Cambelt fitting advice please

Jim Rey

Jim Rey

Retired Software Engineer
T6 Guru
I have only 19,852 mile on the clock of my VW T6 102 2.0 Oct 2018 campervan.

I am looking about to get the cam-belt replaced and it is always on the back of mind.

1. How much these days for a dealer cam-belt and water pump replacement?

2. Anyone recommend a VW expert garage in Glasgow to do the work?

I used an indy garage one tome to do a service and was concerned about the quality of work they did. However, a froend of mine took his to a dealer and was called halfwat through the work that they need to do a interim service as part of the cam-belt replacement when he had had that done only 6 months previous.

I know they now say 120,000km with no time limit for a cambelt but I want peace of mind.
 
In 2022 I had mine done early, 4years.


£750 inc vat - Timing belt Kit & Waterpump (including all the ancillary bolts and bits) (excluding the AUX belt as advised it was fine but would have been £36 parts extra


Dellmassive

Post in thread 'Cambelt + Water Pump Replacement - Official guidance'

well, its all done. . . . . . . .

Timing Belt & Water pump job - 50K miles so early (but 4years old so due according to VWCV UK on time basis (204ps DSG))

We have the Factory Extended warranty for years 4&5.

So I took ours to a main dealer as I have factory warranty and didn't want any funny business with any future claims.

That was yesterday.... Needed an engine mount *(highlighted last time) which was oos..... Which was ordered over night and installed this morning. - so now its the next day.

++++

Had a haggle with the SA and got prices too (march 2022):

£750 inc vat...
  • Like
 
Dellmassive said:
In 2022 I had mine done early, 4years.


£750 inc vat - Timing belt Kit & Waterpump (including all the ancillary bolts and bits) (excluding the AUX belt as advised it was fine but would have been £36 parts extra


Dellmassive

Post in thread 'Cambelt + Water Pump Replacement - Official guidance'

well, its all done. . . . . . . .

Timing Belt & Water pump job - 50K miles so early (but 4years old so due according to VWCV UK on time basis (204ps DSG))

We have the Factory Extended warranty for years 4&5.

So I took ours to a main dealer as I have factory warranty and didn't want any funny business with any future claims.

That was yesterday.... Needed an engine mount *(highlighted last time) which was oos..... Which was ordered over night and installed this morning. - so now its the next day.

++++

Had a haggle with the SA and got prices too (march 2022):

£750 inc vat...
  • Like
Click to expand...
Thanks for reply :)
 
Dellmassive said:
In 2022 I had mine done early, 4years.


£750 inc vat - Timing belt Kit & Waterpump (including all the ancillary bolts and bits) (excluding the AUX belt as advised it was fine but would have been £36 parts extra


Dellmassive

Post in thread 'Cambelt + Water Pump Replacement - Official guidance'

well, its all done. . . . . . . .

Timing Belt & Water pump job - 50K miles so early (but 4years old so due according to VWCV UK on time basis (204ps DSG))

We have the Factory Extended warranty for years 4&5.

So I took ours to a main dealer as I have factory warranty and didn't want any funny business with any future claims.

That was yesterday.... Needed an engine mount *(highlighted last time) which was oos..... Which was ordered over night and installed this morning. - so now its the next day.

++++

Had a haggle with the SA and got prices too (march 2022):

£750 inc vat...
  • Like
Click to expand...
Fyi...

That was done by the main dealer....

As I was still under warranty at the time
 
dandan88 said:
Just had mine done yesterday at a vw independent specialist approved garage, £575 inc VAT
Click to expand...

That's a good price :)
Dellmassive said:
Fyi...

That was done by the main dealer....

As I was still under warranty at the time
Click to expand...
Just sent an email to main dealer Lookers, Ballieston and they came back with the current recommended mileage of 140,000 miles and no time limit for cambelt change. Doesn't do anything to relieve my "cambelt paranoia " though :rolleyes::D
I remeber many folk on this forum getting theirs done at 40,00 miles or 4/5 years. Think I might try and figure out how to take the plastic cover off and do a visual inspection.
 
Jim Rey said:
That's a good price :)

Just sent an email to main dealer Lookers, Ballieston and they came back with the current recommended mileage of 140,000 miles and no time limit for cambelt change. Doesn't do anything to relieve my "cambelt paranoia " though :rolleyes::D
I remeber many folk on this forum getting theirs done at 40,00 miles or 4/5 years. Think I might try and figure out how to take the plastic cover off and do a visual inspection.
Click to expand...
That is real shocking paranoia.
Before coming to this forum I never heard of any commercial vehicle HAVING to do the belt thay early. BTW I never heard of a VW Transporter with a failed timing belt, so it was probably olny a service mismanagement issue that now VW has corrected. Any decent engine that I have heard about makes the belt at least at 100K miles (160 K Km).
In the last 25 years all my 5 vans have done the belt at most once each (the ones that actually had a belt !) in their 250K km each of service. Actually I think (personal opinion, but supported with experience background) that doing a belt , especially at an indy, at less that 50k miles actually INCREASES your chances of having a belt failure.
If it's not broken and you have NO REASON to think it is failing, don't fix it .
Different case if you have any other related problem, i.e. crankshaft seal, water pump, wet belt. Then of course fixing all at once makes sense.
 
Get your front crank seal done at the same time as the timing belt, they are known for leaking and means a full strip down if found to be leaking afterwards. You will find posts about the issue if you search the forum.
 
FWhite said:
That is real shocking paranoia.
Before coming to this forum I never heard of any commercial vehicle HAVING to do the belt thay early. BTW I never heard of a VW Transporter with a failed timing belt, so it was probably olny a service mismanagement issue that now VW has corrected. Any decent engine that I have heard about makes the belt at least at 100K miles (160 K Km).
In the last 25 years all my 5 vans have done the belt at most once each (the ones that actually had a belt !) in their 250K km each of service. Actually I think (personal opinion, but supported with experience background) that doing a belt , especially at an indy, at less that 50k miles actually INCREASES your chances of having a belt failure.
If it's not broken and you have NO REASON to think it is failing, don't fix it .
Different case if you have any other related problem, i.e. crankshaft seal, water pump, wet belt. Then of course fixing all at once makes sense.
Click to expand...
Eloquent response and it goes someway to allaying my concerns. My “paranoia “ is borne of reading past posts and the OLD official VW service recommendations… I.e 50k miles or 4/5 years, whatever came first, for a cambelt replacement . It seems to me following VW’s change to 120,000miles with no time limit, me that those owners that followed the old dictat maybe have spent between £600 and £1000 to have the belt replaced that perhaps they didn’t need to do.
 
when I bought my 2020 Caravelle in October from VW main dealer it was 5 years old but had only done 16,900 miles. As part of the required prep they did the timing belt and water pump as they reckon it should be done every 5 years as a precaution anyway. It was at there cost so was quite happy for them to sort. That’s on a 199 Bitdi though.
 
My main dealer is saying it’s due on time (4 years) rather than mileage. Although I've just passed the 100,000 miles mark so im going to get it done. Probably going with the dealer for the 2 year warranty.
 
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