Skoda cam belt change

ilikewatch

I'm really surprised at so many people advising a water pump change at 25K?
I know that with my (different make/model) diesel, those in the know tend to recommend checking the water pump for wear at each timing belt change, but unless it shows wear, not changing it until the 2nd/3rd timing belt change at 144K/216K

Stoke

Steve059 wrote: »

It's 40K miles or 4 years, whichever comes first. I've had a belt go on a car: never again.

I thought it was 40k miles or 5 years?

Regardless, I share the sentiments of the others in the thread. I've seen an engine after a belt snapped at 70mph. It was a right mess.

Pay the £300 or buy a Yaris. What I would say is that you can definitely get it done cheaper elsewhere.

Also, I agree with ilikewatch. I don't change my water pump every belt change. Maybe every two or three depending on how many miles I've done.

Prothet_of_Doom

I'd also get a quote off a couple of reliable independent specialists for replacement using VAG parts, and NOn VAG parts. I assume it's out of warranty, so i'd be suggesting a price of £150 is more likely.

Ask dealer to price match.

andrewf75

Thanks all. I've done a lot of research on more specific forums and have decided to risk it for another year. It sounds to me like 4 years/25k is very overcautious. I recognise I'm taking a risk, but its a sensible one IMO.

One thing that helped swing it was the fact that in most other European countries the interval is higher - indeed it was here until recently.

Stoke

andrewf75 wrote: »

Thanks all. I've done a lot of research on more specific forums and have decided to risk it for another year. It sounds to me like 4 years/25k is very overcautious. I recognise I'm taking a risk, but its a sensible one IMO.

One thing that helped swing it was the fact that in most other European countries the interval is higher - indeed it was here until recently.

I think your definition of sensible differs from me.

The reason why cambelt changes in Spain and Italy are higher intervals is because their climate is not as varied as ours. We sometimes have hot summers, and we usually have very cold winters. Temperature variation will cause rubber to perish.

That said, my rule was always 40k miles, or 5 years. As your car is 4 years old, I would not change it until next year, but I would not neglect it. Don't think "oh well it was okay last year, I'm sure another won't hurt"

andrewf75

Stoke wrote: »

I think your definition of sensible differs from me.

The reason why cambelt changes in Spain and Italy are higher intervals is because their climate is not as varied as ours. We sometimes have hot summers, and we usually have very cold winters. Temperature variation will cause rubber to perish.

That said, my rule was always 40k miles, or 5 years. As your car is 4 years old, I would not change it until next year, but I would not neglect it. Don't think "oh well it was okay last year, I'm sure another won't hurt"

Not comparing to Spain and Italy, I'm comparing to the rest of North Western Europe with similar climates to ours. In addition to that I'm taking into consideration that the car has had an easy life compared to most, not been driven harshly and mostly on longer trips not daily commutes.

How is my definition of sensible different to yours? I'm not suggesting leaving it indefinitely, just postponing for another year by which time it will be 5 years old with no more than 35k on the clock!

londonTiger

flashg67 wrote: »

I does seem to be an early change, but personally, I'd go by the age recommendations, rather than mileage. It's outside warranty - why not see if there's a local VAG specialist who can do it for less?

I suppose the real question is, can you afford the consequences of not having it done, and the worst happens?

£300 for cambelt (if it's inc vat) is very reasonable. I'm guessing it's because of the combined service so it's been reduced.

londonTiger

Stoke wrote: »

I thought it was 40k miles or 5 years?

Regardless, I share the sentiments of the others in the thread. I've seen an engine after a belt snapped at 70mph. It was a right mess.

Pay the £300 or buy a Yaris. What I would say is that you can definitely get it done cheaper elsewhere.

Also, I agree with ilikewatch. I don't change my water pump every belt change. Maybe every two or three depending on how many miles I've done.

Water pump (part alone) costs about £30. Labour should be negligible if done with a cambelt service - although they can bill 30mins-1hour labour because on some models the water pump is hard to remove and pretty much siezes to the engine. I would personally just get the pump changed but that's because I've heard of many cases where pump had a plastic impeller and the fin core just became unstuck from the pump shaft so it was no longer pumping any water. Other instances where the metal fins were made of sub-par steel and just corroded away.

It's a new car it seems to it's worth doing the cambelt service exactly to spec otherwise it may invalidate the warranty.

I do think the cambelt by time is a bit excessive, sure rubber perishes over time but I think there's at least another 2 years longer than recommended (as long as it hasn't exceeded in miles). Just my hunch though - i took a risk with mine and did it 2 years after the cambelt was due because the car was low mileage and I felt it has some more time left.

gabitzul

I did the one on my Focus a month ago (55 reg, 44k miles), although the recommended interval is 100k/8years, whichever comes first. And they are not known to fail.

If you rely on the car (only have one myself), do it. It's a bit like insurance, your attitude to it might vary.

But if it snaps...

patman99

I have noticed that the same engine can have differing change-time depending on the car it is fitted-to.

A Peugeot 1.6HDi fitted to a Focus will have a 80k miles/10 year change, whilst the same engine in a citreon Berlingo has a recommended change time of 100k miles/10 years if driven hard, or 125k miles/10 years if driven carefully.
Is it worth having it done?. Unless you can get hold of a replacement engine off ebay cheap-enough, then I would say it is a no-brainer. Pay the £300 and get the job done along with a new water pump (with metal rather than plastic impeller blades).