KR engine cambelt change...tips please...

[kvwloon 0]

...thinking of either a)spending around £160 to £220 on getting cambelt changed.....or doing it myself.

 

Is it fairly easy to do? I've heard it's easy to get the 16v 'one cog out'? Reading the manuals it of course says put engine to TDC, but is this really necessary (could be stoopid question I know), but surely, if I accurately marked all the shaft pulleys in relation to the engine and themselves, wouldn't this save having to TDC it, and lessen the chances of getting it slightly out either way? Any guidance appreciated, I'm 50/50 for having a go myself....but I know getting it wrong could be disasterous.

[Blaklabel313 0]

a cam kit is about £50 and it only takes about 2 hours, so £160 sounds a little steep to me...to change a valver cambelt etc....shop around a bit maybe.

tdc is quite important yes..if your not sure about doing it dont....its an expensive mistake!

[CorradoVR6-Turbo 0]

a cam kit is about £50 and it only takes about 2 hours, so £160 sounds a little steep to me...to change a valver cambelt etc....shop around a bit maybe.

tdc is quite important yes..if your not sure about doing it dont....its an expensive mistake!

 

Sounds reasonable to me.

 

Easy to do mate,here is some tips.

[davidwort 0]

...Easy to do mate,here is some tips.

providing you can get the bottom damper pulley off the main crank pulley, they have a habit of siezing on and without that off you won't get the bottom cover off.

[kvwloon 0]

thanks all (more info welcome!), think I'll see if I can shift that bottom pulley and go from there.....

[davidwort 0]

you also need to loosen the ps pump to get it's belt off, do a search on the forum, there's a bit of a knack to it as several bolts need to be slackened two of which are hidden from view in the front PS bracket mounted to the block.

[kvwloon 0]

Thank you all for the info (and especially the two illustrations), did the job on Saturday in a little over 3 hours - mainly due to struggling getting those bloody stupid allen bolts off the various belt drive wheels. Didn't TDC it in the end, just made damn sure I accurately marked the top and bottom pulley positions. New belts, tensioner and set of new Beru plugs all for under £38 a few hours of my time and an occasional swearing session, well pleased. :)

[Blaklabel313 0]

was that a genuine belt and tensioner??

good going on the change though buddy.

[kvwloon 0]

was that a genuine belt and tensioner??

good going on the change though buddy.

 

Well, I got them from GSF, and asked for German origin. They were recognised German names (URI for the tensioner I think, (although it did say 'slovakia' on the tensioner), I thought the quality control would still be acceptable with a German owned company. Don't worry me by saying I should have gone for genuine only! :( I suppose I could change the tensioner for genuine pretty easily if there have been a lot of horrror stories about non-genuine?

[Blaklabel313 0]

i dont know of any horror stories but i think that you just have to change them a little sooner than vag ones as although the quality is to pass level its not as good as vag itself. i was just wandering how you got such a good price thats all. nothing untoward about it dont worry.....lol

[Valerian 0]

If i remember correctly....the VAG tensioner alone is £35 so your pattern parts were well cheap in comparison.

[kvwloon 0]

That's a relief then, think I normally get 'trade' at GSF, seeing as I've been going there for years on what feels like an at least four times a month basis.

 

the joys of keeping a Pug 306 daily driver, the 'rado, a 59 splitty van and a '72 bay going! :D

[ProdigalSon 1]

Glad you got it sorted, and for small moneys :wink:

 

One elite tip I picked up from a mate is this:

 

Don't worry about the position of the cambelt - you can match the new one to the old one this way, without the danger of any of the shafts rotating out of sync...

 

1) Use a Stanley knife or similar to cut the old cambelt into two narrow parallel strips while it is still on the engine - you can even do this while it is idling if you have a steady hand and press gently(!)

2) Once you have the cambelt in two, pull the outer part off (engine is switched off now!), leaving an exposed piece of each cog showing

3) Align the timing marks on the new belt with the old one, so that the new belt is half-on the cogs next to the remains of the old belt

4) Cut the second half of the old belt off, and push the new belt the rest of the way onto all the cogs

5) Sit back, relax, and feel a bit smug about doing it the clever way! 8)

 

Credit to Gray for the top tip :thumb right: