Timing belt / Number of Cylinders?

super_freddie

Hi,

I've got a petrol VW Passat 1.6 Trendline, timing belt changed at 50K miles... now it's done 100K and need to figure out if I gotta change it again (garage will, of course, say to change it) ... I have the vehicle manual and depending on the number of cylinders in the engine, I may or may not need to get the timing belt done. Can anybody tell me (i) do I need to get the timing belt done or (ii) (if knowing the number of cylinders in the engine is necessary) - how many cylinders in the engine of this car? Actually, come to think of it, even if I can get a question to (i) without knowing the number of cylinders, I'd still like to know this for future reference...

Thanks,
super_freddie.

Anan1

The 1.6 is a 4cyl engine, AFAIK the interval is 5yrs/60,000miles, whichever comes first.

Zube

Your motor has 4 cylinders.

daithihalton

it has 4 cylinders what year / engine code is your car
the engine code should be a 3 letter code on a white decal on top of the timing cover and on a white decal in the spare wheel compartment

super_freddie

Engine Code ALZ ... can I go with every 60,000 miles so?

Cheers,
super_freddie.

daithihalton

volkswagen recommend check at 60,000 then every 20,000 replace as necessary
me i would have it changed at 60,000 regardless of how it looks

Nforce

Not sure about the petrol models but on the diesels it's recommended to change the tensioner and water pump at the sime time as the belt.

peltor

super_freddie wrote: »

timing belt changed at 50K miles... now it's done 100K and need to figure out if I gotta change it again (garage will, of course, say to change it) super_freddie.

Makes sense if its been changed at 50k, done another 50k i would say change it.does the manual say that they run on a plastic tensioners that can start to develop cracks,bits chip off and generally feck up from 40k onwards(genuine tensioners)but maybe you need to figure out whether or not you are smarter then a qualified mechanic where any decent mechanic will try and advise what the best thing to do is,you already have figured it out what they will say to you, i think you could leave it and wait for the belt to break !!

super_freddie

peltor wrote: »

Makes sense if its been changed at 50k, done another 50k i would say change it.does the manual say that they run on a plastic tensioners that can start to develop cracks,bits chip off and generally feck up from 40k onwards(genuine tensioners)but maybe you need to figure out whether or not you are smarter then a qualified mechanic where any decent mechanic will try and advise what the best thing to do is,you already have figured it out what they will say to you, i think you could leave it and wait for the belt to break !!

Thanks for the reply peltor. I have no doubt that qualified mechanics are smarter than me (or at least know more about cars). However it can be difficult to get speaking to a qualified mechanic when booking a service, which is why I posted this question ... to which I got (n-1) very helpful replies.

Have a nice day,
super_freddie.