Hi All

I bought a '96 polo L 1000cc yesterday off a dealer. On driving the car the next day my Cambelt snapped! It did so without seizing or banging at all. Just lost power.

I have spoken to the dealer and he is uninterested stating that cambelts aren't covered by warranty and it's just unfortunate.

I have had mixed feedback from VW specialists as to whether this will have bent valves or whether its a matter of just changing the belt??? for the sake of £15 I am going to change the belt on the off chance there is no damage done.

Does anybody know where i can find the timing setup ie. cam position etc. and also a rough guide on how to fit a cam belt. It looks fairly difficult as there is an engine mount in the middle of the loop as far as i can tell.

Would I be best off just buying a Haynes manual or can anybody help?

Really appreciate any advice!

Many Thanks Andy

it's not too bad tbh - the mount removal is probably the hardest bit.

get a jack and a block of wood under the sump and remove the entire mount for ease of access

then take off the cambelt cover (top)

remove the aux belt

remove the bottom aux belt pulley - the 4 x 6mm allen bolts, not the 19mm in the center

once this is off you can remove the bottom plastic cambelt cover

with the car in nuetral turn the crank via the 19mm nut on the bottom pulley carefully so the timing mark is at the top - pointing staight up, then turn it another quarter of a turn to the right so the pistons will back off in the cylinders

now turn the cam wheel so the dot on the pulley mathes up to the marker (arrow) usually so the dot is at the bottom of the wheel

once the dot is ligned up you can then turn the bottom pulley back that quarter turn to the left so the mark matches up

fit new belt and tensioner, when fitted recheck positions and turn engine by hand one complete cycle so the marks are back to their pointers

if all is good refit aux belt and pulley, covers and mount and turn it over / start it up

to be honest you'll be very lucky if you haven't bent the valves, if you have i've got a complete 1.0 6n head on ebay for £50 i listed last night for 7 days.

Olly

prob is best to buy a haynes manual really, it has pictures and everything.

fingers crossed there's no damage but I think it's unlikely. When you've got a belt on it just try turning it by hand and make sure it'll turn all the way freely before you go anywhere near the ignition key.

dunno what kind of money you paid for the car

if its more than a cheap £100 banger , i think the dealer has to deal with you , repair or refund etc dont get fobbed off

Get onto trading standards if you've not had it long.

Thanks Everyone

Got a friend who is a good mechanic and is going to sort it for £200 including labour. Good price i thought?!

As the dealer is refusing any responsibility it will probably go to court and therefore is not worth the time and money for a car bought for £520 but i will still pursue.

Thanks again for all the useful info.

Keep on postin!

Andy

not too bad i suppose, although if you've bent valves (which i suspect) then you'll be looking at nearly £100 to sort the head by the time you've done valves/ stem seals seated the valves etc.

get some pics up of the damage.

Olly

Hopefully the head isn't messed up mate, and there is no piston damage either.. is your mechanic friend going to be sorting that out if there is such damage for that price? If so, I would say that's a very fair deal.

If he's just putting a new timing belt on I wouldn't exactly call it mates rates but you could get worse..

I can't believe that happened to you mate, I would be totally gutted. Especially from a dealer, definately persue it even if it just gives the guy a scare.

Hope it works out for you, let us know how you get on

That price is for worst case scenario he will do belt for £30 including parts. Will let you know the outcome.