[SadClouds]

I have 2015 Golf 2.0 TDI with around 70K miles. In March 2020 the car will be exactly 5 years old. A bit confused when timing belt + water pump needs changing.

- VW says "140K miles or 5 years, whichever comes sooner".

- Haynes manual says "60K miles or 4 years, whichever comes sooner", but then it says "VW recommend change interval should be reduced to 75K miles if used in a dusty environment". This just doesn't make sense, compared to their earlier 60K miles advice. Looks like somebody has made a typo.

What is the advice from the mechanics out there? Is VW 140K or 5 years reasonable or is it way too risky?

Thanks.

 

[Midori]

Generally speaking you are "at risk" after 60,000 miles. That risk worstens with additional mileage and other cirumstances like whether Maual gearbox or DSG Auromatic, climate, etc.

1) Look at it this way too. Would you be happy to do a quick part-exchange for your next car, based on your 70K mileage, MOT advisories, etc?
2) Or do you hope to keep it for another 30,000 or 40,000 miles?

If you are going to keep it then better to have the new timing belt now!!! You then get peace of mind against failure, and a better trade in price eventually.
For the sake of around £400 (belt and tensioner) now, you may save a lot of anxiety (thats not the VW price).

I am not familar with 2015 2.0 Tdi, so maybe the belt is easy to DIY, or a chain drive even. The water pump is generally easy to fit at the same time, and only a few pounds extra.
My son wrecked his A4 at around 80,000 miles with a broken timing belt. Cost 12 days work, three towings, and £1,000 to DIY including reworking head with 4 new valves, new water pump, tensioner, gaskets and all that stuff.

 

[SadClouds]

Hi Midori, thanks for the advice. I am planning on keeping this car for many more years. When VW told me "change it at 140K or 5 years", I thought well I've only done 70K so there is plenty of life in the belt. But then other people say "change it at 60K miles" and now it looks like I'm overdue on the belt.

I understand it's a personal call as to when to change the timing belt. But when people tell me they had a broken timing belt at 80K miles, I don't think I would want to wait for something similar to happen to me.

Thanks.

 

[Midori]

I agree ! When I had a Passat (not the Mk7, VW puy heavy pressure on me to have the belt changed during my 60K service. Th VW Service person told me "it was mandatory". I said not and to ld him to retun my keys and car before he dis the 60k service! The wording in the Elsawin service regime clearly said.
Inspect at 60K and from miles onwards. Change when necessary. Must be changed no later than 120K miles. The sad issue is that it is virtually impossible to inspect the condition of the teeth because they tend to rip off from the root - which you cannot see without a magnifying glass or reverse bending the belt open in order to stress the roots on the belt

A belt is a perishable item and therefore affected by climatic conditions.
It is also subject to wear depending on driven loads, which is why I mentioned Gearbox before. The load on those teeth are not related to engine speed, but are severely affected by violent change of engine speed. Kick down on an automatic, or Rev the engine (racer style) wildly at the traffic lights and you are causing a belt to suddenly accelerate (which is violently loading on the teeth). Foot hard down on a steep hill at 70 mph will not accelerate the belt (no loading on teeth at all). Bad gear changes with Manual box, especially when down shifting, does cause rapid deceleration of the belt and violent loading on the belt. Whereas chear changes on a DSG are soft and do do damage.

The A4 that lost it's teeth had an automatic gearbox and was doing 20 mph in a 30 zone. I asked what he was doing at the time, thinking he run out of gas again, and he replied "I did a kick down and the car ground to a halt".

 

[Keithuk]

They have changed the spec from MY2010 120k or 5 years.

 

[Crasher]

It is 5 years.

 

[Keithuk]

His car spec: 2015 Golf 2.0 TDI-CR

 

[SadClouds]

Also, a few more related questions:

- When changing the timing belt and water pump, is it a good practice to change the auxiliary drive belt at the same time? Or do they normally last quite a long time, i.e. 10 years and more?

- I don't think the antifreeze/coolant fluid has ever been changed, only topped up. When changing water pump, it would have to be drained anyway, so should I ask them to just chuck it away and replace with new fluid?

Thanks.

 

[Crasher]

You collect and recycle the old coolant replacing it with G13. We base the condition of the belt and tension on what we see but a failed poly V belt can get dragged into the timing belt area and cause havoc.

