Cambelt Service

Post Reply
Papa TDI
Enlisted
Posts: 24
Registered for: 6 years 8 months

Cambelt Service

Post by Papa TDI »

Good Day All

Was up for a timing belt service @ 495k on my reliable & beautiful Jetta MK4 AHF 1.9 TDI , my current kilos is 496k so i've gone over my scheduled replacement with over a thousand kilos(Big Risk I Know) so now i saved much enough to purchase a Genuine VW Timing Belt kit without the water pump as its costing a fortune thought i'd saved enough with time but now i'm thinking of not replacing it or settling for one from Goldwagen however i'm now a great deal of financial constraints & need some advise as i'm taking it this coming Friday can't wait any longer so now i have the ff questions.

1 How long is a water pump supposed to last?
2 Has anyone on this forum driving an AHF MK4 TDI used or being using Goldwagen Timing Belt's full kit and how has it been?

Regards
VGTI
Major
Posts: 3637
Registered for: 18 years 7 months
Car Make: Cheap Ass Porsche
Car Model: 9N Sooter
Membership No: 807
Location: Diep innie bos...

Re: Cambelt Service

Post by VGTI »

You get guys that say do your cambelt at 90k and never over. I have done cambelts on my Polo at 138k, then at 268k and the last one was done around 396k. I replaced waterpumps with each of those, first two genuine VW and the last Goldwagen. Actually the 396k Panic got the cambelt kit from Goldwagen, which used Continental belt and ancilaries. Goldwagen waterpump would be OEM equivelant so shouldnt be a stress.

The only reason we do waterpumps with cambelt is because it is easy accesable as it is driven by the cambelt. Each one that came out of my motor still looked fine!
'04 Polo TDI 1661.9 km on 58.05l
'13 Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2 Elite
VAG Fan
Lieutenant
Posts: 1440
Registered for: 8 years
Location: Pretoria

Re: Cambelt Service

Post by VAG Fan »

A few points from my side.

1) I appreciate your financial situation, but it may have been advisable to replace the cambelt when you were replacing the head gasket. At that stage, your cambelt had already run about 80k. This close to 90k, I would have done gasket and cambelt in one repair, and be done with it. Just my personal opinion...
2) Goldwagen sells the Contibelt kit. Panic (Stephan) buys all his service parts there, including the water pump. He trusts them fully. Contibelt is OEM quality anyway.
3) Yes, the water pump is about R800 extra, if my memory serves me correctly. This is a 5h!tload of money for a water pump, and water pumps can easily last 200k. But IF it fails somewhere in-between cambelt services, there is NO way you're going replace it for at least double that amount.
4) The complete kit, including pump, is about R3k at Goldwagen. I think that's a reasonable amount over 90k km.
5) The mileage limit of 90k is, in my opinion, just not worth gambling with. A couple of thousand km is neither here nor there, but Panic can tell you several instances of cambelts that have failed very soon after 90k. And by they way, technically there's not only a mileage limit of 90k, but also an age limit of 6 years (if I remember correctly).

Given the robustness, reliability and phenomenal efficiency of our AHF engines, I've decided to stick religiously to cambelt and service intervals. The only exception I make, is if my engine oil hasn't quite reached 15k km after 12 months. Sometimes I extend the service interval up to 15 months - but that's it. No more.
Mark R.
- - - - - - - - - -
2004 VW Golf TDI, type 1J, AHF, 317k (2016-current) --- daily
1990 VW Fox, type 16, HM, 304k (2005-current) --- spare runaround
Previous:
1992 Audi 500 SE, type C4, AAR (2001-2020) --- nice while it lasted
1983 VW Golf GTS, type 17, FR (1992-2005) --- most fun car I've ever had
1978 Audi 100 GLS 5E, type 43, WC (1991-92) --- died in the side of a Rekord who cut me off
- - - - - - - - - -
Papa TDI
Enlisted
Posts: 24
Registered for: 6 years 8 months

Re: Cambelt Service

Post by Papa TDI »

VGTI wrote: Mon May 31, 2021 3:30 pm You get guys that say do your cambelt at 90k and never over. I have done cambelts on my Polo at 138k, then at 268k and the last one was done around 396k. I replaced waterpumps with each of those, first two genuine VW and the last Goldwagen. Actually the 396k Panic got the cambelt kit from Goldwagen, which used Continental belt and ancilaries. Goldwagen waterpump would be OEM equivelant so shouldnt be a stress.

