Newbie Timing Belt Change Help

No prob, better to ask if you're not sure and thanks for the detailed question. Please post a follow up when you're done! If your timing belt has never been changed you are severely overdue and should have it changed as soon as possible. Seriously, if you have another car to drive I wouldn't drive the TDI.

You absolutely do not need VCDS to do the timing belt. Saying that if you don't know how to use VCDS "you shouldn't be attempting this on your own" is fear mongering. However, if you have no mechanical skill or experience then I'd say start with something simplier or watch someone else do it so you can learn before doing something that will cost a lot of money if it gets screwed up.


As long as you use the timing belt tools and the belt is correctly set, the injection pump will be set to where it will start and run fine. Worst case it might be a little off but no harm (assuming a stock car with normal use). Just find someone to tweak the timing when you get the chance.

If your friend has a genuine Ross Tech VCDS they can mail it to you and the software will work since it follows the cable (except the very old cables). It's also a good time to check the injection quantity, see the FAQ for the procedure. If you only need it to check the timing I'm told the generic cables off ebay will work with shareware versions of the software. They can't do advanced stuff and have almost 0 resale though.

Planning on replacing the water pump at the same time: Should I follow "timing belt part 1", "water pump replacement", then "timing belt part 2"? Any adjustments necessary to that plan?

Click to expand...

correct. Only the fuel filter is really touched during this procedure. If the camshaft seal is leaking you should replace it, otherwise leave it alone. You can clean the engine but cover the alternator, disconnect the battery, and blow air out of any plugs. Use a small stream of water rather than the sharp, full strength nozzle setting when washing to prevent water from splashing up into places it shouldn't go. Obviously you don't want water entering the oil or air intake path since it could contaminate the oil or cause hydrolock.

Coolant Question

I managed to get most of the disassembly for the timing belt change in this evening before it got dark. Ran into a couple of questions though, both about coolant.

1) when I took off the coolant reservoir and the coolant glow plugs, a bunch of coolant came out (which I caught as best I could). Should I have (or should I now) opened up the radiator and let the coolant drain to prevent this?

2) my coolant sure looked orange, which sounds like it was probably not a good thing. I got the car at 90k and it's run fine since. I think I saw it start to overheat once 2 summers ago (maybe 6 months after I got it). If I remember, I just threw some extra water in there and it's run fine since. I may well have thrown in some generic coolant (really can't remember - it was before I had done anything but change the oil in it). Is it possible that I just put in so little non-g12 coolant that it didn't sludge up (yellow+red = orange)? I didn't see any sludge in the reservoir and it certainly wasn't brown.

I have 1.5 L of g12 that came with my Bora parts kit. I was planning on reusing some of the coolant. With the existing coolant looking orange, I'm not sure what was in there before (possible I added a bit of non-g12, but that there was non-g12 in there before I got it). Is the best plan just to flush the current coolant out, get another 1.5 to match what I got in my kit and start over?

At what point will it be easiest to flush everything out? I'm at the point where tomorrow morning I will double check all my TDC, then take off the existing timing belt and change out the water pump.

Thoughts?

Update

Thanks Griz.

First thing this morning, I went out and got another 1.5 L (so I have 3 L total now) of g12. $20 from a foreign parts wholesaler around me in New Haven, CT.

I also went and got some more PB, as I realized I was out when I was trying to spray the balancer last night.

I flushed the coolant this morning (while my father-in-law went to pick up at 6mm allen socket, cause my hex wrenches were doing nothing but stripping the balancer bolts even after the spray).

What came out of the block was definitely red, so perhaps what was in my reservoir was just mostly water from the last refill.

2 hours of "work" this morning and all I've managed to do is spray liquids and buy tools. These things sure go faster when you have the right tools around.