How important is cam belt change?

[treeroy]

Hi

I recently bought a 2013 Polo 1.2 tdi bluemotion. It's on 100,000 miles so I believe it is overdue a cambelt change.

I am trying to spend as little as possible on car maintenance, so am wondering whether it's actually worth doing the timing belt? Has anyone experienced the belt breaking? Also not sure if the engine is non interference or not?

I'm not sure how expensive a belt change on these would be, but I only plan on having the car for like a year or so; if I spend £500 on doing the belt, it probably won't pay for itself when I come to sell it. So if there's only a 0.1% chance of the belt breaking, then not sure if it's actually worth doing. Alternatively if the 80k(?) belt interval is absolutely necessary to prevent the engine blowing up then that obviously would be a good idea to change it.

The car doesn't have any service history but I know it's had yearly oil changes and 2-yearly brake fluid changes. Is there anything else that will be overdue? The VW website gives very little information about what items are due replacing at what intervals. e.g. fuel filter, glow plugs, water pump etc
This is my first diesel as well so not sure if servicing is slightly different.

Any advice, experience or opinions would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[SRGTD]

I think there may also be an age limit on cam belts as well as a mileage limit. Depending on what the belt is manufactured from, it may deteriorate with age irrespective of the mileage covered by the car.

I believe that VW have changed change the age / mileage intervals for cam belt replacement at various points in the past. Not sure what the current VW recommended change interval is on a 2013 diesel Polo but it’ll probably be something like the sooner of 80,000 miles or 5 years (it might be 4 years). Therefore, if there’s no record of it ever being changed on your car then I’d be getting it changed sooner rather than later. Even if it costs a few hundred pounds, it’ll be cheaper than having to buy a replacement engine (I’m a firm believer of preventative rather than corrective maintenance ).

I’d be looking to find a good independent VW specialist garage to do the work though on an eight year old Polo rather than pay VW main dealer prices, as an independent is likely to be cheaper than VW.

[iichel]

Cambelt is good for 210.000km/140.000 miles or 5 years. It's an expensive one to change, but if you want to spend as little as possible... let us know when it snaps

That will probably be the end of the car, since it's an interference engine.

[CarbonChaos]

Got to love people who really don’t get the concept of ‘time or distance’ when it comes to timing belts.
I regularly hear customers say ‘but I don’t do many miles’ in a year and the belts well past its sell buy date on time if not near the mileage limit.
At the end of the day it’s your car and your choice not to replace a serviceable item that has got a given time or distance for replacement.

There is no service interval for glow plugs or water pumps just as and when they fail.

[amer6R]

Well, the engine rebuild costs more then a big service. And if you want to save money, at least change only the belt.
Belt it self is not expensive.

[treeroy]

Thanks for the opinions. I realise that skimping on service intervals will be frowned upon in an owners forum... but I simply want to run the car as cheaply as possible.

Where can I get the correct belt?

Is this right? - https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/contitec ... -325774695

Cambelt is good for 210.000km/140.000 miles or 5 years. It's an expensive one to change, but if you want to spend as little as possible... let us know when it snaps

That will probably be the end of the car, since it's an interference engine.

How many hours labour should I expect for the belt?

I think there may also be an age limit on cam belts as well as a mileage limit. Depending on what the belt is manufactured from, it may deteriorate with age irrespective of the mileage covered by the car.

I believe that VW have changed change the age / mileage intervals for cam belt replacement at various points in the past. Not sure what the current VW recommended change interval is on a 2013 diesel Polo but it’ll probably be something like the sooner of 80,000 miles or 5 years (it might be 4 years). Therefore, if there’s no record of it ever being changed on your car then I’d be getting it changed sooner rather than later. Even if it costs a few hundred pounds, it’ll be cheaper than having to buy a replacement engine (I’m a firm believer of preventative rather than corrective maintenance ).

I’d be looking to find a good independent VW specialist garage to do the work though on an eight year old Polo rather than pay VW main dealer prices, as an independent is likely to be cheaper than VW.

