Timing Belt Replacement Interval

noonoo63

Active Member
Mar 7, 2014
375
8
Scotland
Then why do Seat only give a 5 year gaurantee on the cambelt???? Why not 10 years or even 15 years if what you say is true.
 

noonoo63

Active Member
Mar 7, 2014
375
8
Scotland
Your car is designed for the minimum of maintenance but it is really important to have certain jobs carried out at the recommended intervals, in addition to regular servicing. These jobs are in effect preventative maintenance to keep you safe or save you from bigger bills down the line. Your SEAT dealer will always provide a fixed price quote and advice of when the job needs doing, ensuring you can be sure of safe and carefree driving.

Fixed price servicing and maintenance for cars over 2- 15 years
SERVICE

MINOR (EVERY 12 MONTHS/10,000 MILES)
£175

MAJOR (EVERY 24 MONTHS/20,000 MILES)
£295


ENGINE

DIRECT SHIFT GEARBOX (DSG) OIL CHANGE
£199

4WD TRANSMISSION HALDEX OIL CHANGE
£79

CAMBELT KIT (PETROL) WITH FREE FIVE YEAR WARRANTY
£399

CAMBELT KIT (DIESEL) WITH FREE FIVE YEAR WARRANTY
£409

WATER PUMP (WHEN REPLACED WITH A DEISEL CAMBELT KIT)
£179

WATER PUMP
£279

From Seat UK website fixed price maintenance page
 

Alunakis

Active Member
Nov 28, 2014
21
2
Romania
Why change the cambelt when it can be visual verified? See post #11. It's not a starship engine, it's a simply belt. I will extend my search to see if Seat Germany has this policy regarding timing belt. I understand, UK Seat has employees and they must be paid. So every penny is welcomed. Wish you the best and have a nice weekend.
 

noonoo63

Active Member
Mar 7, 2014
375
8
Scotland
Why change the cambelt when it can be visual verified? See post #11. It's not a starship engine, it's a simply belt. I will extend my search to see if Seat Germany has this policy regarding timing belt. I understand, UK Seat has employees and they must be paid. So every penny is welcomed. Wish you the best and have a nice weekend.

:censored:
 
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Sticklebricks

Active Member
Jan 12, 2019
28
18
United Kingdom
SEAT have put the price up by £110 for cambelt & waterpump if you have a petrol and advise you to get it done at the recommended replacement interval. Only problem being that they have removed any mention of time period and mileage from their repair maintenance manuals. They say their new belts are guaranteed for 5 years or the recommended mileage period, even though all reference to to the actual mileage allowed has been removed. They do advise though that the belts are inspected every 18k miles after 130k miles. Does anyone have an official SEAT UK (in writing) that states the mileage and time period that a petrol cambelt should be replaced. I'm not talking about a particular dealerships email to a query, but official SEAT documentation?
 

noonoo63

Active Member
Mar 7, 2014
375
8
Scotland
To add to the confusion this is VW UK's recommendation for a cam belt change.
https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/servicing/what-we-check-and-why/cambelt-change

Regarding costs, watch USA VW tuning experts Deutsche Auto Parts change a cam belt on a Golf GTI.

If you watch the video precisely what I said in a previous answer#10 i.e. the belt needs to be removed to check for cracks where the belt engages the drive cogs, there is no way you could check the whole belt in situ.
Email off to Martorell let's see what Seat's response is and put this to bed hopefully
 

noonoo63

Active Member
Mar 7, 2014
375
8
Scotland
SEAT have put the price up by £110 for cambelt & waterpump if you have a petrol and advise you to get it done at the recommended replacement interval. Only problem being that they have removed any mention of time period and mileage from their repair maintenance manuals. They say their new belts are guaranteed for 5 years or the recommended mileage period, even though all reference to to the actual mileage allowed has been removed. They do advise though that the belts are inspected every 18k miles after 130k miles. Does anyone have an official SEAT UK (in writing) that states the mileage and time period that a petrol cambelt should be replaced. I'm not talking about a particular dealerships email to a query, but official SEAT documentation?



Just for info the email was NOT in response to a query but sent with emails for a service and brake fluid change which IMO is good dealership practice. If you don't want to get these things done then the ball as they say is in your court.
See my previous reply have taken your advice and sent off an email to Martorell hopefully full clarification will be forthcoming!!
 

Sticklebricks

Active Member
Jan 12, 2019
28
18
United Kingdom
If you watch the video precisely what I said in a previous answer#10 i.e. the belt needs to be removed to check for cracks where the belt engages the drive cogs, there is no way you could check the whole belt in situ.
Email off to Martorell let's see what Seat's response is and put this to bed hopefully

I'm pointing out that SEAT have actually handed over time and mileage recommendations over to dealerships, in essence they can make up any time period or mileage. This isn't winsical thinking on my behalf, their are numperous posts on this very subject on the Leon facebook group and multiple people have been emailed multiple different answers to this very issue from different SEAT dealerships. They told me over the phone there is no information on our car. This cannot be considered to be legitimate practice from a major car manufacturer.

