Timing Belt Change

[205*31* 0]

I fancy having a crack at this myself changing timing belt, water pump and i'll do alternator belt too, can anyone give me a good step by step guide to doing it its a 1.9 8v engine. Since I have 2 cars now more time to work on gti so no need to watch time

 

thanks,

[welshpug 1,657]

get a Haynes manual, M@tt has an electronic copy in his sig

[Tommer 0]

do you really need a pulley puller or is there another way of getting that bad-boy off?

[welshpug 1,657]

depends how tight it is, some will be bloody tight if they haven't been off for years and not been lubricated when they were last fitted, and some will slide off a treat.

[Guest mulletsrokk]

Don't ever try and whack it with a hammer. You'll chip the pulley. Use a puller if its tight.

[ORB 227 1 Cars]

I have never had to use a puller, i recon i have done about 35 205 GTi's in my time.

[hothatch 2]

Just give the pulley a shock with a hammer just to free it, then a tiny bit of copper slip just to make it easier the next time. Its the bolt that's usually the problem as people thread lock them in! Like me !!! Haha

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

I guess you didn't try a search, there are various topics covering doing this including some with the relevant pages from a haynes manual attached.

 

Idiots Guide To Cambelt Change

 

Graham.

[Tommer 0]

Did my first 205 gti cam belt change over the weekend, although the belt looked new and the receipts said it was done recently there was a rattle which worried me.

 

Turns out the rattle was the timing belt plastic cover which had been worn away by the belt in places so not all the securing lugs were effected so it flapped and rattled on run down.

 

I don't think doing the belt myself was worth it, it wasn't too hard but damn awkward.

 

getting the old water pump gasket remains off the block took ages, so did cleaning it up after.

access to some of the timing cover nuts and bolts is a pain - a ratchet ring spanner would have saved me hours.

the timing cover nuts vary between 10 and 11 mm so you constantly have to switch spanners

getting the pulley bolt undone was impossible when jamming the teeth, i had to put a spanner on and turn it over

the cam pulley (top) is too close to the chassis to get a drill bit into - you'd need a bolt or a cut off /shorter drill bit

the spring loaded tensioner is a c**t, after 40 mins of it springing all over the place I shut it in a vice and cable tied it in, fitted it then cut the cable tie off

overall it would be easier with the drivers side driveshaft and wishbone off, but altogether easier if the engine was out of the car.

 

now that I've done it once, I might do it again, depends if i get more patient with age, otherwise I'd pay a garage but buy all the parts myself.

[Guest mulletsrokk]

Did my first 205 gti cam belt change over the weekend, although the belt looked new and the receipts said it was done recently there was a rattle which worried me.

 

Turns out the rattle was the timing belt plastic cover which had been worn away by the belt in places so not all the securing lugs were effected so it flapped and rattled on run down.

 

I don't think doing the belt myself was worth it, it wasn't too hard but damn awkward.

 

getting the old water pump gasket remains off the block took ages, so did cleaning it up after.

access to some of the timing cover nuts and bolts is a pain - a ratchet ring spanner would have saved me hours.

the timing cover nuts vary between 10 and 11 mm so you constantly have to switch spanners

getting the pulley bolt undone was impossible when jamming the teeth, i had to put a spanner on and turn it over

the cam pulley (top) is too close to the chassis to get a drill bit into - you'd need a bolt or a cut off /shorter drill bit

the spring loaded tensioner is a c**t, after 40 mins of it springing all over the place I shut it in a vice and cable tied it in, fitted it then cut the cable tie off

overall it would be easier with the drivers side driveshaft and wishbone off, but altogether easier if the engine was out of the car.

 

now that I've done it once, I might do it again, depends if i get more patient with age, otherwise I'd pay a garage but buy all the parts myself.

 

I had much the same experience as you when I last did my timing belt. I did manage to buy a Sealey flywheel locking tool though. Was only a couple of quid from eBay and made the pulley bolt removal easy. Just fixed to one of the lower flywheel cover bolts.

 

Also, don't bother with the cheapo ratchet spanners, they still don't fit between the struts and the engine. Its painful, but get some of the more expensive ones with the variable angle rings.

 

I had to get a helper to depress the tensioner, what a complete tw**t that was!

[205*31* 0]

cheers guys your making me much more adament to have a crack at this! NOT!

[Batfink 201]

I'm certainly glad my engine was out the car then to do mine...

[shed_racing 0]

I had much the same experience as you when I last did my timing belt. I did manage to buy a Sealey flywheel locking tool though. Was only a couple of quid from eBay and made the pulley bolt removal easy. Just fixed to one of the lower flywheel cover bolts.

 

Also, don't bother with the cheapo ratchet spanners, they still don't fit between the struts and the engine. Its painful, but get some of the more expensive ones with the variable angle rings.

 

I had to get a helper to depress the tensioner, what a complete tw**t that was!

 

 

Sorry to say, as the above two - seem to remember reading a post that someone on here could do one in less than an hour (or something like that) and, bouyed by that thought and not a total stranger to spanners gave it a go. Had to call in reinforcements to do the tensioner (in fact, he ended up doing it for me, as I had reached the end of my tether by then, together with getting to "X" in my A-Z of expletives before drawing breath). and that was with ratchet spanners.

 

Whoever it was who suggested it was easy was either a genius or bending the truth. or time. or both. or had quadruple jointed fingers longer than ET. or had the engine out on a bench. or something . . . .

 

Copy of the Haynes is essential, or at least a copy of the relevant bit. Prepare plenty of tea, TCP, elastoplast and warn your nearest and dearest that this is likely to be a rough ride, and that you won't really mean anything you say or shout to them until they hear the car start and run again, however long that takes.

 

As for the engineers who thought that selecting apparently random 10mm and 11mm bolts to hold on the cambelt cover would be amusing, well . . . don't even get me started.

 

Despite all of that, I'd do another one. Just not for a while.

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

An hour is a bit keen, but certainly do able in 2 hours when you know what you are doing esp with the tensioner etc.

[shed_racing 0]

An hour is a bit keen, but certainly do able in 2 hours when you know what you are doing esp with the tensioner etc.

 

 

"Phone home " ? Sorry Tom, showing my age now . . .

 

In all honesty, once you've done it the once then I imagine then next time would probably be quicker - to do the pump, tensioner and belt probably took me about 4 or 5 hours, and that was a real voyage of discovery as far as the M7 / M8 comedy goes.

 

Maybe next time I could do them a bit faster - removing the water pump gasket was a pain in the arm, and seemed to eat time (or maybe it just dilated with the inhalation of excessive aerosol gasket remover in a confined space)

 

Thing is, you'll never know unless you give it a go - try it !!