I know it's not been changed as I've known the car its whole life since it was bought new. But equally that's kind of why I wasn't really concerned about it being overdue.. if it's a "5 year item", then it's been 3 years without issue. Nothing mechanical has ever failed in the car's 100k miles so I have not been worrying about anything failing.

[amer6R]

No need to replace the glow plugs until they die. It can be a costly job if a glow plug breaks.

You should change your coolant, but since you want to save money if its clear and is -20°C freezing point then skip it.

Yeah that belt looks fine.

[RUM4MO]

Why don't you let the person/mechanic that is going to be working on your car source the new belt, he will probably end up buying the correct belt for less than ECP special discount rate, and he can be held responsible for things going bang when he has replaced it.

If anything messes up on replacing that belt, and you had supplied the belt, what sort of outcome would you expect - probably "it is all up to you", and that would cost you!

Proper workshop based mechanics will have some sort of insurance to cover them making mistakes, something to think about when trying to not spend too much money.

[amer6R]

Why don't you let the person/mechanic that is going to be working on your car source the new belt, he will probably end up buying the correct belt for less than ECP special discount rate, and he can be held responsible for things going bang when he has replaced it.

If anything messes up on replacing that belt, and you had supplied the belt, what sort of outcome would you expect - probably "it is all up to you", and that would cost you!

Proper workshop based mechanics will have some sort of insurance to cover them making mistakes, something to think about when trying to not spend too much money.

I think that they wont offer any guarantee. Why? Because you need to change the rolling bearings and water pump.

If one of those two seize up it can break the belt. For sure he should go to the mechanic and change the belt Because of timing.

[spartacus68]

Spend the money and get the belt and waterpump changed. As mentioned, changing the belt on its own is false economy, it's not unusual for some of the internal bearings to fail and these can be picked up at the belt renewal. I'd also think having the belt changed will add value to the car when you come to sell.

What's the option? Most of the stress on the belt is on start-up and when the engine is under load, as my local garage used to ask if they had a problem with emissions at MOT on older diesel Audi A4s I used to run, so they'd put a can of Forte fuel conditioner straight into the fuel filter and drive it like they stole it. That said they wanted to know the timing belt was to specification, and not going to break on them, so that gives you some idea.

[RUM4MO]

Sorry, I was hoping that my advice would mean "leave buying the necessary parts to the mechanic", which ends up being as suggested a "cambelt kit" and at this age, that should include a pump.

[turquoise]

How much is it approx to change a cam belt? (UK) Just read this and think I should get mine done asap. It's 2012 reg and not had a change yet. Is it ok to use a non-VW dealer garage? I always feel ripped off by them...
Thanks!

[CarbonChaos]

Hi turquoise you didn’t say what engine your 2012 polo has ? Petrol or diesel and CC ,As not all engines are belt driven.
As for using a non vow dealership that’s your call ,if not a VW independent or specialist would be the best call .

[spartacus68]

How much is it approx to change a cam belt? (UK) Just read this and think I should get mine done asap. It's 2012 reg and not had a change yet. Is it ok to use a non-VW dealer garage? I always feel ripped off by them...
Thanks!

Not all VW dealers are bad - and you can get fixed price servicing deals for cars 3-15 years old. Just looked at Looker's site (they're quoting £549 including water-pump). https://www.lookers.co.uk/volkswagen/se ... ng-pricing

Personally I think you could get an independent to do it for £450 or so using genuine parts. I looked my own done using genuine parts - so £480 all in including auxilliary belt, coolant, back in 2020.

[treeroy]

Spend the money and get the belt and waterpump changed. As mentioned, changing the belt on its own is false economy, it's not unusual for some of the internal bearings to fail and these can be picked up at the belt renewal. I'd also think having the belt changed will add value to the car when you come to sell.

What's the option? Most of the stress on the belt is on start-up and when the engine is under load, as my local garage used to ask if they had a problem with emissions at MOT on older diesel Audi A4s I used to run, so they'd put a can of Forte fuel conditioner straight into the fuel filter and drive it like they stole it. That said they wanted to know the timing belt was to specification, and not going to break on them, so that gives you some idea.

Does the water pump need changing or not? Getting mixed replies. I know people commonly replace them together but if it's not required then I'm not going to get a new water pump just for the sake of it.