The maintenance manuals actually show them doing in insitu and how to check, I also read through the SEAT Espana maintenance page and after a little translation it stated timing belt to be changed after 210k kms (130k miles), no mention of time scale. After checking the older SEAT service book pdf's is says timing belt to be inspected at 60k miles and replaced at 120k (petrol) and 130k (diesel), again n mention of time period. This information is no longer available though in the UK as the info has been removed from just about everything from what I can see.
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noonoo63

Active Member
Mar 7, 2014
375
8
Scotland
I'm pointing out that SEAT have actually handed over time and mileage recommendations over to dealerships, in essence they can make up any time period or mileage. This isn't winsical thinking on my behalf, their are numperous posts on this very subject on the Leon facebook group and multiple people have been emailed multiple different answers to this very issue from different SEAT dealerships. They told me over the phone there is no information on our car. This cannot be considered to be legitimate practice from a major car manufacturer.

The maintenance manuals actually show them doing in insitu and how to check, I also read through the SEAT Espana maintenance page and after a little translation it stated timing belt to be changed after 210k kms (130k miles), no mention of time scale. After checking the older SEAT service book pdf's is says timing belt to be inspected at 60k miles and replaced at 120k (petrol) and 130k (diesel), again n mention of time period. This information is no longer available though in the UK as the info has been removed from just about everything from what I can see. View attachment 5533 View attachment 5534
TDI engines not petrol. Petrol 60k inspect and replace if necessary??
 

Sticklebricks

Active Member
Jan 12, 2019
28
18
United Kingdom
I did differentiate between petrol and diesel, in regards to 'replace if necessary', that's all fine and dandy if you want to hand over total responsibility for and dealership to simply say 'yes' we recommend it's changed. And as they have decided to take the time period and mileage information for petrols from their manuals and service books are they also going to replace the timing belt when they inspect their replacement belts at 60k... I bet there's about 0% chance of them replacing a belt that under their 5 year guarantee if you are only 2 years into it. The facts are that recommended mileage and time should be readily available for all serviceable parts, i.e just like filters, oil etc but for some unknown reason they have removed it for timing belt... or is it maybe because they get the best part of £600 for changing it more often than it needs to?
 

noonoo63

Active Member
Mar 7, 2014
375
8
Scotland
I did differentiate between petrol and diesel, in regards to 'replace if necessary', that's all fine and dandy if you want to hand over total responsibility for and dealership to simply say 'yes' we recommend it's changed. And as they have decided to take the time period and mileage information for petrols from their manuals and service books are they also going to replace the timing belt when they inspect their replacement belts at 60k... I bet there's about 0% chance of them replacing a belt that under their 5 year guarantee if you are only 2 years into it. The facts are that recommended mileage and time should be readily available for all serviceable parts, i.e just like filters, oil etc but for some unknown reason they have removed it for timing belt... or is it maybe because they get the best part of £600 for changing it more often than it needs to?


Well would you look at a cambelt and say that looks fine to me and the next day it snaps costing you 2k to fix you have taken responsibility for that. If you don't give the dealership or an independent the responsibility to look after your vehicle you should do the work yourself IMHO.
I agree with you in one respect in that it should be stated categorically the time and distance when a cambelt should be changed. I am old enough to remember when this was not such an issue on older cars. By the way it is now £678 for a cambelt (£399 ) and waterpump (£279 ) replacement. Last year it was £499 for both !!
 
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Sticklebricks

Active Member
Jan 12, 2019
28
18
United Kingdom
My point is simply this... dealerships, just like any business put pressure on mechanics/ personnel to recommend work that isn't always necessary, the more expensive the better. What SEAT have done is given dealerships carte blanche to just tell every single customer that their belts need replacing at 60k because they no longer have anything telling them (on paper) that they should be lasting 5 years or [x] miles.
 

Hawkers

Active Member
Nov 7, 2015
334
58
Norwich, UK
When you book a service online and look at the cambelt option it says:

Cambelt kit & Waterpump Replacement
Recommended every 5 years or recommended mileage (where fitted)

The maximum recommended interval for a cambelt change varies depending on model, year and engine type. It is important that the cambelt change interval does not exceed the maximum period. Therefore, SEAT recommends a cambelt change, where fitted, every 5 years or recommended mileage, whichever comes sooner.
 

Sticklebricks

Active Member
Jan 12, 2019
28
18
United Kingdom
When you book a service online and look at the cambelt option it says:

Cambelt kit & Waterpump Replacement
Recommended every 5 years or recommended mileage (where fitted)

The maximum recommended interval for a cambelt change varies depending on model, year and engine type. It is important that the cambelt change interval does not exceed the maximum period. Therefore, SEAT recommends a cambelt change, where fitted, every 5 years or recommended mileage, whichever comes sooner.


There is no official mileage anymore, it says recommended mileage but when you search for it, its no longer there.
 

jimmy1751

Active Member
Mar 10, 2019
10
12
Lots of interesting contributions and it does seem 5 years is the time to do cambelt change. However the recommended mileage seems the unknown here.
 

LeonFRTDi

MrGadget
Jan 29, 2005
375
3
Northsostishire
well my car is 5yrs old in a month but guess what i'll no be changing any timing belts its only just clocked 26,000miles..
am i bothered not a chance. if i still have it & most likely will when its reaches 80,000miles i might do it then, unless the water pump
leaks 1st. Ive had it on very good authority from a dealer not to be named that timing belt failure is ni on a thing of the past.
touching desk as i speak now.....
 
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