Ok Another rant ...

That's why I sold the Vectra. It was over 80,000 miles, the cambelt is recommended at 100,000 or 6 years, I wasn't happy with that so got a quote and the garage told me they have known them to go early. Then it needed pads and discs, a coolant change, a brake fluid change, and it wasn't running at the correct voltage, so electrical gizmo's were playing up if lots of current was being drawn, so it needed either alternator or battery. My wife and son are going to France alone in August and the last thing they need is an electrical breakdown or a snapped cambelt, so I decided just to take the £1000 it needed, and put that towards a new car.

Originally Posted by specialone

out of the 20+ cars ive owned only a ford orion at 110k had a cambelt snap

Funny that! Out of 12 cars, the only one of mine to snap a belt was an Escort.

Originally Posted by Dicky Ticker

Alternative is buy a car that has chain driven cams.
Lyn's Polo has had one cam belt change in its 11 year life and still only has 52K on the clock. Six years on low mileage is average for a cam belt change and even then only to cover deterioration rather than wear

Wheyhey! One or two people have told us what their manufacturer says about time based changes, but this the only person in the thread who's actually given their own opinion on when it should be changed based upon age rather than mileage.

I was quite pleased to learn at 60,000 miles the Ibiza (basically the same car as the Polo) also has a cam chain.

Originally Posted by dizzyblonde

A bike is far cheaper to maintain in all senses IMO...

Not sure about that Dizzy, you have a very expensive car to run. I spend much more on the Daytona than I do on my wife's Ibiza. Mainly tyres, the car has just had it's third set of tyres in 8 years, and they'll be on there for another 4 years. 4 tyres costs half what two tyres costs on the Daytona and last about 30,000 miles. Service cost is similar as they both get done annually, rather than based on mileage. The car doesn't need chain and sprockets and is better on fuel.

Originally Posted by martin15s

I changed thebelt and water pump on my Passat at 80,000 miles - not worth the risk of pushing the mileage more, or not doing the water pump at the same time. To be honest, if you guys are happy tinkering with your bikes then you should have no real problem changing the cam belt. The engine locking tools are available on ebay very cheap, and you only have to slide the front grille etc forward a few inches on the A4 and Passats. Just buy some threaded rod and cut two 9 or 10 inch sections and screw them into the chassis - then just pull the front end forwards. Get a Haynes manual and go for it.

You seem to know your stuff, how long would you say it should be between changes, based upon Specialone's mileage?

Originally Posted by specialone

I firmly believe these days as long as its stamped, doesnt affect things whether its main dealer or not.
Like i said, any gimp can do a minor service, its just i cant stamp my own books or reset my service light albeit i think my neighbour has the equipment to.
On my old passat you could press buttons and turn the ignition on and reset it without a gizmo or pc.

Yep, a stamp is a stamp nowadays. You can get the gizmo's quite cheap on ebay, and they pay for themselves the first time you need a dealer to read or reset a fault code for you.

Where is that old John Bull printing set----money to be made here

The reason for doing the water pumps on the newer VW's is due to them having a plastic impeller on a steel shaft that seperates when it feels like it, some as low as 20k. My 04 passat tdi had full history with 52k when I bought it.. 4 months after the belt was done (50k) the pump packed in! Now have a MK5 golf, belts recommended at 40k or 4 years, take it they have had probs with the long service belts at some point.
(Will be doing the work myself, never had problems selling as long as all the service receipts are there)

Originally Posted by suicidesam

The reason for doing the water pumps on the newer VW's is due to them having a plastic impeller on a steel shaft that seperates when it feels like it, some as low as 20k. My 04 passat tdi had full history with 52k when I bought it.. 4 months after the belt was done (50k) the pump packed in! Now have a MK5 golf, belts recommended at 40k or 4 years, take it they have had probs with the long service belts at some point.
(Will be doing the work myself, never had problems selling as long as all the service receipts are there)

Mines a MK5 Golf, VW say 60k or 48 months, way too excessive imo, theres something they are not telling us, dont go from no age limit / 100k to 60k just like that, things get more efficient / reliable not other way round.
They have discovered a fault somewhere and are using a shorter service schedule to fix them rather than risk a recall.

Originally Posted by suicidesam

The reason for doing the water pumps on the newer VW's is due to them having a plastic impeller on a steel shaft that seperates when it feels like it, some as low as 20k. My 04 passat tdi had full history with 52k when I bought it.. 4 months after the belt was done (50k) the pump packed in! Now have a MK5 golf, belts recommended at 40k or 4 years, take it they have had probs with the long service belts at some point.
(Will be doing the work myself, never had problems selling as long as all the service receipts are there)

i always said a ford was more reliable than a vw!,my old mrk 2 mondeo zetec cambelt should have been changed at 5 years or 80k,when i asked about doing the water pump at the same time because you have to take the cam belt off to get at the pump i was told not to bother as they(they being a main ford dealer)had never had a water pump failure,and at 12 years old and 120k some kind person reversed in to it and writ it off,and apart from 2 cam belts and 2 drive belts plugs and filters nothing under the bonnet had ever been replaced or repaired,and in the 11years i owned it had never needed to top the rad expansion tank up,although i would say ford coil spring have a habbit of brakeing mind you there as cheap as chips to replace,had 1 on the mrk 2 and 1 on mrk 3 replaced and the mrk 3 being the duretec engine it has a camchain so not much under the bonnet to need repairing ever,touch wood.

so would the belt require doing on my astra estate soon, 55 plate with 35,000 miles?

Originally Posted by bluefishman

so would the belt require doing on my astra estate soon, 55 plate with 35,000 miles?

Technically yes, take a look in your manual, bet it don't say anything about age of belt just mileage.

[Mr Speirs]

You'll be shocked to know that my Alfa 156 has to have it's cambelt changed every 36,000 miles!! Now that's a ****ter.

[timwilky]

Originally Posted by suicidesam

The reason for doing the water pumps on the newer VW's is due to them having a plastic impeller on a steel shaft that seperates when it feels like it, some as low as 20k. My 04 passat tdi had full history with 52k when I bought it.. 4 months after the belt was done (50k) the pump packed in! Now have a MK5 golf, belts recommended at 40k or 4 years, take it they have had probs with the long service belts at some point.
(Will be doing the work myself, never had problems selling as long as all the service receipts are there)

The daughter phoned me, the engine temperature has gone red what should I do?

Stop and I will be with you.

They were not where they said, another mile up the road on a car park and awful traffic to get there.

Lifted the bonnet, thermostat had punched its way through the plastic housing. Now that is hot. Why did you not stop where I told you to?

Because mum said I should stop here not on the road. Try telling a woman about the damage an overheating engine does and why not to run it.

So tows it home, new thermostat and housing. and it just isn't cooling right and me thinking they have cooked it somewhere. It is as if the pump isnt working. Sod it pump off and the plastic impeller isnt on the shaft, fish it out. The shaft is knurled and that is supposed to hold the impellor. So off to the local discount Volkswagen shop who say it is a well known problem. So new water pump with brass impellor, and belt kit.

One think I tend to do is write in white paint the mileage on the belt cover. That way should anyone ever look, It is obvious when it was done.

Paint or a sticker is the norm when a belt change is done also a little note on the service book.
Listening to all these woes perhaps I have been lucky but knowing about them being one reason I changed to chain driven cam engines.Admittedly they can have faults as well but they seem to be fewer in comparison.
Considering the number of engines built it is inevitable that you will have a rogue one every now and then but it is always them that you hear about,not the ones that run trouble free for year in year out.
If it is one in a thousand with problems perhaps the manufacturer bean counters consider this acceptable.