It took about 10 hours-the first time. The timing belt subsequently
slipped a tooth (it turns out the distributor rotor and cap went bad
simultaneously, and I think a misfire caused the slip), and so I had to
redo most of the job, other than the water pump, thermostat and coolant
. It took about 4 hours the second time. The best way to get the upper
timing belt cover off is to unclamp the throttlebody boot and move it
out of the way. I also needed to unbolt a clamp for an a/c line that
required removing the air filter housing.
I changed the coolant, but did not flush it out. I needed to unclamp
most every hose on the bottom of the engine to drain all of the
coolant. It looked very clean. I replaced the thermostat at the same
time. It did not come with a new gasket, so buy that separately. I of
course replaced the serpentine belt at the same time, as well as oil
filter. I ordered all of the parts from Europarts (an excellent vendor)
619 451-0020, at substantial savings from the dealer. All of the parts
were German. The two special tools you can mail order from Zelenda
(dealer does not carry) at 800 221 0126. Tool numbers are 3248a and
3299. Wouldn't dream of doing the job without them. As I mentioned in
other email, cam sprocket was impossible to remove, resulting in the
need to bend the rear timing belt cover, which subsequently had to be
wired away from the sprocket at top of engine. Not pretty, but it
works. One of the idler pulleys was a puzzle to remove-once a center
bolt (very thin) is removed, the pulley stays on. I stuck a pointed pry
bar in the middle and wiggled it off. Hammer it back in very carefully
to press it in, making sure it is aligned. The bolt is so thin, that if
you tried to align the pulley by torquing it down, it would surely bend
or strip out.
I have also changed both outside CV joint boots-one cracked around
75kmiles, the other at 85kmiles. Joints were fine. Pressing joint off
was not fun-even with neighbor's snap-on puller. First boot I did with
out the special tool 3250 support frames, second time I bought the
frames after the miserable first time, and was very glad I did. They
support the suspension, allowing clearance to do the work. This job is
an excellent time to replace front brake pads (which I have now done 3
times-once due to non-factory pads. Do not recommend anything but
dealer pads). I have flushed brake fluid-no big deal.
Due to the engine running very poorly after fixing the slipped timing
belt, I noticed that one plug was not getting fired-due to bad rotor
and cap. I also replaced spark plugs with the new 4 prong platinums. $6
each, but WELL worth it-a very noticeable power improvement resulted
from them. The spark plug wire resistance was fine-fortunately since
they are VERY expensive.
I have not flushed/drained AT fluid-it's on the very long list of
delay-able items.
Sorry, no pictures.
Good luck! Most jobs on the Eurovan are very hard the first time, but
much better once you get used to it. Not for the mechanically
faint-of-heart. A 3/8 air rachet makes life much easier, especially for
removing the bottom pan.
-Gregg Burgess
sana-@... wrote:
original article:
I'm forever getting ready to do this as well. Can you tell us how
long
it took to do this (did you do anything else besides replace the
timing
belt and water pump?). Did you take any pictures? I'm hoping to talk
the wife into taking a few so I can document it all, thought it might
prove useful for others later.
Since you were game for this project, have you by chance flushed your
coolant or brake fluid... or changed the AT filter and fluid? If, so
I'd be interested in hearing how they went.
Jerry
gbnvi-@... wrote:
original article:
I just replaced my timing belt on my 93ev myself-not a fun job
(although faster once you've done it once) at 88kmiles. The
serpentine
belt showed very significant cracking; the timing belt showed no
appreciable wear. I foolishly cranked the engine by hand while the
cam
was at top dead center-a sure prescription for disaster if there was
an
interference problem. Nothing bad happened. However, the EV uses
hydraulic valve lifters, and since there was no oil pressure, the
valves probably provided little "resistance", and thus were not
damaged. While under acceleration with high pressure on the
adjuster,
interference probably can happen and cause damage.
btw, I bought the 2 VW tools from Zelenda: the vibration damper
holder
and the serpentine tensioner pulley tool. The ~$140 investment was
very
well worth it, as I used both tools many times during the job. I
can't
imagine trying to do it with out them.
I replaced the water pump at the same time, as it was going bad
(faint
grinding noise while running). That is the worst part of the job, as
it
requires removal or bending up of the back timing belt cover. I bent
the cover, and in bending it back, it now rubbed the camshaft
pulley.
I
had to wire it with aircraft safety wire to prevent the rubbing. I
was
unable to remove the camshaft pulley (the correct way to do the job)
to
get the plate out, even with a top of the line snap-on puller.
Given the complexity of the job, I would either recommend either DIY
if
you're mechanically competent, or take it to a VW dealer with real
EV
experience. Even with the right tools, it is a long job, and I'm
sure
the labor, expecially for the water pump, is expensive.
ltves-@... wrote:
original article:
In a message dated 9/8/99 3:35:41 PM, pjansen@...
writes:
<<Even though everyone says NO, I can assure you it CAN cause
damage.
Such as
5 exhaust valves and one intake valve in my case. $2200, thank
you
very
much. Definitely worth replacing it at the specified interval,
as I
now
have learned.>>
What is the specified interval? There is no mention of it in the
owner's
manual except to "check the condition of the belt" at something
like
60,000
miles. I asked the FLVWD about replacing the timing belt at 70,000
miles and
they said to not worry about it. They said it will go for more
than
100,000
miles, and if it does break, nothing will be damaged. I've had
timing belts
in other VWs break and nothing happen, but they were not EVs which
are a
different bird altogether. . .
Todd
