More cambelt questions.

[Cigaro]

I've had the cambelt cover off the Polo, and the belt that's on there is a 'Unipart' one and looks quite new and in good condition. The water pump and tensioner also look pretty much new.

This, to me, suggests that the cambelt actually WAS replaced at the 60,000 mile service, but whoever did it forgot to put a sticker on the cam cover. Surely the OEM belt wouldn't be a unipart one?

advice?

[LustyLew]

Was the 60k service done at an approved VW garage? Could have been done elsewhere and they dont bother with the sticker.

If you have the invoice, could give them a call, might have a history of parts used etc...
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Like a Yorkie - I'm not for the girls

[Cigaro]

[LustyLew]

Do you have any old MOT's? Might be a chance that it was serviced by the same people..?

Other than that, I would have thought UniPart would be a pattern part fitted afterwards. I think only MG Rover probably used them for factory components.*



* - Waits to be corrected!
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Like a Yorkie - I'm not for the girls

[Cigaro]

Cheers LH

No old MOT's, only the current one.

Like I say, it looks like it's been changed, and is in good condition, so I'm not going to worry about it too much.

On a sidenote, does anyone know what type of oil I should use in this car? Would boggo Tesco Value 10w/40 do the trick?

Oil+filter change and clean out the Throttle Body is my task list for Sunday now

[Walloper]

Cam belt rule of thumb.
If it breaks you have a blistering bill for recovery, repair missed appointments etc.
If you want peace of mind, change it.
Not a big job and the costs are less than all the ugliness of the alternative.

Belts that break looked OK the day before so not always easy to say.

Oil I would never dare to advise on here. The bcf Lubrication Police will jump all over the top of me.

Me I would put the best I could afford. Or what the OEM recommends.
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W-ireless A-rtificial L-ifeform L-imited to O-bservation P-eacekeeping and E-fficient R-epair

[WildGoose]

If in any doubt about a cambelt - and in your position you can have no idea apart from assumption when that cambelt was changed and by who - change it.

What do they say about assumption?


Cambelt failure can mean a catastrophic engine failure in some vehicles, so for the sake of the price of a cambelt/tensioner and waterpump, and an hour or twos hassle, change it.

[EDIT] Added these pics for interest, this are what my transit engine did when the cambelt stripped. Learned later that this is what transit engines are designed to do in such situations, the push rods were designed as the cheap weak link to save major engine damage, as transits will be prone to a lack of maintenance.

The rockers break regularly too but less often, mine didn't fortunately.

You would never be so fortunate in a petrol or OHC engine.
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[Phoenix]

Camchains and pushrods are where it's at.

It's a polo, Tesco or Asda 10w/40 will do just fine if you fancy treating it. As for old MOT's you can enter the details on the MOT website online to get all the old electronic certificates which will list where it was done so you might be able to find out where it was serviced.

Remember cambelt life depends heavily on how you drive, lots of town driving and short journeys will bring it's life down to near the recommended intervals, lots of motorways or continuous driving will mean it will most probably last a lot longer, of course how hard you accelerate and brake affects it too, though in a Polo I imagine that factor is negligible.

[Swim41]

I'm currently fretting over a Polo belt change too BassJunky. My motor is the diesel and it's a big job costing £££, but better safe than sorry I suppose

[arry]

No, VAG don't use unipart belts - they use another brand that i can't think of for the life of me which is quite annoying, keep thinking gates but it's definitely not that.

Gah!!

[Robby]

Why is it expensive in the diesel? If it does the injection pump as well thats another pulley for you to lock, but it shouldn't be too difficult.

And goose - cambelt and pushrods? Isn't that the worst of both worlds, why not just gear the camshaft off the crank and run the pushrods off that?

[Stelmer]

I've had a cambelt slip on me. Did just as much damage as if it snapped. Cambelts do not age or show signs of wear (apparently).

My dad's focus on the other hand was very close to slipping or snapping. The plastic tensioner pulley was disintegrating.

Now, when I buy another car, the first thing I ask is ''when was the cambelt last done"? Most sellers usually reply "I've not had it done''.

It gives me a good stand in getting £200-£300 more off the asking price. The first thing I do is then book it in for a cambelt at my local garage.

Then, sell the car shortly before it's due again. If the buyer asks, you did it when you got the car!!!!

[Swim41]

[arry]

[Finglonga]

[Trixie]

Personally I'd change the cambelt for peace of mind. I've got a Zetec-S engine in my Puma and it's pretty cruicial to keep on top of the cambelt in that engine. When I bought it the woman selling it told me she hadn't had it done so I managed to knock her down by a few hundred quid. I then got the belt, tensioner, water pump and aux belt done.

Bear in mind, the cambelt might look new, but was the tensioner changed at the same time? A bodge merchant may perviously have got their hands on it and done half a job. For peace of mind do it yourself or give it to someone you trust.
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Dead nobodies in company cars...

[Method]

If your worried just change it, its a polo - realy simple to do.

IF its a unipart then 99% its been done by a backstreeter / DIY.

Odds are if you track its old MOT's it will have had 2 / 3 MOT's at the same place, it would more than likely have had any servicing done there too. As a result, if its had a belt change, odds are they would have done it. Trace its MOT's online, check the garages and give them a bell to check.

If it looks good and its recently changed, odds are its fine, if unsure - just get it changed (assuming you want the car to last you another year or two).
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