The only reason we do waterpumps with cambelt is because it is easy accesable as it is driven by the cambelt. Each one that came out of my motor still looked fine!
Thanx VGTI

I've been contemplating Goldwagen's waterpump will definitely acquire one today as tomorrow its going in Thanx in advance.
Papa TDI
Enlisted
Posts: 24
Registered for: 6 years 8 months

Re: Cambelt Service

Post by Papa TDI »

VAG Fan wrote: Tue Jun 01, 2021 11:35 am A few points from my side.

1) I appreciate your financial situation, but it may have been advisable to replace the cambelt when you were replacing the head gasket. At that stage, your cambelt had already run about 80k. This close to 90k, I would have done gasket and cambelt in one repair, and be done with it. Just my personal opinion...
2) Goldwagen sells the Contibelt kit. Panic (Stephan) buys all his service parts there, including the water pump. He trusts them fully. Contibelt is OEM quality anyway.
3) Yes, the water pump is about R800 extra, if my memory serves me correctly. This is a 5h!tload of money for a water pump, and water pumps can easily last 200k. But IF it fails somewhere in-between cambelt services, there is NO way you're going replace it for at least double that amount.
4) The complete kit, including pump, is about R3k at Goldwagen. I think that's a reasonable amount over 90k km.
5) The mileage limit of 90k is, in my opinion, just not worth gambling with. A couple of thousand km is neither here nor there, but Panic can tell you several instances of cambelts that have failed very soon after 90k. And by they way, technically there's not only a mileage limit of 90k, but also an age limit of 6 years (if I remember correctly).

Given the robustness, reliability and phenomenal efficiency of our AHF engines, I've decided to stick religiously to cambelt and service intervals. The only exception I make, is if my engine oil hasn't quite reached 15k km after 12 months. Sometimes I extend the service interval up to 15 months - but that's it. No more.
Thanx VAG Fan

Appreciate your honesty in this instance, Good points you raising regarding the head gasket & cambelt change, I follow Panic on FB & he strongly advises against the 120k interval of the cambelt coz of evidence of them snapping after 90k therefore i consider myself lucky i'm over with almost 2k kilos i have however acquired a waterpump after all yesterday from Goldwagen Benoni i wouldn't want to risk it failing after fitting the cambelt also i'm looking forward to possibly another timing belt kit in the future though from Goldwagen guess it wouldn't make financial sense to spend so much for an almost 20 yr old car if there's an alternative & that's reliable too, so thanx again.
VAG Fan
Lieutenant
Posts: 1440
Registered for: 8 years
Location: Pretoria

Re: Cambelt Service

Post by VAG Fan »

Put it this way, compared to my previous car, my TDI saves me at least R1000 per month. I make a deliberate decision to reserve some of that cash for servicing and repairs. Even after having replaced a turbo and a clutch, it's still been way cheaper, when doing my sums over 5 years.

In my opinion, spending more on the belt kit than what Goldwagen charges, is a waste of money. And it's not as though you're compromising on quality. Contitech/Contibelt is a large and well-reputed OEM for belts, just like Gates or Optibelt. There's nothing wrong with their quality. In fact, I'm pretty sure that VW themselves would also buy their belts from one of them. The same goes for INA (bearings, hydraulic valve lifters, etc.) or ****/SKF (bearings), Bosch (alternators, starters, pumps, injectors, etc.), Victor Reinz and Elring (gaskets, etc.).

Granted, there is a lot of outsourcing nowadays, e.g. Bosch manufacturing in Poland etc., but at this stage, I still trust the quality that Goldwagen sources.
Mark R.
- - - - - - - - - -
2004 VW Golf TDI, type 1J, AHF, 317k (2016-current) --- daily
1990 VW Fox, type 16, HM, 304k (2005-current) --- spare runaround
Previous:
1992 Audi 500 SE, type C4, AAR (2001-2020) --- nice while it lasted
1983 VW Golf GTS, type 17, FR (1992-2005) --- most fun car I've ever had
1978 Audi 100 GLS 5E, type 43, WC (1991-92) --- died in the side of a Rekord who cut me off
- - - - - - - - - -
Post Reply