Gonna do this job on Wednesday. Cambelt looks in excellent condition but its 5 years / 25,000 miles since last change so for the sake of £15 gonna do it.

The thing is I,ve been reading up on the polo cambelt change and I've had the cover off on the car to identify where the timing marks are but I just wanna check few points before I go ahead and do it.

1. Will I need a 6mm allen socket bit to remove the alternator pulley?

2. The water pump is the tensioner is that right ?

3. I rotate the crankshaft sprocket clockwise that little mark appears in the centre of the gap in the lower case cover, check that the other mark on the camshaft sprocket and timing upper case cover match. Get a screwdriver around the back of the waterpump and turn clockwise to slacken belt. Remove cambelt.

This all seems pretty straightforward but the bit I dont get is what happens if belt is off and you are trying to fit the new belt and you move the one of the sprockets 4 or 5 teeth either way (or is this just highly unlikely as I've never done a cambelt change before).

Cheers for any advice -much appreciated!!

1. yes

2. yes

3.yes

as for last just make sure they line up when the new belt is put on.

give yourself half a day to do this job just in case you hit a snag.

before starting the car when finished turn the engine by hand if you have any doubts

do a search on this,lots of answers on here

Edited 8 July, 200719 yr by ozzy

1 - yes.

2 - unless you have a seperate tensioner just below a fixed pump,like later engines,yes - the waterpump bolt holes should be slots,so that its adjustable.

3 - Clockwise isnt important - you're not exactly going to suck soot from the exhaust and blow it into the fuel manifold turning the engine by pushing the car by hand in fourth gear. You line the marks up with the belt on. The cam sprocket may not line up the first time,if not,give the crank another turn and it will do then. Leave the car in first gear with the belt on,and handbrake on,when loosening the 4x 6mm hex bolts. Make sure its still aligned,take out of gear,and remove wheel,guard and belt. Now the wheels shouldnt go too far out,but the valve spring pushing against the cam lobes can move the cam sprocket a notch. A couple of notches wont hurt,so its not a problem. When tensioning the new belt,simply ensure marks are lined up - and adjust by hand accordingly.

listen to this man^ he knows what he is on about :-D

Cheers for replies - all quality advice

More or less understand the full job(know that it makes more sense when yer doing it). Its just the realtionship between the 2 sprockets that I sorta dont get.

Had a look online and most descriptions of cambelt change state:-

"After new belt has been fitted.Turn engine by hand 2 full revolutions. Check timing marks on crank and camshaft agree. If not, release tensioner,remove belt and redo"

Its that last bit that throws me. If the timings dont match up on the new belt can you just remove the belt and turn the camshaft sprocket back/forward a few teeth with your hand to match and then try again as I thought that moving either of the sprockets with the belt off was a definate no-no.

Once again - many thanks

The camshaft runs @ half the speed of the crankshaft which is why it says turn by hand 2 revs to get the marks to line up again. If the belt is put on with all marks lined up,after 2 revs it should still be right. You often find that when you put the new belt on it is half a tooth out on the cam. It doesnt hurt to move it either way half a tooth. I forget now which way it is but moving it one way gives more torque than moving it the other. As someone said allow plenty of time for this job.

Lol Ozzy,i killed my engine today by oil starvation by cornering hard,so I'm really not perfect.. Anyway,the mark on the crank pulley shows 'top dead centre' so you cant turn the cam sprocket independently. But give the crank a 90 degree turn from the mark,and the pistons will all be halfway down. Or rather,two will be halfway down and two will be halfway up :) Then you can spin the camshaft round as much as you like with the cambelt off. Why you'd want to,I've no idea.

Lol Ozzy,i killed my engine today by oil starvation by cornering hard,so I'm really not perfect.. Anyway,the mark on the crank pulley shows 'top dead centre' so you cant turn the cam sprocket independently. But give the crank a 90 degree turn from the mark,and the pistons will all be halfway down. Or rather,two will be halfway down and two will be halfway up :) Then you can spin the camshaft round as much as you like with the cambelt off. Why you'd want to,I've no idea.

yeah but i bet you can fix it !! :-D

Doc, you might find you have to put a jack under the sump and remove the drivers side engine mount so you can move the engine up and down whilst removing the aux pully. I had to with my mk3, the small space between the engine and the wheel arch was just to tight.

Doc, you might find you have to put a jack under the sump and remove the drivers side engine mount so you can move the engine up and down whilst removing the aux pully. I had to with my mk3, the small space between the engine and the wheel arch was just to tight.

Yeah cheers

Spoke to a bloke from work today who said he does all the cambelt changes for his family/mates and he said to do that too (gonna use a square piece of wood between jack and sump). He also said what most people are saying that it isnt a difficult job knowledge wise its just getting in at the belt to work on it thats difficult (be prepared to lose some skin off yer knuckles I'm told).

Also mentioned as did previous post that cam sprocket shouldnt move freely so as long as you take it slow and careful the belt should go on with the marks staying aligned and if they end up a tooth forward just remove belt and turn cam sprocket back to a notch to mark and redo.

Even if the job takes most of the afternoon it'll be worth it to save £100

*Where's the best place to get a new belt -GSF /europarts or is there somewhere that does cheaper del. charges?

Cheers..................

Yeh my knuckles took a bit of a battering also. You also might want to drain your coolent since you will be loosening the water pump, I'm not sure how much it will leak if you dont because when i did it i was changing the pump aswell so the coolent was drained for that.

When the timing marks are aligend the sprocket wont be very easy to turn by accident you just have to be carefull not to brush against it to hard.

I got my belt from a local motor factors (Romac) it is a goodyear one cost about £12 i think.

Just to add in here if you don't fancy undoing an engine mount and jacking it up then get a thick towel and put it on the inner wing and lever onto the block from the inner wing. That's how I did mine.

When i can be bothered,Ozzy - I'm still in bed.

There seems to be alot of emphasis on accidentally turning the camshaft sprocket. Its not easy to turn. When the mark is lined up,all the valves are virtually closed,so the valve springs are all up. Try to turn it,and you're going to be pushing a valve spring down. Lots of resistance there - its not easy to do,as they're tough little buggers.

When rotating twice to check it lines up do it by the crank bolt not the cam. It can skip teeth turning from the cam end if you do it too fast.

Cheers for replies -really helped sort this job before I do it.

Quick question - will a 6mm allen key do for the alternator pully or will I have to get a socket hex bit and do it through the wheel arch hole.

*Gonna lower the engine on a jack so will there be enough room to use an allen key.

Cheers for replies -really helped sort this job before I do it.

Quick question - will a 6mm allen key do for the alternator pully or will I have to get a socket hex bit and do it through the wheel arch hole.

*Gonna lower the engine on a jack so will there be enough room to use an allen key.

you might struggle to get a socket bit on there as there is not much room,i used an allen key.

got my belt from vw cost about £12 inc vat.also changed my water punp while i was there for £25 i thought i might as well while it's in peices