Volkswagen Polo Car question - a timing belt?

A mechanic has said that the Volkswagen Polo has a timing belt [whatever that is] that could snap at any time when the car is being driven. It can be left as it is but it is a big risk, according to him, so he suggests getting is changed for £250. Could someone who knows more about cars let me know if this sounds like ******** or is a real issue.

Ask another mechanic. If it's true, then you should change it. A couple of months ago my timing gear broke about two kilometers from home. I tried to make it back but the car died within half a kilometer. The mechanic said I should have stopped as soon as I heard the loud clattering noise. Anyway, it cost me 2000PLN to have it fixed. The timing belt should be changed every 70000 km. It was an expensive lesson.

Roger gives good advise, "ask another mechanic."
I drive Toyota's and they recommend timing belts be replaced at 170,000km.
Two reasons:
The first is that the water pump on cars usually need to be replaced after so many years or said milage.
They start leaking or squealing because the packing gets worn out.
The timing belt sits right behind the water pump.
Since you have the radiator taken out to replace the water pump, why not take the six bolts out of the timing belt cover
and put a new timing belt on since most of the labor is already done to replace it.
(That is if you have high milage on the car)
If you do replace a timing belt normally you replace the water pump also.
Second reason is that the gears that the timing belt go around are almost always plastic which over a course of time
get burs on them and wear out causing the timing belt to start slipping and it eventually will break.
In the U.S. it costs about 4000 PLN to fix unless you do it yourself for about 700 PLN.
A repair like this is cheaper then new car payments.

johnny_reb, so now you are an expert on cars too? On which blog did you read this great piece of advise that Toyota recommends the timing belt to be replaced at 170,000 kilometers? Furthermore, since when does the lifespan and changing intervals of a timing belt depend on where it is located?

What you are basically suggesting is that if you had the to replace the water pumps in a Toyota only after 300k kilometers, then this is when the timing belt should also be replaced?

In general Toyota suggests changing the timing belts in intervals of between 60000 and 90000 kilometers depending on the model. However, you will find that most of their models actually have a timing chain, not a belt.

Once again johnny_reb, you have delighted us with another great piece of advise.

JollyRomek and other posters, please restrain yourself from personal remarks

Back to WielkiPolak's original topic:

The timing belt must be replaced periodically, that's part of the regular service of a car like changing oil and filters.
The car manufacturer (in your case VW) is the one who states at which interval that belt must be replaced. Usually, this is specified in terms of X km or Y years, whichever comes first. For example, for my car it's every 3 years or 60,000 km.

With the exact engine type and year model, you should be able to find this info on the web. Then check your receipts for the last time it was changed and see if it's time to have it replaced again.

If the timing belt breaks, that will most instantly and probably totally ruin your engine, because pistons will hit the valves. So don't take the risk of driving a car which needs the timing belt replaced. Usually, when you replace the timing belt, you take the opportunity to replace ancillaries that are driven by that same belt (for example the water pump).

It's not quite as bad as that, but it's bad enough. My mechanic had to send part of the engine to a specialist place to straighten out the bit I bent by driving after the noise started. If the car has 60 or 70k kilometers, change the belt/chain.

Naw, let Jolly and Wroclaw Boy follow me around with their immature ill bantering.
It shows their character plus I enjoy colouring them stupid.
Besides I wouldn't want them to get "A's" for abuse in their profiles.


Didn't, I have changed several myself which is no doubt is several more then you have.
Which blog did you get your information from now is the question.


Maybe you could show us where Toyota suggests that for a six or eight cylinder.
In all the owner manuals that I have seen Toyota suggests ever 100,000 miles (161000k) like I stated for my Toyota's.
What blog did you get your information from ?


Yup, you had 'trout' for dinner and I had 'fish' for dinner.
Here in America I can walk into an auto parts store and ask for a timing belt or chain and be handed the same exact product.

You can google either a timing belt or timing chain and get the same results.
Besides the question referred to a timing belt so as not to be a dweeb and confuse the issue on technicalities for the sake of an arguement I called it a belt. :-)


Absolutely ! You call 300k "only" ? That is a lot of kliks on a car son.
Once again Jolly, you have delighted us with your first hand "knowledge".

Very unlikely because a timing belt is usually made out of rubber while a timing chain is made out of metal.

Your first hand knowledge today is impressing the hell out of us Jolly.
When you get time though do some research and you may find out that today's timing chains
are made out of plastic and not metal.
I was going you to p.m. you with this information but figured why not have two laughs on you today.
Wanna go for three ?

