Time to change belts but what about rollers and dampers....

[allan_audi]

Ok, sorry for another post on changing belts... but I'm assembling all the parts ready to change the the belts on my AKE this weekend.

I have so far;
Timing Belt kit which includes Cambelt and Pump Belt plus all rollers required.
Aux Belt
Aux Belt tensioner bushes (will check to see how bad this is)
Air Con Belt
Water Pump
Thermostat

My question is should I change all the rollers required for the Aux Belt. Plus should I change the dampers for both the cam belt and aux belt.

Looks like from the diagram there are 4 rollers required for the Aux Belt.

Any advise please??

[Crasher]

I check each one for noise but 90% of the the time I end up fitting all new ones which GSF do quite cheaply. Considering how long it takes to get at them and the damage they do if they fail, I like to do them. Take car with the AC belt tension torque setting and check the main belt swing arm is not worn.

[ceilidhalfie]

Ok, sorry for another post on changing belts... but I'm assembling all the parts ready to change the the belts on my AKE this weekend.

I have so far;
Timing Belt kit which includes Cambelt and Pump Belt plus all rollers required.
Aux Belt
Aux Belt tensioner bushes (will check to see how bad this is)
Air Con Belt
Water Pump
Thermostat

My question is should I change all the rollers required for the Aux Belt. Plus should I change the dampers for both the cam belt and aux belt.

Looks like from the diagram there are 4 rollers required for the Aux Belt.

Any advise please??

Allan, I have just done a full belt service on my 2002 Allroad 2.5TDI Automatic AKE. I have had the car since new and it has now done 150K miles. Audi did first change at 75K miles and I decided to do the second one. I have always driven the car cautiously but was alarmed to see the state of the v-belt tensioners and rollers. Indeed, I discovered I had NO aircon as the tensioner had completely disintegrated - shredding the belt. When I did the job I only found ONE wheel bearing resting on the sound insulation tray. The cap, bearing liner and all but one bearing had gone (hopefully out the back rear noise insullation). The main v-belt tensioner sounded awful, cap gone and bearing cover gone. Bearings just still inplace. This and the two idler rollers were also very rough, noisy when spun. The aircon pulley was also rough souding.
Fortunately I had started the job just in time. The aircon had been working fine all summer and autumn so it must have happened recently when I did not notice it. I was going to replace all these tensioners and rollers anyway - figured they would be nearing end of life after 150k miles! I would certainly recommend replacing:
1) The aircon tensioner
2) The 2 idler rollers and tensioner of the main (alternater) v-belt.
I also changed the hydraulic damper for the main cambelt, the thremostat and water pump. I also renewed the mounting bushes on the power steering brackete (ie. these support the swing arm Crasher refers to.)
All the above was planned apart from the noisy aircon compressor pulley. Check yours, if not ok, replace it as per my recent post on the subject.

I did a lot of research re sourcing parts before the job. I managed to get a genuine Audi cambelt replacement kit on e-Bay. The rest I got from AVS Car Parts - they go by www.vwspares.co.uk (http://www.vwspares.co.uk). They supplied me with Gates v-belts, damper and water pump. The 2 v-belt tensioners, the 2 v-belt idle rollers wer Ina (Slovakia to replace the genuine Audi Ina Germany ones!) They were the cheapest by far. Only one issue, I had to retun the thermostat they supplied as it did not have the little valve on the top of it - I got a genuine Audi one. I found AVS ar Parts to be the cheapest by far and they ahd a very quick delivery.

I don't know what your experience is. I was a novice (I feel like a pro now!). I did not fancy trying all the above with just the 6 inches clearance in service mode for the lock carrier. So I did a lot of reasearch to ensure I could swing the lock carrier (aka gate fashion) - with just the two ATF pipes attached. I did know beforehand it wss possible for a manul but no one (apparently) had done it with an automoatic. I swung it open and had it sitting on two car ramps with a folding ladder over it and also held it up with bunjee cord! But it worked very well.

Lots more info I could give you but you may know all this already. So, I hope it goes as well for you as it did for me. Best of luck.

[allan_audi]

Thanks for all the help/hints, decided to open up the front instead of just using the lock carriers (thanks ceilidhalfie), so much easier to access....

So far all dismantled, have replaced water pump and bushes for Aux belt tensioner. Just have to pick up thermostat tomorrow and complete rebuild.

To be honest, all looked in pretty good condition, belts looked fine, if anything it was the Aux belt and Air con belt rollers that concerned me most, most of them are very noisy and worn so glad replacing them, thanks for the advice (crasher), picked them up from GSF earlier.

Only one thats not mentioned is the Viscous Fan bearing, but to be honest feels ok, no noise and no play, but looks like you need to buy complete casting to replace. I suppose you could source bearing and press out/in but like I say its one of the only ones that sounds ok...

I was surprised by the condition of the Aux Belt tensioner bushes, not worn through as expected... But the front bolt was loose so prob just caught it in time. I think its been repaired before and someone had fitted a non standard bolt at the rear, it was too long and hitting the front bolt in the center of the bush, the VAG bolt was much shorter.

Unusual but only thing I have broke so far is Fan Blade, it slipped out my hand on removal and bounced on the floor breaking one of the blades.... Doh!!! Train to work again.......

Thanks to the Skoda dealer, sent parts in one day, all OE genuine and very reasonable price, cheapest I could find, thanks.....

[allan_audi]

Job is finally done, been driving round for a few days and all looks ok. Need to order oil now for oil change.... on to next job...

Seems to me that all the problems with these belts stem from poor fitting or failure to replace certain items, especially water pump and Aux/Air con belt relay/tensioner rollers. Also failing to check the Aux Belt tensioner arm bushes. How can you be sure that a garage is doing all the work specified, thats why I always do the job myself....

The cam belts were last changed at 101k, its now at 182k and to be honest it was the Aux Belt idlers and Tensioners that sounded close to failure.

But.... replacing all those parts comes at a cost... Think it was around 400 quid....

I have a parts list if anyone interested (for AKE);

078 121 113 F Thermostat
N 901 368 02 Seal
059 121 004 EX Water Pump (Exchange)
059 903 137 H Aux Belt
059 260 849 B Air Con Belt

059 198 119B Cam Belt Kit (Complete kit for Cam/Pump Belts)

Repair kit for Aux Belt Tensioner;

059 145 239 Rear Washer
N 106 684 01 Rear Bolt
N 907 663 02 Front Bolt
059 145 350 Bush (need 2 off)
059 145 288 Seal (need 2 off)
059 145 124 Inner Spindle

and GSF for Aux Belt and Air Con Relay/Tensioner Rollers

135VG0160 (059 903 341) Aux Belt Relay Roller
135ME0180 (059 903 341A) Aux Belt Relay Roller (Ribbed Plastic)
135VG0311 (059 145 276) Aux Belt Tensioner Roller
135VG0230 (059 260 523B) Air Con Tensioner Roller