You would have to be confident that whoever is servicing your van is actually doing the inspection and giving accurate information about the condition of the belt. This seems to work in Europe, where there has been no rash of cam belt failures.
Cambelt + Water Pump Replacement - Official guidance
- Thread starter Cham13
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- cam belt cambelt change
As I suspected, con artists preying on fear!Hello, new member here. I'm on the VWCC forum, and an issue has developed over the last few months about the recommended interval for cam belt change. A member contacted VWCS to ask for an explanation for the interval in UK being anywhere from 80,000 miles to 130,000 miles, but always at 4 years, while in Europe the recommendation is 210,000km without time limit but with inspections at every service. He has received two answers today from VWCS, the first claiming it came from the manufacturer in Germany, but the second saying that actually it was a decision by the UK importer, based on information about use which is "not available to share." I would like to ask members here to take a look at the thread, and give your reaction. Thanks.
Cam Belt Query
Hi All Been looking through some of the older posts on this but appreciate your opinions. Our 2010 Cali has its fifth birthday shortly so will be due for cam belt replacement. Main dealer is £500 including water pump. Question is - how hard is the job? Should I trust to main dealer or save a...vwcaliforniaclub.com
My 5 year warranty is up next year, no more VW dealerships for me, sick of the BS.
The last service I was asked if there was anything they could advise me on, I replied ’yes, please record the pad and disc wear and let me know’. ‘Certainly sir the Service Manager replied. When handing back the keys I asked about the brake wear and was told by the Service Manager ‘we couldn’t do that as we don’t remove the wheels’.
I asked ‘why’ and was told ‘it’s to do with liability In case the wheels get damaged’.
What a ‘kin dick! (Carrs of Cornwall)
Only in the UK. I have a T5.1 140, live in Spain, and have seen the service schedules for Germany, Belgium and France. 210,000 km with no time limit and inspections at every service, except Spain which is the same but max 10 years. This issue is developing on another current thread.
Cambelt + Water Pump Replacement - Official guidance
I was just quoted £630 plus VAT from my local VW. :eek: As you can see from posts above I was in the same situation but decided to go to a local independent using genuine VW parts
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Very interesting read.
I asked SMG Tonbridge for a quote for the cam belt, water pump etc work back in February when having the van’s annual service - ours will be 4 years old next March, and currently has 13,000 miles on it, so according to them due to be done.
They printed the attached document off for me which, with VAT added, suggests they want £750+!
I would like to know whether VWVC’s actually do visual inspections of cambelts at annual services...
I asked SMG Tonbridge for a quote for the cam belt, water pump etc work back in February when having the van’s annual service - ours will be 4 years old next March, and currently has 13,000 miles on it, so according to them due to be done.
They printed the attached document off for me which, with VAT added, suggests they want £750+!
I would like to know whether VWVC’s actually do visual inspections of cambelts at annual services...
It’s an odd design for an centrifugal impeller pump. I‘ve worked with impeller pumps for 40+ years and a rotating pump without adequate flow causes cavitation which will lead to impeller erosion and failure. Never run a pump with the inlet or discharge valves closed or throttling flow. In this case the shroud is acting as a discharge valve.
hi lads
i live in the Netherlands and own a T6 150 for a couple of years with 100.000km on it!
i was checking on google when the belt/waterpump needs to be replaced .. it said within 5 years or 100.000km orso
checked it by my garage they said that's not right ! its 210.000km or within 10 years !!
greetz
i live in the Netherlands and own a T6 150 for a couple of years with 100.000km on it!
i was checking on google when the belt/waterpump needs to be replaced .. it said within 5 years or 100.000km orso
checked it by my garage they said that's not right ! its 210.000km or within 10 years !!
greetz
That’s the word from the German manufacturer, 210,000 km without time limit and inspections at every service, which is followed everywhere except UK, where the private importer who represents VW in the UK, VWCV, has bizarrely established a 4 year rule with varying and inconsistent mileage.
13,000 miles! No shame.
@Loz has received an answer from the belt manufacturer:
vwcaliforniaclub.com
Cam Belt Query
"may present" "a business decision may have been taken" "may well be preferable " "would probably be minimal " This is what denial looks like. Would you replace perfectly good brake pads to avoid scoring the discs, especially if only one importer (UK) recommended it, even though the European...
vwcaliforniaclub.com
So, life of 7 years for the belt. Anyone know the lifespan of the pump that gets changed with it?I was just about to post it here
I've had a response from the belt manufacturer.
My follow up;
Is there also a “Time” or age limit?
So, from the manufacturer, they assume a 10-year life span, but with the VW recommendation, it's a max of 7 Years.
I've actually been in correspondence with VW Customer Support about this as well. I told them that my understanding was that VW Germany only required a belt change 210,000 Km with no time limit as long as inspections were carried out as part off a service whereas I had been advised by my dealer that VWUK policy was 120,000 miles or 4 years. After a couple more exchanges, the VW response was the requirement for my van (2018 150PS SWB Highli) was actually 133000 or 4 years. I asked why the difference and they said it was because road conditions and weather were different in Germany. When I pointed out that I had lived and worked in Germany for a long time and that in my experience, road conditions were generally better than the UK and the climate was harsher in a lot of Germany, they came back and said that there technical people couldn't comment on Germany but that's the way it was in the UK (ie. suck it up!). They didn't mention dusty conditions at all. I therefore asked for the name of the UK CEO which they refused but did give me the name of their 'Director Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles' - Cian O'Brien if I wanted to take it up at a more senior level. I really do believe the this is profiteering on the part of VW UK but can't decide whether I want to push it any further as I think I'll just be peeing in the wind. That said, it really does irritate me as I doubt I'll have done much more than 12000 miles by the time 4 years is up and the belt has to be changed.
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