Even if so, it would still be of different material than a timing belt which makes your claim that "In America it does not matter if you ask for a timing belt or a timing chain, you would be handed the exact same product" complete and utter nonsense.........

I'm pretty sure that most recent Polos (up to 2013 or so) had a timing chain rather than a timing belt anyway.

It's a real issue the belt/chain should be changed if there are big miles on the clock. On a Polo if the belt breaks the engine will be wrecked no ifs or buts, simply because of the way they are made.

Now the price, it depends on how much the car is worth, you don't want to end up chasing the money. If the belt needs changed the clutch will more than likely need changed unless it has just been done and then possibly the steering rack ( a sealed unit) then the exhaust will go and new tyres. £250 seems a bit steep it's a two hour job and the belt only costs £30 aim to pay about £100-£130.

For£250 I would expect to be carried around in a sedan chair.

This thread is completely surrealistic :)))

Yeah, "even so".....LOL
You proved yourself wrong by stating it was metal when it isn't, you mean that "even so".
All you are doing is digging your pathedic hole deeper.
I have done it, you haven't, so that makes me the authority and you just a loud mouth troll
starting right back in post #4 of this thread.

I said "even if so" - not "even so", there is a fine difference - the word "if" which you seem to have forgotten to quote. However, with that i haven't proven myself wrong one bit. The "even if so " was meant to state that even if it was plastic instead of metal, it would still be of different material than the timing belt which is made out of rubber. Or, in other words, your claim that it does not matter if you ask for a belt or chain in the US because you would get the same product is nonsense because they are made of different materials, therefore impossible to be the "same exact products".

However, messing up quotes on purpose to reflect something your opponent didn't actually write is quite low.


Yes, you have finally done it! With that last sentence about "being the authority" you have done a great job in showing your true face. How old are you? "Authority" :) :)

So it doesn't sound like a scam then, from what most of you say. Comments on here coincide with what the mechanic said, that the belt and pump need to be changed, and if the belt snaps, it makes the car useless, and would just cost too much to repair [i.e not use bothering]. These sums of 2000 or 4000 zlotys seem high compared to the price he offered [as stated in the first post]. I am surprised that it costs more in Poland.

and timing belt tensioner if exist

timing belt - Gates or Contitech ~ 80zl
water pump - SKF or HEPU ~ 150zł
timing belt tensioner - SKF or INA ~100zł

G'day mate,

It is a real issue that cannot be ignored.

If you've been told the timing belt needs to be changed by a reputable mechanic, then do it ASAP. If the timing belt snaps, you WILL ruin your cylinder head, and probably the bottom end too. Basically, the whole motor will be destroyed. You can check the frequency of changes yourself on google, but it's usually anywhere between 50,000 to 100,000 km intervals, or based on years of age (whichever comes first). Your log book will tell you in any event. The mechanic should also replace the tensioners, which keep the belt taut.

The belt essentially "times"' the top part of the engine to run in sync/unison with the bottom. The top has your valve gear which lets in petrol and air and your bottom has the pistons and crank, which create the inertia and power. If the belt snaps, the valve gear on the top stops dead, but the pistons at the bottom keep pumping along and smash into the valves. If you have a local car parts store, they usually have an old piston sitting on the front desk with a valve embedded into it (at least in Oz they do). This shows you what happens if you don't do the timing belt.

The timing belt is a long rubber belt with nylon reinforcement that whilst on the outside of the engine is usually covered by a plastic shroud. Older cars usually have a timing chain, which is a double row chain contained inside the engine that does wear and become loose. Timing gears serve the same function but are cogs, and give off a nice whine that V8 freaks love.

Whilst I'm no mechanic, I'm familiar with this because me and my friends used to fix our own cars when I was younger and had no money to pay someone else to do it.

Bottom line - if you've been told it's about to break, DO NOT start the engine until it's fixed.

Doing the water pump at the same time like the mechanic suggested is a probably a good idea. The water pump impeller is driven I believe sometimes off the timing belt but more typically has its own belt driven off the crank pulley. Don't quote me here because it's been a while since I've had my hands dirty. If the water pump is behind or hidden by the timing belt shroud and is driven off the timing belt then this is probably why he's suggesting it. Typical reason is bearing failure or corrosion of the pump body.

Hope this helps mate.

That fine difference here in America is called......."an anal retentive person."
You had trout for dinner and I had fish for dinner.
I think you may be a tad "anal retentive" Jolly and like to argue minute meaningless points just to argue
especially when you have lost the debate as in this case.
There is no "if so", they "are" without a doubt, made of a very tough plastic composite and not metal as you stated.

