Bit of cambelt-related help, please (photos inside)

[AdamR]

Hello all,

Noticed a funny droning/vibrating/scraping noise coming from the cambelt area of my car a few weeks ago. Pushing down on the cambelt cover seemed to reduce/stop the noise... I pulled the top half of the cover off and there appears to be some damage to one edge of the belt:



Does that needs replacing asap or should it be ok? The 'unscathed' bit is still over 22mm wide (mentions something about this in the Haynes I have).

My thinking is that the bolt that holds the lower half in place has fallen out, since it wasn't there when I checked! (Have recently fitted a fresh one with some threadlock)



My thinking is that the bolt may have fallen out and is now sitting in the bottom half of the cambelt cover, catching against the belt - does that sound about right?

If so, how do I go about getting the bottom half off to check?



I would prefer not to have to disturb anything vital if poss since I'm not super-experienced with this sort of thing, but it looks like the aux belts need to come off to give me enough space to get the cover off. I've noticed one bolt at the very bottom rear corner of the cover (nearest the driver) and another one facing towards the headlight. Any others I need to be aware of?

One last thing - how much twist should I be able to get in the cambelt when it's at correct tension? The Haynes mentions 45 deg in one place, 90 deg in the other, then says the ABF engine (which is the one I have) needs to go to the dealers for checking with a tension meter!

Thanks in advance for any help!
Adam

[sharki786]

tbh id get that changed asap but thats just me! others might say ye change it!

[harlemex]

yup, change that shabby lookin belt.

[AudiA8Quattro]

I would also change it.

[mk2 helper]

i'd change it mainly for peace of mind it might be fine but better getting it done just to be safe

[Wayne]

Yep needs changing asap.

[Khare]

I'd change it too, better safe than sorry!

[AdamR]

Thanks gents, bought one this morning, look out for a 'Changed my cambelt and now my car runs like sh!t - HELP!' thread in a few days     

[rubjonny]

prettyy simple job, you need to remove both the waterpump and pas pulleys, these are held on with the 4 allen bolts. dont undo the 19mm bolt in the middle! use a socket on it to hold the crank still while you undo the allen bolts, then the pulleis should come off. you may have to use some pullers!

then the lower cover should come off, you may have to remove the waterpump pulley I'm not 100% sure, some covers come off fine with pulley on there some do not. then its dead simple from there on in

[javalin]

this

http://faculty.ccp.edu/faculty/dreed/Campingart/jettatech/t-belt/index.htm

just ignore the water pump, removal of the alternator, etc, bits

Oh - and use the flywheel marker (under the green plug on top of the gearbox) to set the crank - don't bother with the pulley mark as I found it to be wildly in-accurate.  Use the cam marks though - and you'll be spot on.

James