Tiguan

[XDirtyboyX]

I have a 2011 2.0 SA match Tiguan an on Friday the cam belt went.

It has 76,000 on the clock and was due a cam belt change but just hadn't got round to it.

VW have investigated the reason for the Cam belt failure and it was the water pump and although I have extended warranty on the car the warranty company are saying as I missed the replacement interval for the belt they won't honour it.

i am currently in dispute as I have said that as the water pump was the root cause this should be covered, any thoughts?

i have had a quote of £1350 for a reconditioned engine and wondered if anyone could give me an idea what it might cost to swap over.

suffice to say I'm not a happy bunny and a bit peed of with VW at the moment as think a cam belt should last a bit longer than 76000 miles.

Any advice would be most welcome.

 

[Volkswagen Owners Club]

Hi

I would have thought the replacement intervals are actually recommended guidelines only. Its not as though the cambelt will snap at that mileage and type of usage should also be considered and taken into account (e.g. taxi's, etc).

Waterpumps tend to fail due to running for a set amount of time e.g. 60000 miles but also again, whether stationary mileage (e.g. rush hour) or whether motorway driven but either way the pump has run for the same time as the belt. Bearings wear and allow excess play in the belt setup which can lead to failure (slack belt tension)

The only other time I have know belts to fail are as a result of the water pump and /or tensioners going tight on the bearings. This has an effect on the belt if the belt runs over the pump/tensioner on the reverse side (e.g not the toothed side but the smooth side). This then leads to overheating of the belt and is noticeable by the fact that the belt has snapped and also almost petrified (hardened up) due to excess heat generated.  VW Golf TDi suffers from this if the belt tension goes slack from specified settings.

Good luck with your case...let us know what happens

Regards   Trevor - Admin