GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk3 => Topic started by: raylee25 on 12 March 2007, 01:50
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The cambelt on my 1997 16v snapped today. I was doing around 60 at the time. What damage do you think its caused? I had it changed at 60k now its done 103k miles. If the repairs cost too much, then I'm gonna sell it as spares.
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it's highly likely it's munched all 16 of your valves and probably done more internal damage.
If you can remove the head you'll be able to see what's going on. :(
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Ooh....well thats gonna be expensive. The previous owner of my car had that happen to him and his car was sitting on his drive way, cost him £1500 for a rebuild, thats one of the reasons i bruaght the car, practically a new engine. If you break the car ill have the abs pump of you!!!
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Get a second hand engine and swap it. But replace the belt and tensioner on that before you put it in! With VAG parts!
If you cant do this work yourself or have mates that can then dont bother.
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happened to my 16v last year, was only going about 15 mph at the time and 8 valves were bent. was told it was cost about a grand to rebuild at a garage, luckily my brother is very good with cars and he did it for me. the parts cost me about 300 all together.
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Just came back from the stealers where the car is kept at the mo and they've quoted me £2000. Is it true that the 16v heads can't be skimmed?
Chances are that I'll get it repaired for cheap and flog it to get an Audi S3.
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Let this be a lesson to everyone else and check when your cambelt and tensioner was last changed! If the belt has any oil on it or is shiny, get it done..
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my cam-belt went last year on the ABF, bent 8inlet valves. towed to main dealer who estimated in excess of £2k for new engine and labour.
Took to my friend who sorted everything for £500, inc parts/labour.
Note in addition to above, VW recommend cam-belt change every 4 years or 40k miles regardless.
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would anybody be able to highlight what comeback you may or may not have on garages who do a cambelt change. I have had mine done recently by a experienced reliable VAG garage in my area but just wondered if they did a gash job or a newish belt snapped what comeback you may have or grounds for them doing repairs if the cambelt went?
i think mine sounds a little noisy since they replaced it
andy
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I dont know what car you have exactly, but on my mk3 when i had mine done, it did exactly as you explain, started getting very noisy, when it was warm and above like 2000 rmp. i took it back and it was explained to me that often, because of the way the tensioners work on VWs the belts are set too tight when they are first done and loosen up after an average of about 500 miles. mine is now fine and makes no noise at all.
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my little brothers cambelt went on sunday night, gassessing the damage tomorrow night :(
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How much will i get for the car now that the engine is knacked. The body is in excellent condition.1997 (R) 3 door Diamond black,11 months MOT. New suspension (spax) miltek exhaust, chipped by AMD. It would make an excellent project car.
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Sounds like a sweet car....aint you got the money to fix it?
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I've got the money, but the cars 10 years old. is really worth saving? and also I dont know what other damage its done apart from the head, don't want it to end up as a money pit.
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If its as good as you say it is then yes its worth saving, is there any way you could get someone i.e your mechanic to remove the head and assess the damage? or get a second hand ABF off fleebay and get it fitted, should cost less than a grand.
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depending on how urgently you need the car you could try doing the job yourself, or finding a mechanic friend who'll do it for a couple hundred quid, or a hundred pints :laugh: the easiest way would be to source a replacement head and do a straight swap. whilst replacing the cambelt, tensioner, i also had to replace my pulley cog thing.
My car was 9 years old at the time, only covered 44k, but the cambelt still gave up.. basically down to age. the cost of parts is about £300-400, with private labour ontop ~£200, to total £500-600.
I estimate a mk3 16v on 103k is worth around £2.5k because of mods
Without an engine less than £1k.
The other option I had was to do a 1.8T 150bhp transplant, at about £1k for the engine +labour, but at the time, I needed the car.
Worst thing I found was that I couldn't claim the repairs on insurance, which I didn't know at the time.
Where abouts are you based?
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Its unlikely you have done any major damage as if you had the engine would have siezed and thrown something!
Probably just bent valves and maybe a few marks on the piston tops. But they wont matter.
Valves are not difficult. you just need a valve spring compressor tool and a valve grinding kit.
Get a mate to pull the head off then play with in on the kitchen table! :grin:
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How much will i get for the car now that the engine is knacked. The body is in excellent condition.1997 (R) 3 door Diamond black,11 months MOT. New suspension (spax) miltek exhaust, chipped by AMD. It would make an excellent project car.
id put it up for round about 2 k with offers ond see what happens.
