cam belt

[rooster]

At the last service, 60,000, my skoda main dealer told me the cam belt should be changed at 100,000 miles, when I asked.
Now, at 70,000 a former skoda dealer (now daihatsu, like several smaller ex skoda dealers) tells me it should be changed every 5 years irrespective of mileage. he also told me to have the water pump changed at the same time. Including the service he estimates he will charge about £350 for all the work.
Is he right about the work to be done and does the charge sound reasonable?

Oh and it is an Octavia 1.6 petrol

[charlie1302]

check out this site-it may help you -they are an audi dealer but service all vag cars including my polo-drop them a email and get a price.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Stafford-Au...QQftidZ2QQtZkm

cheers

phil

polo gti owner

[Pauloz]

At the last service, 60,000, my skoda main dealer told me the cam belt should be changed at 100,000 miles, when I asked.
Now, at 70,000 a former skoda dealer (now daihatsu, like several smaller ex skoda dealers) tells me it should be changed every 5 years irrespective of mileage. he also told me to have the water pump changed at the same time. Including the service he estimates he will charge about £350 for all the work.
Is he right about the work to be done and does the charge sound reasonable?

Oh and it is an Octavia 1.6 petrol

Go with what the current dealer tells you. Sometimes the guidelines change, and have done on some VAG recently, but 5 years irrespective isnt right for sure. Water pump is a good idea yes - and make sure he changes all the rollers/tensioners, not just the belt. 95% of belt failures are right after being fitted.....

[greg123]

I work on 4 years or 80k, whichever is sooner. SOME people advise just checking, or pushing it further - HOWEVER, if it fails you got a wrecked engine. I have yet to meet anyone - mfr or belt engineer, who says it won't last 4 years/80k, so we stick with that.

As Pauloz said, the water pump should be done if it's original as the naff vw plastic impella one causes issues and it's only a few more £'s when the cambelt is already off, but a big old job on it's own. You are advised as Pauloz said to have a cambelt KIT which includes all the necessary moving bits and are common now, not a special order deal.

£350 isn't a bad price if that's with a major service, I usually charge £245 for a major + cambelt, if the customer is willing to have a kit fitted the extra cost of the kit (usually about £30 more) is on top, water pump as well runs maybe another £50 on top.

Greg.

[Beato19]

Hi, I was informed by a local garage that the first change of the cam belt on my Skoda Octavia 1.9tdi should be at 40,000 miles and then every 60,000 miles or 4 years whatever comes first. And yes, he wasn't really prepared to fit a cam belt only insisting on the full cam kit fit in order to give some sort of a guarantee. I managed to get a full cam kit for £93.00p. Regards. Neil.

[greg123]

Don't forget the water pump if it hasn't been done. 60k I won't argue with! At 40 or 60k if the tensioners were replaced last time they may be okay, I sometimes open up the seals and pack new grease in for my own vehicles - only if the bearings are all good though, any rough/loose etc and they definately need to be replaced. For customers cars I fit new only. Greg.

[Pauloz]

Don't forget the water pump if it hasn't been done. 60k I won't argue with! At 40 or 60k if the tensioners were replaced last time they may be okay, I sometimes open up the seals and pack new grease in for my own vehicles - only if the bearings are all good though, any rough/loose etc and they definately need to be replaced. For customers cars I fit new only. Greg.

Ohh really Greg? Bit risky if you ask me bud. Its impossible to test a bearing properly without taking it apart completely... and the seals are very delicate in modern rollers being 'non contact' so with very specific tolerances..... not to be messed with imo

[greg123]

I have a good system tried and tested over 15 years.

Essentially the bearings go when the grease runs dry. If the grease is still good, the bearings are unpitted and there is no free play I'm confident that re-packed with grease it's good to go. Never, ever, failed me. In fact this is the standard way of dealing with old non-sealed bearings. The only difference is that the old ones didn't have properly sealing covers, it's pretty easy to pop off the covers when you know how. Just work clean, I fully clean and de-grease before I pop the cover off.

Anyhow, you don't have to do it, I don't normally mention it. Just fit new ones.

Greg.

Ohh really Greg? Bit risky if you ask me bud. Its impossible to test a bearing properly without taking it apart completely... and the seals are very delicate in modern rollers being 'non contact' so with very specific tolerances..... not to be messed with imo

[Beato19]

Hi folks. Can anyone please advise me where the sensor is on a 2006 Skoda Classic 1.9 TDI. I can see some sort of a switch with an electrical connection on it on the passenger side of the engine about half way back? If this is the offending thing I'm having a heck of a job trying to get the connection off.
Is there any kind of clip holding the sensor in? I'm assuming that even with pressure taken off the system (by releasing the rad/bottle cap) that I will lose coolant. Can something like a thin tray be used to catch the coolant and then return back into the system after the new sensor has been fitted? Or would I be better off taking the car to a local Skoda dealer to get the job done? Cheers all. Neil.

[greg123]

Off top of my head it's at the rear of the cylinder head right hand side, held on by a plastic U clip which breaks easy - get a couple spare they are only 50p each. Release pressure on cap then put cap back on, change the sensor quickly making sure the old o ring comes out and you put the fresh one in. You won't lose much coolant.

Greg.

Hi folks. Can anyone please advise me where the sensor is on a 2006 Skoda Classic 1.9 TDI. I can see some sort of a switch with an electrical connection on it on the passenger side of the engine about half way back? If this is the offending thing I'm having a heck of a job trying to get the connection off.
Is there any kind of clip holding the sensor in? I'm assuming that even with pressure taken off the system (by releasing the rad/bottle cap) that I will lose coolant. Can something like a thin tray be used to catch the coolant and then return back into the system after the new sensor has been fitted? Or would I be better off taking the car to a local Skoda dealer to get the job done? Cheers all. Neil.