2001 VW New Beetle 2.0L Gas Timing Belt

"hls" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Harry Face" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Buy Mama that Malbu.......
>>
>> harryface
>> 91 Bonneville 320,747
>> 05 Park Avenue 92,656
> \
> There wont be any Malibu around this house.
>
> I have owned two Passats and both were fine cars, no trouble. But I really
> dont
> like the level of customer care that Volkswagen has given some of my
> friends and
> acquaintances.

As a follow-up on this, my local private mechanic searched his service
database and found documentation that says 2001-2003 2.0L "Manufacturer
suggests replacement at 105K miles"

On Tue, 1 Dec 2009 21:58:03 -0500, "Steve L" >
wrote:

>
>"hls" > wrote in message
m...
>>
>> "Steve L" > wrote in message
>> ...
<snip>
>
>Thanks for the link. Pretty much says "time to get a new car."
>
>I don't want to spend the money on this one, and I don't want to chance
>losing the engine.

It's not that hard to inspect the timing belt...just remove the upper
timing cover. The belt on my '05 Jetta 2.0 with 60K miles looked
pristine.

I would just inspect it for now...then if you really want to spend the
$$ on a new car next year...

Belts usually start to show obvious signs of wear and don't just fail
spontaneously. Check the belt tension too. You're more likely to
find the tensioner worn (or needs adjusted) at that age than a bad
belt. Inspecting this should be a 30 minute job if you pay someone
to do it....could be more if there are clearance issues with the
beetle or if tensioner needs adjusted or replaced.

As far as "time to get a new car"...the new car may have an
interference engine too.


Don Byrer KJ5KB
Power & Glider Pilot Guy
kj5kb-at-hotmail.com

"I have slipped the surly bonds of earth; now if I can just land without bending the gear..."
"Watch out for those doves...<smack-smack-smack-smack...>"

On 12/11/09 8:51 AM, in article ,
"Don Byrer" > wrote:

> On Tue, 1 Dec 2009 21:58:03 -0500, "Steve L" >
> wrote:
>
>>
>> "hls" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>
>>> "Steve L" > wrote in message
>>> ...
> <snip>
>>
>> Thanks for the link. Pretty much says "time to get a new car."
>>
>> I don't want to spend the money on this one, and I don't want to chance
>> losing the engine.
>
> It's not that hard to inspect the timing belt...just remove the upper
> timing cover. The belt on my '05 Jetta 2.0 with 60K miles looked
> pristine.
>
> I would just inspect it for now...then if you really want to spend the
> $$ on a new car next year...
>
> Belts usually start to show obvious signs of wear and don't just fail
> spontaneously.

Fan belts - yes. Timing belt? Catastrophic failure is the norm & a belt
that is about to fail can look just like a new one right out of the box.
The only safe thing is to adhere to the mileage and age spec in the
maintenance schedule for the car.

> Check the belt tension too. You're more likely to
> find the tensioner worn (or needs adjusted) at that age than a bad
> belt. Inspecting this should be a 30 minute job if you pay someone
> to do it....could be more if there are clearance issues with the
> beetle or if tensioner needs adjusted or replaced.
>
> As far as "time to get a new car"...the new car may have an
> interference engine too.
>
>
> Don Byrer KJ5KB
> Power & Glider Pilot Guy
> kj5kb-at-hotmail.com
>
> "I have slipped the surly bonds of earth; now if I can just land without
> bending the gear..."
> "Watch out for those doves...<smack-smack-smack-smack...>"