Timing Belt? Am i screwed?

[Heepsy92]

Hi Guys.

 

Was driving my 64 plate Superb to work and the car died on me, complete loss of power felt like the car had stalled, at first I thought I ran out of fuel as I only had 15 miles left according to the screen.

 

Went and got diesel, put it in the car and tried to start it. Nothing.

 

AA came out and had a look at it and said it was the timing belt had gone, the towed my car away and took it to my local garage, they informed me they couldn't look at it until at least Monday as they were booked up.

 

After doing some research, I'm now thinking my car is completely screwed and might be better of scrapping it and getting something new which is a shame as I love this car like.

 

I wasn't aware that a timing belt was needed to be replaced every 4-5 years 😞 

[J.R.]

Isn't your car 10 years old?

 

How many miles has it done?

 

Wait till the garage confirms the diagnosis and expected cost of repairs before making a hasty decision, if you like the car as much as you say then you wont begrudge spending the money but it sounds to me like you are looking for an excuse to change.

[Heepsy92]

Just now, J.R. said:

Isn't your car 10 years old?

 

How many miles has it done?

 

Wait till the garage confirms the diagnosis and expected cost of repairs before making a hasty decision, if you like the car as much as you say then you wont begrudge spending the money but it sounds to me like you are looking for an excuse to change.

 

Aye its coming up 10 year old.

 

108k miles its done.

 

defo not an excuse, I'm just looking for other peoples opinions and advice. As the more I google obviously the worse the results get.

 

I'm defo waiting until Monday and ill speak to the garage and see what they say.

[J.R.]

My vehicle has the original cambelt, same age as yours and 129K miles, I do annual belt inspections and dont see any need yet to change it, I did my MK1 at 250,000 miles.

 

What engine does your vehicle have?

[Heepsy92]

44 minutes ago, J.R. said:

My vehicle has the original cambelt, same age as yours and 129K miles, I do annual belt inspections and dont see any need yet to change it, I did my MK1 at 250,000 miles.

 

What engine does your vehicle have?

 

2 litre. 

[bigjohn]

On 21/07/2023 at 18:55, Heepsy92 said:

 

2 litre. 

 

I am afraid you probably will have extensive damage of the cylinder head, bent valves, smashed rockers, possibly damaged cam shafts etc. There may be some piston damage but fortunately I think the valves are not angled so you MIGHT get away with that. I'd say in the first instance it's worth having the head removed to have a proper look see.

 

If the damage is just re the head then it might be possible to get a replacement reconditioned head (make sure it's the right part no!!).  Obviously make sure everything re cam belt is changed inc water pump, all pulleys, tensioners and any bolts. I'd also change all ancillary belts  & associated gubbins. By your mileage the head is probably well carboned / gummed up by now so it should  be better than before!

Edited 22 July, 2023 by bigjohn

[Heepsy92]

Just now, bigjohn said:

 

I am afraid you probably will have extensive damage of the cylinder head, bent valves, smashed rockers, possibly damaged cam shafts etc. There may be some piston damage but fortunately the valves are not angled so you MIGHT get away with that. I'd say in the first instance it's worth having the head removed to have a proper look see.

 

If the damage is just re the head then it might be possible to get a replacement reconditioned head (make sure it's the right part no!!).  Obviously make sure everything re cam belt is changed inc water pump, all pulleys, tensioners and any bolts. I'd also change all ancillary belts  & associated gubbins. 

 

This is what I my Google results came back with. So I'm now expecting a hefty bill on Monday.

[bigjohn]

4 minutes ago, Heepsy92 said:

 

This is what I my Google results came back with. So I'm now expecting a hefty bill on Monday.

 

Yes - it will be a largish bill - but possibly not a write off.  

Edited 22 July, 2023 by bigjohn

[J.R.]

1 hour ago, bigjohn said:

There may be some piston damage but fortunately I think the valves are not angled so you MIGHT get away with that.

 

It would be far better for both the piston crown and the valve train if the valves were angled, if they were they would bend easily avoiding damaging other components, with vertical valves something else has to give.

[bigjohn]

10 hours ago, J.R. said:

 

It would be far better for both the piston crown and the valve train if the valves were angled, if they were they would bend easily avoiding damaging other components, with vertical valves something else has to give.

 

I've always found angled valves "dig" in to the piston at the leading edge whereas flat valves dissipate the load - er slightly. The Rockers tend to give first - Indeed on some engines the rockers are designed to "give".

However don't get me wrong I'm only suggesting checking by removing the head to have a look see as if the pistons are damaged then it's probably easier to fit a replacement engine which might be more than the car is worth. I'm afraid it's the luck of the draw. There are many that suggest cam belts last forever these days - they don't  - especially engines with belts in oil (Ford ecoboom, Peugeot 1,2 ).

 

At least it's not the oil pump drive issue! - a common VAG diesel potential issue esp 2.0 pd but I don't think the recent CR diesels are afflicted. In the past the Ford Pinto and Essex V6 suffered a form of this issue - on these engines there was a hex driveshaft between distributor and oil pump. I rebuilt loads - usually "just" a crank regrind & shells.  With a modern engine this sort of thing would cause more damage inc taking out the turbo.

 

 

Edited 23 July, 2023 by bigjohn