Nice. That’s my job lined up for tomorrow. Saved me the bother of whipping out the wheelarch liner too. Thanks!
Cam & Aux Belt Tensioner Noise, Recorded.
- Thread starter Tourershine
- Start date
Did mine today. All from underneath.
Used a 4mm drill to lock the old one.
Took me 1hr 20. Would’ve been quicker but I grabbed the old bolt accidentally and fitted the new one with that! Luckily not torqued up. So actually did it virtually twice.
Sounds sweeeeeeet now.
I reckon it was the belt on the alternator pulley squeaking. It wouldn’t squeak for about 3-4 seconds after you started it, as the alternator doesn’t kick in straight away. It’d make sense also, as it tended to be better when the van had been run for a while (and therefore the battery voltage was up) and the load was lower on the alternator. Could well be a contributory factor to the “low battery” problem we all know and love.
The spring on the old one was sluggish and sticky, whereas the new one felt more “springy”.
Even after two weeks of no use, the stop start was working on mine within 2 miles of driving with the new tensioner. Seems to be putting a better charge in.
Used a 4mm drill to lock the old one.
Took me 1hr 20. Would’ve been quicker but I grabbed the old bolt accidentally and fitted the new one with that! Luckily not torqued up. So actually did it virtually twice.
Sounds sweeeeeeet now.
I reckon it was the belt on the alternator pulley squeaking. It wouldn’t squeak for about 3-4 seconds after you started it, as the alternator doesn’t kick in straight away. It’d make sense also, as it tended to be better when the van had been run for a while (and therefore the battery voltage was up) and the load was lower on the alternator. Could well be a contributory factor to the “low battery” problem we all know and love.
The spring on the old one was sluggish and sticky, whereas the new one felt more “springy”.
Even after two weeks of no use, the stop start was working on mine within 2 miles of driving with the new tensioner. Seems to be putting a better charge in.
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Mine was the same. It was making the reinforcement in the belt go a little frilly on the edge that was overhanging.
The old pulley also showed a dull area where the belt wasn’t running on that part.
The new one is bang on, and pushes on the belt evenly.
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Guys my T6 204 DSG is in the dealer and they’re saying the aux belt is slightly overlapping the tensioner. I’ve not noticed any noises. I have the extended warranty, any idea if it should be covered? It’s £170 so not a disaster but be good to know. Cambelt was done a year ago in main dealer (but not this one).
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Cheers @Spaghetti . I’ll try TPS on Tuesday
Well that added to the confusion. My routing is as above, which delayed me as I attempted the “correct “ routing.The above is from ETKA and I just looked at VW workshop manual(see below) and I am a little bit confused
View attachment 64359
I've just done my Tensioner, belt, idler pulley and all the bolts this morning. Like someone else said it's not to hard a job if your reasonably handy\patient. Although I will say you need a plethora of Torque wrenches, standard wrenches, sockets, socket adapters and Spline bits, had to use various wrenches to remove and tighten various bolts based on the limited space available for the job (I did the majority from underneath the van with the van up on a kerb and the steering on full lock). I have one question mind, do you need to hold the tension on the new tensioner when removing the pin? Then release it slowly by hand rather than just letting it go? I assumed just pull the pin and the tensioner spring takes care of the rest....
No harm in letting it go but make sure your fingers are clear or you might be waiting along time before somebody finds you under the van.
Yeh, my thoughts exactly. Got a mate popping round later so I'll probably hold fire so he can stand up top with a wrench on it. Seems pretty stiff to pull the pin out anyway so if someone's giving it a wiggle from the top it should make it easier to slide out. (for anyone else doing this, make sure the pin is out before starting the engine!!!)
lyndygraham
New Member
Hi, was given an advisory on the service this year for our 2018 T6, that we have a noisy Alternator Belt/Tensioner. You can hear it on start up and it does not go away. Was given no advice by the dealership in as what to do about it, ( don't trust them anymore as they who tried to give me another Cam belt change this year when they had done it the previous year when I rang to book the service!). It's out of warranty so I will not get a free replacement. I rang VW customer service who were completely useless with respect to a history of possible Tensioner problems, no surprise there!
Need advice, do I take it to a different dealership (Marshalls Bridgewater) or try an independent garage (Arnie Levics Ltd - Street - recommended by locals)?
Lyndy
Need advice, do I take it to a different dealership (Marshalls Bridgewater) or try an independent garage (Arnie Levics Ltd - Street - recommended by locals)?
Lyndy
lyndygraham
New Member
Probably not , Cam belt was changed last year and then we have this noise a year later!
A new tensioner and belt from vw is £120ish, you'll save some money if you do it yourself, it's not a hard job. I did one on my sisters t6£297 at VW Van Centre Manchester.
Not covered by the All-in-one plan.
Or at least, tensioner is but belt isn't.
And they don't recommend a new belt on an old tensioner.
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