You are totally wrong on this one son. Time to man up and admit you were wrong.
I am done arguing with you over your stupid sh1t meaningless "fine points".

Now to get back on thread before we were so rudely interupted.
My first questions would be how old of car is it, how many miles on it and do you plan on keeping it.
Then go from there.
If I remember right I do believe the tensioner comes in the timing belt kit.
USUALLY that is what breaks first is the tensioner.
When it breaks it allows the timing chain to gets sloppy throwing the timing off.
You will first notice it when the car starts running ruff when you accelerate.
Have we been a help to you ?

With respect Johnny, this is simply untrue. There is no such thing as a plastic timing chain. They are all metal.

Do you still not get it? It does not matter if the chains are made out of metal or plastic because either way, they are still different materials than rubber out of which a timing belt is made.

Do you get the point now? Your claim that in America a timing belt is the exact same product as a timing chain is simply utter nonsense. BECAUSE, to start off with, both products are made out out different materials.

That is the only point I am trying to make. Now keep ranting on about "trout" and "fish"........it will not change the issue.

"an anal retentive person." - same pattern as in the Ukraine thread. Throwing in insults again?

Oh I see where you are confused and that is the word "product". Here, let's try this.
Here in America I can walk into an auto parts store and ask for a timing belt or timing chain (for say a 2006 Volvo) and be

handed the same exact thing which ever one that it needed. They would know what I meant and hand be what would be required to replace the chain or belt, which ever it took.

You however are confused with the word "product" with "material" and want to argue that "product" was used to mean "material".

I didn't say I would be handed the same exact "material", I said I would be handed the same exact product which

would be the chain or belt that does the same thing.
I hope that helps you get it.


I give up with you kids.
Go google it for yourself (plasic timing belts) and then tell google and the manufacturer's of them that it is not true.
<* long sound of passing bodily gas *>

No I did not confuse any word with anything. If you talk about the "same exact product", that same exact product has to be made of the very same material. If it is not of the same material, it simply can not be the "same exact product". There is absolutely nothing to be confused about.


Following your logic, that would also imply that if you want to buy a winter jacket in the US and the store assistant hands you a jumper, for you this is the "exact same product" because "it does the same" which is keeping you warm...........right?


Not at all because you are once again displaying a great lack of knowledge on the subject your trying to discuss. First of all you claim that Toyota recommends a timing belt to be changed every 170000 kilometers. Then you claim that in the US a chain and a belt would be considered to be the very same product because "it does the same thing".


So now you are saying that the belts are made out of plastic, not the chains?

I see that you are still confused.
I am afraid that there just simply is no hope for you.
Keep re-reading this thread and maybe you will eventually get it.
Good luck and have a nice day.
How old are you ?

Yes, you are confusing me but that has nothing to do with my reading abilities. Below you will see two pictures. One of a timing belt and one of a timing chain. Are you still trying to tell me that they are the "exact same product"?

• 
  Timing Belt
  
• 
  Timing Chain
  

Yup, they both do the same thing.
Do they not ?

They do indeed both do the same thing. However, that doesn't mean that they are the same. A horse and a VW Polo both do the same thing, but I'd strongly caution against trying to change the timing chain on a horse.

That's because a horse doesn't have a plastic composite timing chain silly.

Really?

So was your timing chain plastic too? Probably explains why you had to do it several times. I remember having to change my bakelite tail shaft several times as it never seemed to be able to handle the torque and the glass bushes were forever cracking under load - a mechanically minded friend told me to go get a tin of elbow grease to lube it all up and replace the bushes with marble bearings - tried my darndest but could never find either, though this is in the days before google mind you.

When you went to the car parts store, and asked for this plastic timing chain, did they ask if you needed a 3/4 left handed socket wrench for the bolts on the timing chain cover? I used to need these as I am left handed. Or did you shortcut all that and use a 1/2 Grabley Pinchgrip to split then connect the plastic links together on both chains and feed the chain through the cam-valve juncture. What about a can of cold steam to clean the engine with before you went to work?

That'll be a can of KB lager thanks mate!

Yup, they are made of a plastic composite like I have already stated old chap.
Just type in plastic timing chain on your google or bing.
Walla, there they are even with images.
Can you imagine that ?
They might even be on that same blog that you copied and pasted in your post above. (post #18)


Nah, I'll take a can of Foster's mate !