Advice on timing belt please

[Peter the plumber]

I had my timing belt, water pump and alternator belt changed in 2014 with 75000 miles. It has now broke/snapped with 87000 on the clock. Is this normal? What would cause this? It's the wife's car who don't go far or does excessive speed. The power steering pump was done last year, could this have caused it? 

Confused as I don't do engines at all. Just need s heads up what to au to the garage when I ring them to come fetch it. 

Many thanks in advance 

[Magnet]

Hello Peter, 

Very sorry to hear of your plight, which unfortunately is a very serious thing to happen. 

When you say "I had my timing belt, water pump and alternator belt changed in 2014",  is a little like saying (to keep it simple) "I bought a pair of trainers". The life and service you may expect from the trainers will deleted on whether you bought them from the local Sunday market, or a well trusted brand from a proper shop. 

So the question here is:- Was this work done at a main dealer, who would only use VAG parts, an independent (who is likely to do the same ), or somewhere else who may just use the cheapest available motor factor aftermarket parts? 

It would be interesting to know, and is likely to have some influence on where you go from here. 

You mention the water pump was changed at the same time, and my gut feeling is that this may have been an aftermarket pump, which are often of dubious quality, and when these go wrong, it wrecks the whole belt assembly set up. This critical application is probably the rime example of part quality being king, rather than price.

Timing belts and their assemblies are not normally scheduled for change in under 5 years, but an interesting question is that if that assembly is changed then do we have any guarantee beyond the normally expected 1 year for repairs?

I think it's a good question anyway? My belief is just the one year, but I could be wrong. 

As well as the parts you listed as being changed, I take it the tensioner was also changed Peter. 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

 

[Peter the plumber]

Hi. Thanks for reply. I took the car to a local reputable garage. I couldn't tell you if they were original parts or not. Even so, should it have lasted more than 12000miles? Regarding the tensioner you mentioned... it's not listed on the invoice/receipt as being changed  

im going to ring the garage tomo and see what they say. 

Just a bit annoyed that we have these things changed to prevent things like this happening and it happened anyway. It's like paying twice!

regards 

peter

[Magnet]

Hello Peter,

Many thanks for coming back on this.

The tensioner may be a red herring actually, since I would seriously expect them to have changed this as part of a "cambelt kit". I would really be surprised if they hadn't, yet changed the water pump. Probably just did not mention it on the invoice. 

A couple of questions which it would be worth you asking are:-

Did they fit a full cambelt kit assembly? If so, what make of (aftermarket?) kit did they use. 

What make of water pump did they use? 

As I said earlier, my feeling is that (assuming the whole assembly was correctly fitted) the replacement water pump has proved substandard and led to the cambelt failure. Of course, this is a prejudgment without sight. A simple failure of the rubber belt itself (whatever make) would be a rarer issue. 

"Like paying twice'?! Perhaps it's best you talk with them first Peter. I don't think it's a question of simply paying to get the job done again unfortunately.

Would someone more knowledgeable than me, help Peter out here and offer some advice on what the guarantee period is on this work - if beyond the mentioned 1year.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

[Peter the plumber]

No I realise it's an engine rebuild.... 

[Magnet]

I was respectfully trying to let you down quietly Peter to minimise the risk of a sleepless night ! 

Since you are now in the know :- Engine rebuild - if they are ever the same after- may render this an uneconomical proposition for a car of this age. 

Lets hope things work out for you.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Peter the plumber]

Thank you. Would you know roughly how much? 

Thanks

peter

[Magnet]

Really difficult to tell Peter since no one will currently know the full extent of the damage caused by this "belt failure". This will only be evident on dismantling, and dismantling may not be cheap in itself. 

Almost certain that some of the valves will have bent and may have caused irreparable damage to the cylinder head. The reason the valves bend is that they contact the pistons - which are also likely to become damaged. The action of the valves coming into contact with the opposing travel of the pistons can exert excessive stresses on the piston conrods (which are very often an alloy) and these may become distorted. In severe cases, even camshafts can break.

This is a rather long winded way of saying who knows, and the full and pessimistic worse case is that it is likely to take at least a few hours labour to find the extent, before any expenditure on parts and labour to carry out the remedial work. Are repaired engines ever as good as they were following cambelt failure? In my experience, unfortunately no. Others may offer a more rosy picture from their experience. 

A secondhand engine may be an alternative route (history and mileage known?). The costings on this will be easier to assess since it will equal cost of engine and transport, labour costs to remove yours and refit, plus of course, fitting a good quality cambelt assembly and water pump. 

Sorry I cannot be more specific Peter, but I'm sure you will appreciate you are talking big bucks here - after following the proper preventative maintenance procedure and getting the belt and associated assemblies changed! Great shame. 

It might be worth bearing in mind that the cambelt assembly itself did not fail, but its failure was as a result of the failure of some other internal component which caused the belt to fail. Unusual, but......

Kind regards,

Gareth.

p.s. Anyone dipping their toes in the water regarding advice/experience on the guarantee period for cambelt assembly changes. Someone must know or be able to find out for Peter.