I was on my way back home after a days fishing when the car died and I heard some light ticking.

I pulled over and tried to turn the car over and I could her the starter motor spinning but no compression.

After having a poke about I found the problem. The cam belt has been mostly stripped.

Is it likely that the valves have been knackered and I need a new head? Or could I be lucky and just need a timing belt kit?

Cheers,

Tom

The fact you have tried to turn it over is never good with a stripped cam belt and also hearing no compression is also not good.

If it were my car I'd be pulling the head off as it is more than likely to have bent something.

This some serious stripping of the belt, you might be lucky but it was starting it again that may have done it for you. Out of interest when we the belt last changed.

At worst it has bent 8 exhaust valves.

When you refit look for any wobble on the exhaust cam pulley (on right in picture)

Always thought the belt linking the two cam pulleys was weirdly smaller than the one driving intake camshaft and water pump.

A 16v Lupo (code AHW) I fixed had wobble on bottom pulley as it had a worn key way.

I have a complete head if you need one. I have w cam cover but the inlet cam is seized but the rest is ok. Are you near cwmbran?

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I think the cambelt was last changed around 80,000 and its now hit 129,000.

I'm not sure if I will tackle this job myself as the cost of the cam shaft locking tools and the parts to change the timing belt works out the same as a quote I got from a VW specialist. Also I don't fancy working on the car in this weather we are having.

I may have to take you up on that offer Gbd8512 if the valves are bent. How much are you after?

Cheers

You only need two bits of 8mm rod to align the camshafts. But either way, yes, you've almost certainly bent some exhaust valves.

Rubber has a 6 year life, regardless of millage it should be changed if close to that

Do you know what year it was done?

I use two 1/4 inch extention bars from a ratchet. Nice tight fit.

Take head off first and have a look. You might be lucky.

After getting some ridiculous quotes from the garage I'm going to have to tackle this one myself especially if I don't have to splash out on a specialist tool kit to change the cambelt.

I will take the head off and update everyone.

Is it worth changing all the valves and tappets if I'm taking the head off?

If the tappets weren't rattling before the incident, then they should still be OK.

Check that the valve guides are not damaged/worn.

Put the valves that 'look' OK in their respective guide, open the valve about 3 mm and rotate it from the valve-stem end - you should be able to see if there is any eccentricity (bent) a few rubs with a touch of grinding paste will indicate if there is any problems - should leave an even mark all the way round.

Check the piston crowns for damage, but don't be tempted to clean the carbon from the very edges of the pistons or from the tops of the cylinders, removing it CAN lead to higher oil consumption.

If you haven't got one, you will need a valve spring compressor.

To avoid damage, slacken off the camshaft bearing caps evenly (the same goes when tightening) Keep the caps the same way round and in the same position that they were originally fitted.

I would recommend genuine VW timing belt.

Regards

I bought a car with this exact problem.

In my case both the no. 4 exhaust valves had kissed the piston, and ended up very wrinkly, but the rest of the valvetrain was OK. I got my replacement valves from ECP for about £7 each together with a new belt kit.

In my case the biggest problem was loosening the crankshaft pulley without special tools - it's tight, probably rusted, and you really benefit from having an assistant to stick a meaty screwdriver in the ring gear to stop the engine turning

Edited 11 January, 201610 yr by 937carrera

Started work on the car tonight.

Removed the coil pack, HT leads and air filter box. I also removed the driver side inner wheel arch to help with access.

Tomorrow I will prop the engine under the sump and remove the RH engine mount read to remove the ancillary belt and timing belt.

I used the weight of the car on a breaker bar to undo the crankshaft pulley bolt, but I had a beam to hold the engine up.

I borrowed then bought my own Sealey VS173 to keep pulley from moving.

Yeah that's gunna be the only way you undo a crank bolt. If I ever need one undone on an engine in the car I will forever remember to do this now. Engine out the car. Virtually impossible without heat.

Looks like I'm definitely going to be investing in a Sealey vs173 pulley tool.

I have done a lot of reading up and watching videos tonight on changing the timing belt. It all seems pretty straight forward.

I'm going to use two M8 bolts to lock the camshafts as it suggests in the Haynes manual.

I will update some picture tomorrow and hopefully not ok many valves will be knackered

I would leave the timing belt in place until you have slackened the crank bolt - extra resistance to the turning force :)

Here's some photos to be going on with, so you know what you might find

Thanks for the pictures they are always so helpful when tackling a new job.

937carrera did you have to change the valve guides as well?

I didn't change the valve guides, but you should certainly check to make sure yours are still in decent condition. In terms of time I took about a day to dismantle and reassemble the car to firing her up again. This was my first time taking the head off and changing the timing belt so a fair amount of time was taken up by simply taking things steady. Take care when putting the cam carrier cover back on, it's easy to dislocate the tappets.

I used 8mm drill bits to lock the cams - They were a good fit but one of them got bent in the process of slackening the crank pulley bolt (trying to do it myself instead of another pair of hands to wedge the flywheel which is what worked)

Good luck, there's plenty of help around here.

I drop a 3/8 extension bar into the clutch inspection hole. Turn the crank until the pressure plate locks against it, your crank's locked.

You don't need to undo either of the cam sprockets, and its wise that you don't. So you only need your 8mm dowels to check they're in place whilst you fit the belts.

That's a good idea mikey! And I'm familiar with that part of the engine as I did my first clutch change a couple of months ago.

I did buy a Sealey vs173 off fleabay for £15 delivered to help with the job.

A little bit more progress. Removed the engine mount and lowers the engine making it easier to access the crankshaft bolt.

When you talk about wedging the fly wheel though the clutch inspection hole, this is the hole at the bottom of bell housing?

Yes, crescent shaped access plate. Gives you access to flywheel teeth, so wedging something in there by turning crank anti-clockwise will stop crank rotating further anticlockwise while you heave on the crankshaft bolt.

But to simply remove the aux belt pulley, the aux belt pulley on the crankshaft has holes, so you can put the Sealey tool in those with handle nearly touching the floor facing to back of car then heave on a breaker bar with a socket on the crankshaft bolt.

Then refit the bolt (maybe with some fat washers (so you can position to all pistons at same level and back to TDC (the chamfered tooth on the crankshaft pulley lines it up).

Then attack the lower tensioner to remove main belt.

Attack top tensioner to remove smaller belt.

Order a new water pump while you are in there and about to remove head?

When you talk about wedging the fly wheel though the clutch inspection hole, this is the hole at the bottom of bell housing?

No. It's at the top of the bell-housing. There should be a plug to pull out, then drop the extension bar in the hole. It'll lock when it wants to, as you turn the crank.

Don't wedge anything in from underneath, because the aluminium casting is thin there, and there's a chance you'll crack it (bearing in mind you have an ally sump, and don't have leverage access against the block).

Oops, did n't think of that.