 

[SadClouds]

but a failed poly V belt can get dragged into the timing belt area and cause havoc.

Thanks. I will probably change all belts at the same time, just to be on the safe side.

 

[Keithuk]

Thanks. I will probably change all belts at the same time, just to be on the safe side.

Are you changing the timing belt or is someone else?

What is the engine code of the data sticker? Data Sticker/Options Sticker and Engine Codes

I have loads of timing belt changes from ElsaWin.

 

[SadClouds]

I don't have the tools nor the experience to do this job myself. I will take it to VW garage and ask them to change all the belts. Engine code seems to be CRBC.

 

[Keithuk]

Manufacturer: VW, Date(s) Used: 08/2012-03/2017, Model: Golf/Variant/4Motion, Engine Code: CRBC, 110Kw, 150PS, 2.0 Ltr, 4 Cyls, Remarks: Turbocharged Direct Injection Common Rail (TDI-CR) Timing belt
Manufacturer: VW, Date(s) Used: 11/2016-, Model: Golf/Variant/4Motion/R32, Engine Code: CRBC, 110Kw, 150PS, 2.0 Ltr, 4 Cyls, Remarks: Turbocharged Direct Injection Common Rail (TDI-CR) Timing belt

 

[SadClouds]

OK, so went to a local VW dealer to find out the cost of timing belt + water pump change. Here is what I was told:

- We don't normally recommend changing water pump on VW Golf Mk7 because it is quite expensive.
- If you want timing belt changes, total cost is £494.
- If you want timing belt and water pump changed, total cost is £750. That's £250 just for the water pump? WTF?

So I asked him what's the deal with water pump and why is it so expensive. I was told the water pump is electronic, it costs more and takes much longer to change it.

Something doesn't smell right here. I know £750 is too steep, since another VW dealer just quoted me £450 for timing belt and water pump.

Can anyone suggest why they made such a fuss about the water pump? What is so special about electronic pumps? Do they really cost £300 to change?

 

[CJJE]

Sounds like your local dealer doesn't want the job! Any reasons you're not just going back to the £450 dealer??

(I've got the same problem coming up next February, assuming I haven't changed my SV by then!)

 

[SadClouds]

Yes I booked the car for £450 timing belt + water pump change, but would like to find out why there is such a big price difference between two official VW dealers. Parts and labour should be similar, would be useful if somebody on this forum could elaborate on what type of water pump is fitted to my car. Apparently the reason for such high cost is because of the "special" electronic water pump, so they would have to drain the system, fit water pump, pressurise it and run diagnostics, etc. But I don't understand why the other VW dealer are not making such a big deal out of it and charging me £300 less. I suspect all VW Golf Mk7 are fitted with electronic water pumps, this is probably the norm these days and there is nothing special about it. Some garages tell their customers all sorts of tall tales in order to hike up their prices.

 

[Crasher]

There are often 3 water pumps, two fully electric and one electro mechanically controlled but driven by the timing belt. Make sure they check to see if the front crank oil seal is leaking, it s a common issue and ruins the belt.

 

[SadClouds]

Thanks for the info Crasher. I assume only one pump gets changes, i.e. the one driven by timing belt, the other 2 pumps are normally not touched? Also, if the front crank oil seal is leaking, how much effort is it to replace it? Is it quite simple, or does it need draining oil and taking the engine apart?

 

[Crasher]

It is a medium sized job to change, the seal is an integral part of the plastic housing so you have to fit the £79.85 updated housing but painfully this means removing the sump and so the job takes a few hours plus there is good room for a cockup if the sealing of the sump is botched.

 

[keywacat]

I have 2015 Golf 2.0 TDI with around 70K miles. In March 2020 the car will be exactly 5 years old. A bit confused when timing belt + water pump needs changing.

- VW says "140K miles or 5 years, whichever comes sooner".

- Haynes manual says "60K miles or 4 years, whichever comes sooner", but then it says "VW recommend change interval should be reduced to 75K miles if used in a dusty environment". This just doesn't make sense, compared to their earlier 60K miles advice. Looks like somebody has made a typo.

What is the advice from the mechanics out there? Is VW 140K or 5 years reasonable or is it way too risky?

Thanks.

My mechanic here in Prague said the interval is 80,000km, age doesn't really matter.

Can anyone else confirm this?