7A timing belt change/uber service advice

[Nj]

Cheers Rob - I'm trying to, although really struggling for time these days.

Mike - Great advice. Thanks. I'll definitely ask if I have additional questions. I must delve into my huge box but I think perhaps I had the wit to buy the other belts at the same time. If not then I'll definitely buy them and get them done too.

Tom - good question. My service history is mostly in French and from what I can gather it looks like my car's last timing belt was about 70,000km ago so I figure now is as good time to do it

[Mikes2]

I replace it every 5 years rather than miles based replacements.

80k km / 60k miles is the most I would run one of these for. They get quite loose as they stretch

[K Simmonds]

you can re-use the old crank bolt unless it's damaged.

I've never used threadlock as it's not required. A big torque wrench for 450 Nm is sufficient. Done 3 timing belt jobs on 7A cars so if you're not sure ask questions.

crank seal and cam seal should be done if they're showing signs of leaks. Otherwise I'd leave them undisturbed.

I always do all the belts at the same time.

This is great advice and what I do myself, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Steel crank pulley from Chef is a no brainier, it'll out last the car, if not the planet. The original VAG item is made from some sort of pants monkey metal, their okay for single use if you follow the manual to the letter but having done dozens of belts and found sheared key-ways or cracks radiating from the four M8 bolt holes I simply don't trust them.

Try and borrow an 1" drive torque wrench along with a 27 mm socket from a lorry garage in order to torque it correctly, the other method of partially tightening the bolt before adding so many degrees is simply wrong and will result in an over tightened bolt. I've test this with measuring equipment and broken tools, I'd have to go back and find the results but if I recall correctly, 250 nm + 130 degrees is about right as opposed to 180 degrees. Whatever method you chose try and use 1" drive tools, both to undo the bolt as well as tension it.

Fine to use the old bolt as long as you clean it up with a wire brush and use a small amount of blue locking compound, though I've done them without, 450 nm is insanely tight after all.

You'll need a slide hammer to remove the small idler pulley safely, you can rig a three legged puller to do the job but it's a faff.

New water pump while your in there is generally a good idea, use red rubber grease on the O-ring and get the mating face on the block spotless, I lightly use 240 wet and dry and a small block of steel. Leaks after reassembly are soul destroying.

I'd can't recall what state the ignition system was is in when I had the car but it might be worth treating her to plugs, led's, dissy cap and rotor arm. IMO only use OE Beru HT led's, their about the best going, fancy performance ones don't fit properly. Dissy cap should be Bosch or Beru, the rotor arms are often impossible to remove without getting destructive if it's the original.

Cam cover gasket is the same a 3B, get the mating faces super clean and don't forget to use a little sealant under the half moons. I actually cheat and use a fine smear on the whole under side of the gasket as they often seam to leak at the front on the exhaust side. Use a really accurate torque wrench (I have a Snap-on digi one because it satisfies my OCD) but any good quality tool will do the job.

Oh yeah under no circumstances mix old blue (G11) coolant with modern orange (G12). Though I vaguely remember you changing the thermostat so I'm guessing this has been dealt with.

Unless the EM gaskets are leaking leave them well alone, you could enter a whole world of pain chaining them, rounded nuts and snapped studs etc.

Give the vacuum pipe work a good going over and replace any of the small bore stuff that looks past it's best, removing the idle valve and giving it a clean never hurts either.

I have the paper Bentley manual that covers the 7A in depth, but I'm sure there must be members who unlike me are able to use a computer properly who have it on PDF.

[Nj]

Kit! damn! I half expected you to have disappeared up a glacier or something by now. Or maybe you're on the forum on your mobile device in the frozen wilderness? I sent you a very short email the other day. But anyhoo....

Thanks for the epic advice, which I will take on board completely. I need to go and befriend a truck mechanic now it seems. I'm a bit nervous about the whole timing belt thing in case I make a **** of it but I've managed some major tasks before without doing anything too stupid so maybe i'll be ok... erm.. maybe.

Decent torque wrench. Hmm. Maybe I'll invest in a new one. I don't remember where the other one came from. I'll also need to buy a slide hammer. What end will it need to pull out the small idler pulley? I can't picture the process in my head. Well, I know what a slide hammer is but I just wonder which end attachment will be needed?

The plugs are new last year and the HT leads look very good (checked them today). I didn't check the brand though so I'll look again. I definitely want to do the dizzy cap and rotor arm because they could be ancient. Wouldn't be the first rotor arm that's already disintegrating under the dizzy cap

Chef's steel crank pulley group buy seems to be finished so I may have missed out on that one Plus the cost is mounting. As many people have said before me, "fackin' hell. I could have bought an S2 for the same money."

Coolant has definitely been changed when I was doing the thermostat so that should be all good.

I checked today and looks like I bought an EM gasket set by accident instead of IM gasket. Just my Finnish + google translate skills let me down this time. There's definitely no need for me to **** about with the EM. Since I need to do the rocker cover gasket the big ol' IM needs to come off. I'm definitely not going to mess with the EM though.

I'll keep buying parts, tools, cleaners, pastes etc and hope to god I get a chance to use them!

thanks mate