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Ooohhh dear, I read these and it takes me back to my A3. 90MPH on the M40 and snap. All 20 valves bent and one hell of a fecked engine. Got a engince from a scrappy and my mate put it in.
Sad thing is I had the parts to replace the cambelt and it was due to be done the next day. :sad:
Cost to me - £1400 for parts and mates rates labour. OUCH!
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Hey Garf, I'm based in London, not far from Heathrow.
Vw want £1200 +vat for a complete head and the mech will fit it at home for £300. If I do go ahead with the job, will there be a drop in performance, and should I get the pistons replaced as well? or is that a bit too much?
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I am next door to T4 more or less Raylee.
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Hey Martz, is your mate willing to take on another engine rebuild?
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Hey Garf, I'm based in London, not far from Heathrow.
Vw want £1200 +vat for a complete head and the mech will fit it at home for £300. If I do go ahead with the job, will there be a drop in performance, and should I get the pistons replaced as well? or is that a bit too much?
Doubt the pistons would need to be done, but it all depends on the damage. My mate who sorted mine out is based in West London, Hillingdon I think. I could drop him an email to see if he's willing to help out if you want. If he can source a head, then it won't cost as much as VW.
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Cheers mate, any help is always welcome.
Just found a website www.vege.nl.
They can supply a manufactured engine for any car with 1 year unlimited milage. I need to find out the cost.
Has anyone heard of them before?
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Not heard of the website, but its based in Netherlands which isn't ideal, i.e. for delivery, support if necessary.
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They also have an office in the UK
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I've heard good things about Vege but they are quite expensive, you could get a 2nd hand ABF and rebuild it for the price of a new one or just get a good running one and swap it over shouldn't be worth writing it off. :)
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1200 £ for a head, thats absolutley ridiculous, they obviously dont want peoples money, or they think they are the only ones selling them!
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I've found a guy who works at VW who is willing to sort my car out for £300. But I'm providing the bits. Is it a bargin? Is there anything else I can change while the engine is almost stripped down?
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replacing the head and changing valves or just a second hand head and gasket & belt etc shouldnt be £300 in labour! Thats 6 hours at £50 an hour or 12 hours at £25 an hour!
Christ I got a scooby clutch done and the rear oil seal done, (i bought the parts myself) and a local garage took £100 for 4 hours labour. and they are a subaru & 4x4 specialist (CR Gordon, Cults, near Cupar, Fife.
Another place I use that are a rallycross specialist and performance garage (Falkland Performance in Glenrothes, Fife), wanted £35 per hour but only 3 hours labour. Now I know a clutch isnt a huge job in some cars but the scooby is AWD and the engine and box and driveshafts have to come off so it is a b!tch.
I'd say 8 hours max at £25 would be fair and probably the price at a small garage. Thats £200 for labour. It could be done in 4 hours though with the proper tools or a secondhand head.
Anyone else agree?
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Well he has done some work for me in the past, and he does seem to know what hes talking about. I am almost at the stage where I really need the car back on the road, so I reckon £300 is a small price to pay for a pretty large job. Also I'm thinking of replacing the cams as well so everything in the cylinder head is new.
Any suggestions?
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Piper fast road cams are good (285 profile) but they only give about 10 to 15 bhp alone, i read on their site and it seems a small gain for the money unless you do all the other mods like air filter, exhaust, remap etc
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I've already got the engine remapped from AMD and miltek exhaust fitted.
Had an update on my car from the mech. The cambelt didn't snap, the roller just stripped the belt and there is around 15 teeth missing, 6 bent valves (4 inlet, 2 exhaust). Does that mean the engine has got away with it lightly?
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Thats about normal - 6 valves bent.
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I pick up my car tomorrow. I just hope hes done a good job of it after not driving it for 2.5 weeks.
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OK. picked up the car today and it drives like new. Do I have to run it in slowly for a few hundred miles? and not redline it?
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You are quite lucky with just 4x intakes bent. My 16v bent all 8 on the motorway at a speed of 100km/h.
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Anyone?
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I wouldnt rev it like before by any means. just dont force it for a while.
gradually build it up for a couple of hundred miles.
Its not as if its a rebore or new rings or running in an engine like you used to have to.
Personally I would say a safe max revs for now would be 5000