Towed Home :-(

**bammy67** · 14-08-2009,09:20 AM

Oh Dear.
Me and a group of friends went to York for the day yesterday (5 of us) so we took the passat because most of my mates have the usual fiestas and saxos etc. Passat was outstanding as usual all the way there and for the 45 mins we were driving round looking for a car park that didnt say 'full'. Had a great day in York bla bla bla but when we came to start the beast up again it wouldnt fire. The RAC man was there within the hour and confirmed it was because of the timing belt. Now I dont mean to sound thick but it had a new timing belt less than a month ago

and the RAC man suggested that the garage have either used very inferior parts or not tensioned it properley. Luckily becuase I had the sense to not keep trying to start it the valves should not be damaged but knowing my luck they probably are. Any ideas how bad this could be? I cant take it back to the garage because they have closed for good leaving probably a trail of people like me in thier wake.
Cheers guys any help is appreciated
Liam

**martin1810** · 14-08-2009,03:08 PM

There is a fair chance that valves are damaged. You need a garage to check it out. Some garages will risk putting on a new belt to see what happens but alot will insist on removing the head first. This could prove to be quite expensive.

**bammy67** · 14-08-2009,03:30 PM

Thanks mate thats not good to hear though

I have a neighbour who is a mechanic and he says he can take the head off for me and have a look.

**martin1810** · 14-08-2009,03:45 PM

I would say that is the safest bet. At least then you can be sure about damage or no damage. goodluck

**limecc** · 15-08-2009,11:12 PM

Maybe a compression tester would be a quick way to reveal any valve damage?

**Norman vwp** · 16-08-2009,08:11 AM

Originally Posted by limecc

Maybe a compression tester would be a quick way to reveal any valve damage?

That is not a good idea because that means turning the engine over which is going to cause more damage, only option is take the head off and check the valves that way.

Norman

**bammy67** · 16-08-2009,08:29 AM

I agree with norman the first thing I did was remove the negative battery connection to make sure I couldnt damage it more. We are slowly getting there with it but because we both work all day its a slow process! The timig belt looks new so the tensioner is suspect at the moment but will find out soon enough. I am going to change the cambelt / water pump / tensioner / coolant / oil etc anyway now but will see what happens. Looks a bit horrific at the moment!

**Norman vwp** · 16-08-2009,08:55 AM

Hi Liam
The best of luck I hope there is not too much damage and that is a real pain for you the garage closing down.
My daughter had the same thing happen to her the belt was replaced but not the tensioner and that seized up and stripped the belt.
By the way that is a very nice looking car you have there.

Norman