Timing belt change

[Fester999]

My 2017 1.4 petrol fr leon has just passed 45000 miles.
I've been advised to get the timing belt and water pump changed, due to age.
I've been quoted £400 by a garage my daughter has just purchased a car from.
Is it worth getting a price from Seat or would that shock me?

 

[H Rafiq]

Always worth a try. A quotes free. And see if they can do any extra ‘discount’ for you. Say you’ll come in for a service or something, I don’t know…

 

[SuperV8]

I'm pretty sure VW/Seat/Audi UK have now dropped the age replacement requirement for timing belts - now inline with VAG.

 

[Fester999]

I'm pretty sure VW/Seat/Audi UK have now dropped the age replacement requirement for timing belts - now inline with VAG.

Is there any website that says this? It might save my wallet!

 

[SuperV8]

I would check with your main dealer to be 100% sure, but

From the 2017 Seat Leon workshop manual, which is what most of mainland Europe follow I believe:

And then page 10:
Full inspection (circa 150,000 miles) really needs the belt to come off - in which case you may as well fit a new one!

 

[Fester999]

I would check with your main dealer to be 100% sure, but

From the 2017 Seat Leon workshop manual, which is what most of mainland Europe follow I believe:
View attachment 44600

And then page 10:
Full inspection (circa 150,000 miles) really needs the belt to come off - in which case you may as well fit a new one!
View attachment 44601

I'll try the local seat dealer, tbf they are decent

 

[Mr Pig]

I had my 1.4tsi belt done a few years ago at the dealer, which isn't like me. Why?

You know you'll get OEM parts, not the cheapest belt kit they can find.

You get a five-year warranty on it.

It's not that much more expensive than an independent.

The 1.4 eco tsi engine needs expensive equipment to set the timing very exactly right. An independent garage may not have this or even be aware that it is needed. A dealer has to have but but it might be harder for an independent to justify.

Doing away with the timed replacement interval is a strange one and I don't understand it yet. I'm not naive enough to take it at face value as manufacturers do stupid **** all the time. BMW introduced two-year service intervals on their cars to make them more attractive to fleet users but neglected to inform the engines that they only needed new oil every two years. Blocked oil galleys and destroyed engines was the result. Ford thought it was a good idea to run their timing belts in oil and they were wrong. So am I assuming I can run my timing belt forever with an occasional sideways look to see if it's still happy? No. Don't know what I'll do exactly but when the time rolls round again I'll be looking into it.

And remember that if your timing belt does not get changed, neither does your water pump.

 

[SuperV8]

I had my 1.4tsi belt done a few years ago at the dealer, which isn't like me. Why?

You know you'll get OEM parts, not the cheapest belt kit they can find.

You get a five-year warranty on it.

It's not that much more expensive than an independent.

The 1.4 eco tsi engine needs expensive equipment to set the timing very exactly right. An independent garage may not have this or even be aware that it is needed. A dealer has to have but but it might be harder for an independent to justify.

Doing away with the timed replacement interval is a strange one and I don't understand it yet. I'm not naive enough to take it at face value as manufacturers do stupid **** all the time. BMW introduced two-year service intervals on their cars to make them more attractive to fleet users but neglected to inform the engines that they only needed new oil every two years. Blocked oil galleys and destroyed engines was the result. Ford thought it was a good idea to run their timing belts in oil and they were wrong. So am I assuming I can run my timing belt forever with an occasional sideways look to see if it's still happy? No. Don't know what I'll do exactly but when the time rolls round again I'll be looking into it.

And remember that if your timing belt does not get changed, neither does your water pump.

Generally agreed - but also the cynical side in me questions whether dealers would want to upset their cash cow of doing belts every 5 years - suspect not!

On the EA211 the water pump is not driven by the timing belt.

For the UK dealers to remove the time part of the timing belt replacement interval there must have some decent data proving there is no problem from Europe, who have never had this time dependency in their timing belt maintenance.

There are other OEM's with 10 year & 250,000km timing belt intervals

 

[Fester999]

A quick update.
My 2017 1.4 fr 150 passed it's mot with no advisories. Just needed a new tyre due to a bulge!
Seat dealer examined my cam belt and said it looks fine.
Car has done 45k.
Seat did quote £987 If I wanted it done tho!!!!

 

[Fester999]

I only do roughly 4000 miles a year btw.

 

[LeylandVCDS]

Having had a timing belt snap on a previous car, 12 months and 30k miles before it's due date, from a personal point of view I will never, ever play cambelt roulette. For the piece of mind, it will always be done earlier than the recommended intervals.

I had the cambelt and water pump replaced a year early on my Leon 2.0TDI earlier this year at only 29k miles - nothing wrong with the cambelt, but found the thermostatic sleeve on the water pump was as good as seized solid - if the belt had been left to nearer its due time, there would have been major issues with overheating, so early replacement has saved me a fortune

 

[Glosphil]

On my 2018 1.4TSi the water pump is on the opposite end of the engine to the cambelt. The water pump on my car was changed under warranty due to leaking - a common fault it appears.

The car has covered less than 40k miles so I won't be bothering changing the cambelt during my ownership.