How to tell if your timing belt needs replacing?

[Dave_Bounce]

It's one thing I have never been too certain of is how to tell the timing belt needs changing. I know that with the Passat it should be changed around every 40,000miles but I want to know how to tell if it needs changing simply be looking at it or listening to it. Reason being is that I have a bit of a rattle out of my engine bay...I have a feeling that the Dual Mass Flywheel is starting to go (can hear knocking sounds and clutch pedal is vibrating) but besides this there is a bit of a noise of the engine...it doesn't have that clean diesel noise you would hear from other passats or golfs around the same year and almost sounds as if something rotating is causing the noise...my guess being the timing belt.

Anyone know how to check this?

[Doctle Odd]

Passat is 60,000 or 4 years whichever comes first. If there's no record of when it was changed take off the top timing cover and check the belt for damage, splits, cracking etc. If you post your engine size and code I can check the minimum width. The noise from your engine could be water pump, alternator pulley or drive belt tensioner. Timing belt doesn't make noise as suck unless the tensioner is dying which it does fairly quickly

[Dave_Bounce]

Passat is 60,000 or 4 years whichever comes first. If there's no record of when it was changed take off the top timing cover and check the belt for damage, splits, cracking etc. If you post your engine size and code I can check the minimum width. The noise from your engine could be water pump, alternator pulley or drive belt tensioner. Timing belt doesn't make noise as suck unless the tensioner is dying which it does fairly quickly

Thanks Doctle Odd. I've had this noise a number of months so from what your saying its more than likely a different issue than the timing belt. I have a 2005 Passat 2.0TDI 140 BPK engine

[martin1810]

A slight knock/rattle is usually dmf and belt change is not 60,000 miles or 4 years. VW figures are here:PASSAT B6 SERVICE INFORMATION - PASSAT (https://sites.google.com/site/1810martin/passat-b6-service-information)

[Doctle Odd]

I stand corrected :Blush2:

[zollaf]

stand, you should bow down, like i do when i get corrected :)

[Doctle Odd]

I'd be afraid to start a car with 90k miles on the belt, but I'm an unqualified fettler with issues and a somewhat Germanic outlook!

[RichardSEL]

A slight knock/rattle is usually dmf and belt change is not 60,000 miles or 4 years. VW figures are here:PASSAT B6 SERVICE INFORMATION - PASSAT (https://sites.google.com/site/1810martin/passat-b6-service-information)

The idea that I'm gonna wait until 180,000km (over 111,000 miles) before changing my timing belt etc. on my BWA is a nonsense!
The VW figures you list are there to try and con buyers, especially fleet buyers, that the required service interval is greater than competitors. Like the two-year service schedule QF1

BTW, what you should get at a main agent is listed (for 2006MY 2L tFSI) at:
Maintenance Schedule - 2006 - Passat - Tech - Bentley Publishers Support (https://wiki.bentleypublishers.com/display/tech/Maintenance+Schedule+-+2006+-+Passat)

Another example: my plugs were cream-crackered at 48k
19649

with the +ve electrode virtually burned away. I should've stayed with these until 60k?

[adamss24]

I would stick to the 50-60k or 4 years whichever comes first ! I have a few hundred timing belts done and so far i have had a few genuine audi water pumps failing well before the 4 years period ! For everyone's info the parts you can get at the dealer nowadays are nothing alike the parts fitted at the factory ! To be frank the difference in price between a 250 quid cambelt job and 3k engine rebuilt is more than i would like to pay in case i wanna save a few pennies !

[Dave_Bounce]

Had a mechanic look at the car today...he said he believes that the timing belt is good for another while and that the squelling kind of noise is probably the tensioner. He also said that he wouldn't worry about it too much at the moment and just leave it how it is

[Quatrelle]

Here's some figures to get you thinking. My Passat is now over 6 years old, has done fewer than 50,000 kms (30,000 miles), and the dealer certainly doesn't want to charge me '250 quid'.

The quoted VW France charge for the job, including the water pump, is a mere 740 euros - just under £650 at the present lousy ex. rate - although there's a 10%-off offer at the moment!

When the euro first came into existence that would have been £481, so I can't really accuse the VW dealer of being a rip-off merchant.

You can see why I'm hesitating having it done.

[zollaf]

have you ever thought of moving somewhere a bit cheaper, England perhaps ?

[Doctle Odd]

Just over the Irish price for this job!
Here's some figures to get you thinking. My Passat is now over 6 years old, has done fewer than 50,000 kms (30,000 miles), and the dealer certainly doesn't want to charge me '250 quid'.

The quoted VW France charge for the job, including the water pump, is a mere 740 euros - just under £650 at the present lousy ex. rate - although there's a 10%-off offer at the moment!

When the euro first came into existence that would have been £481, so I can't really accuse the VW dealer of being a rip-off merchant.

You can see why I'm hesitating having it done.

[Quatrelle]

have you ever thought of moving somewhere a bit cheaper, England perhaps ?

Is that England, as in not Scotland :p

Seriously though, where we live is like Perthshire, but warmer. Would like to have retired there, but climate is very important.

However, even with the cheap pound France is cheaper, for example, for some of the big household bills. Motoring-wise, fuel is similar, but there's no road tax for private cars, hasn't been for years.

Swings and roundabouts I suppose?

[adamss24]

Had a mechanic look at the car today...he said he believes that the timing belt is good for another while and that the squelling kind of noise is probably the tensioner. He also said that he wouldn't worry about it too much at the moment and just leave it how it is

Ask him to put it in writing for you, that way you can sue him when the belt goes !

[Quatrelle]

Just over the Irish price for this job!

Makes me feel a bit better!

[Doctle Odd]

Take a short break in Ireland I'll supply and fit for 400 yoyos

[Quatrelle]

Ask him to put it in writing for you, that way you can sue him when the belt goes !

Yep, it's only the tensioner....:aargh4:

[Quatrelle]

Take a short break in Ireland I'll supply and fit for 400 yoyos

Love to, but just getting from where we live to the Channel one way would cost 100€.

You could always bring the special tools courtesy of Mr O'Leary for a short break the other way :D;)

[Doctle Odd]

Tempting too but Mr O'Leary's "cheap" tickets tend to end up extremely expensive

[Dave_Bounce]

Ask him to put it in writing for you, that way you can sue him when the belt goes !


Yep, it's only the tensioner....:aargh4:

I wouldn't say he'd be as fast to put it in writing if he was going to be the one paying for everything that ceased to work once the belt breaks!!!ha

How much would you be looking at roughly getting the tensioner replaced?...from an independent I mean and not a dealer!!! :dunno:

[Doctle Odd]

Which tensioner?

[Dave_Bounce]

I'm not quite sure...how many is there? I would consider myself to know a relative amount about cars but belt drives, timing belts etc wouldn't be my strong point. The noise is coming from what I was told was probably the tensioner which is allocated just by the alternator...or at least the noise is coming from that location...

[Doctle Odd]

Ah the drive belt tensioner, it shouldn't do too much damage in the short term

[Dave_Bounce]

That's a relief to hear...if it was something urgent and costly I would have been in the s**thouse as I have the dual mass flywheel to get done once I get a bit money together and we all know the dmf isn't the cheapest thing to get replaced ha

[Doctle Odd]

If the tensioner totally fails it can do a few hundreds worth of damage, it's neither expensive or hard to change