So obviously nobody suggests going over any factory scheduled maintenance especially on something like the timing belt. I was (company truck now) daily driving it 1k miles a week and didn’t have the time to do it over the weekends and possibly have the car down and not make it to work and that’s why it’s overdue. I’m generally pretty religious with maintenance. I just wanted to put out what I found or ran into while doing mine. Vehicle has 143k miles and has been on a stage 2 tune since 100k. DSG trans
I don’t baby it, but I will add that 99% of the miles from 90k-143k were all freeway. The car saw wide open runs into maintained triple digits at least once a week, not a brag, just adding to the “I don’t baby it” statement
I used the superb write up and picture tutorial that I believe came from greengeeker (if I’m wrong, sorry!!!) here on tdiclub, without that I would have been lost! Great write up, very detailed, the pics help a ton and so do the torque specs and TTYdegrees.
There were a few variances that I ran across while doing mine that were different from the write up. Mostly tool differences and “adapting” when things didn’t work
The tool that was used in the tutorial for the timing belt tensioner doesn’t come in the timing belt “special tools” kit
So I used a metric 6mm Allen on a 3/8 drive and a 15mm wrench to set and tighten the tensioner. You will also notice what looks like a drill bit to lock the tensioner, it is indeed a drill bit, a short 1/8 drill bit. I used it instead of the tensioner lock pin because the plastic “washer” (reddish orange plastic) on my tensioner wouldn’t allow the size of the pin to fit in.
Old factory timing belt after removal with VW logo and contitech. Honestly the belt looked like it could have handled another 100k miles. There was zero cracking or dryness to the belt. No signs of heavy wear or stress that showed fatigue
What I believe is also the factory serpentine belt. It wasn’t looking as healthy. It had cracks and some pieces of rubber missing, it was def way overdue.
Don’t forget the Vw zxn?? Sockets, if you don’t have them, you’ll need them about 10 min into the job, so buy them before you start, oh and the special crank bolt socket!!
Those were the only changes/differences that I came across while doing the timing belt. Overall it wasnt that bad If you have a decent array of tools and know how.
I don’t baby it, but I will add that 99% of the miles from 90k-143k were all freeway. The car saw wide open runs into maintained triple digits at least once a week, not a brag, just adding to the “I don’t baby it” statement
I used the superb write up and picture tutorial that I believe came from greengeeker (if I’m wrong, sorry!!!) here on tdiclub, without that I would have been lost! Great write up, very detailed, the pics help a ton and so do the torque specs and TTYdegrees.
There were a few variances that I ran across while doing mine that were different from the write up. Mostly tool differences and “adapting” when things didn’t work
The tool that was used in the tutorial for the timing belt tensioner doesn’t come in the timing belt “special tools” kit
So I used a metric 6mm Allen on a 3/8 drive and a 15mm wrench to set and tighten the tensioner. You will also notice what looks like a drill bit to lock the tensioner, it is indeed a drill bit, a short 1/8 drill bit. I used it instead of the tensioner lock pin because the plastic “washer” (reddish orange plastic) on my tensioner wouldn’t allow the size of the pin to fit in.
Old factory timing belt after removal with VW logo and contitech. Honestly the belt looked like it could have handled another 100k miles. There was zero cracking or dryness to the belt. No signs of heavy wear or stress that showed fatigue
What I believe is also the factory serpentine belt. It wasn’t looking as healthy. It had cracks and some pieces of rubber missing, it was def way overdue.
Don’t forget the Vw zxn?? Sockets, if you don’t have them, you’ll need them about 10 min into the job, so buy them before you start, oh and the special crank bolt socket!!
Those were the only changes/differences that I came across while doing the timing belt. Overall it wasnt that bad If you have a decent array of tools and know how.
