Jetta, silver, with Golf front end, otherwise stock
Oh. Really? Why will the cam timing be off? This doesn't make sense to me.... timing belts aren't supposed to stretch much, and the point of the tensioner is to keep the timing belt tension even...
 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
Oilhammer: Hey, even a stopped clock is right twice a day !!!!

There are, I would guess, thousands of cars that have had belts changed via the "mark & pray" method... Some of them actually run for a while...

Josiah: the belts DO stretch... ask anyone who has a 100,000 mile belt on their car... the tensioner needs to be tweaked around the 60-70,000 mile mark... ditto for bringing the mechanical pump timing back to optimal...

It's not that difficult to do this job correctly... why cut corners ???

Yuri.
 

NFSTDI

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Location
Sunny California :)
TDI
'98 Jetta
Been a lock dude for about two decades. If I had a nickle for every person who's said the following words to me....

"Hey, how come you charge so much, I can get keys made for ninty-nine cents at the hardware store?"

After chatting for a few brief moments they never fail to mention...

"I always have to go back at least once or twice becuase they don't work the first time...."

Don't know about you but my time is worth more than two bucks for a drive back to Home Depot or Ace Hardware!

Incidently the best key machine made on the planet is made in Germany. It will cut millions of keys and still adjust to perfection! Mine is Italian simply becuase it has certain features that come in handy doing field work. I have to say the damn thing just does not adjust to perfection like should. However it will cut a better key than 99.9% of the machines you'll find in any Home Depot, Ace Hardware, UPS Store and a lot of lock shops I might add....

Incidently I cut most of my keys to factory spec using a special stamping machine that costs about four times the price of a VAG-COM.

Want the job done see your local shade tree guy, want it done right the first time, see a professional.

Do the three letters that follow my name mean a damn thing, no. It's the twenty years it took me to learn enough to earn those letters that count!
 

Josiah

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 21, 2004
Location
Winchester, NH
TDI
'99.5 Jetta, silver, with Golf front end, otherwise stock
20K and works fine so far

In case anybody stumbles across this thread in the future, I have put almost 20K on the car and the timing is still the same according to VAG-COM, runs perfectly, etc... no valves contacting pistons :)

The reason I cut corners is because I'm poor. Duh :) I don't have the money for the tools and nobody in the area had them to lend, so given the choice between changing the timing belt without the tools or not changing the timing belt at all, I chose the former - I figured it was the better choice.
 

tditom

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 5, 2001
Location
Jackson, MI
TDI
formerly: 2001 Golf GL, '97 Passat (RIP) '98 NB, '05 B5 sedan
I can only speak for my experience:
My Golf had its first timing belt done at 60K mi- timing was fine per Vag COM and we did not adjust it. Its next tb was done 96K mi later and again was right on. I did not perform any intermediate adjustment of the tensioner or mech IP timing. The car did not run any diff after the tb changes.

My Passat belt was changed around 55K mi. Its timing was still on and did not need to be adjusted. This vehicle did run smoother and had reduced smoking when cold after the change, so that does indicate the timing was a bit off. Now 40K miles later it seems to smoke more again during cold start and runs a bit rough until warmed up again.
 

indysoto

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2004
Location
Eugene, OR
Freaky On the Timing Belt Tip "Lock and Load!"

So youd think there would Be a Vag com in Eugene OR...We got alot of Diesel's Here per capita I would say...Anyway after calling 4 shops and getting a min Price Quote on what Replacing My timing Belt would Cost $900+ I decided It was in my best interest to purchase the MetalNerd 9 piece super Kit(came with nerds! My son enjoyed!!!) and the Piece of mind in a box from Whats his nutz(no nerds)Diesel Geek...I have the locks and am Intent on using them after a Not so Good mark and pray Nissan Experience with Kblamo added to the engine....I Imagine that the dude who did the TB Change In 2 hours is Jesus or is prefunking with Telekenisis and Go Fast...I Plan on going the route without Vag Com I bought one off ebay does not seem to work...:( Might be the laptop gonna try my Desktop;) anyway Wish me Luck...Wish They still had spark advance and retard on the steering wheel ! :D Best G
 

indysoto

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2004
Location
Eugene, OR
Ps. as per last post I meant whats his screw's not whats his nuts Sorry Diesel Geek(the water pump Screws pure genius!) Man I can't imagine saving a couple bucks and not getting the Kraftwerk wrench and the 5mm lowprofile alen socket and the Waterpump super screw remover tool! glad I spent the $600 thx ya'll gonna take the Harmonic do dad off right now!
 

Josiah

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 21, 2004
Location
Winchester, NH
TDI
'99.5 Jetta, silver, with Golf front end, otherwise stock
Just reporting in ... 60K on the timing belt change now and no re-timing has been necessary.
 
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