Timing gone- what recommendations do you all have?

[trinialhambra]

Ok so we found out that the reason that the alhmabra died on me was the timing belt- it burst.
So while im changing it- what other prevantative maintenance do you recommend?
Clean the egr?
OIl change?

help me out please!

 

[Seatmann]

Head off job? Valves smacked etc? With any car it's just a case of staying on top of maintanence, oil changes as and when, filters as and when, belts as and when and also use a full timing belt kit with water pump if it's a tdi. If you want to make it better then clean the egr and intake manifold out, I'm pressuming it's a tdi we're talking about, also get new filters all round, if the heads off you might as well bung in a new thermostat too if it hasn't already been changed recently.

 

[trinialhambra]

OK so its apparent that at least ONE of the valves is bent, so pulling off the head also now.
also going to pull the intake valve off and have it properly cleaned.

will probably change ALL valve seals one time as well.

 

[Seatmann]

If it's a tdi I'd consider changing all the valves because sometimes they can make contact but not be bent but can then fail at a later date, might as well make the most of the head being off.

 

[trinialhambra]

BTW: do these 1.9tdi alhambras have a CAT converter?

 

[Seatmann]

Yeh, all tdi's have them, you can chop them out and stick in a straight pipe if you want.

 

[sheltonj]

Hi i seen you was advising some one obout there alhambra ,about the valves being bent,you said the head has to come off. I have a 1.9 tdi 2001 and am going to take head off mine,think needs head gasket,i have fixed cars for years but not to familiar on how to take head off,what i mean by that does the engine have to come out or is it that i have to take turbo off first before i can lift the head,there is not a lot of clearance at top of the engine,regards jeremy

 

[Seatmann]

It's possible to leave the turbo and manifolds bolted up but probably a lot easier to get the head off with them removed due to space and weight. Once all the extra pipework etc is out the way there's a lot more room in there, I take it yours is an alhambra? Why do you think the gaskets gone? It doesn't seem to be a common problem, also do you know which engine you have i.e. AGR, ALH, AFN etc?

 

[sheltonj]

iron man

hi i see from one of the posts,about seat alhambra belt snapped,you said the head has to come off.i am changing my head gasket ,i have fixed cars for years but not changed head gasket on alhambra,do you have to take engine out or is it a matter of taking turbo off and lifting head off , because there isn't a lot of clearance at the top of the engineregards jeremy

 

[sheltonj]

sorry for asking same question am new to this so didn't think i had posted.as regards head gasket ,there is oil in the water and i think water in the oil,seems to be quite high on dipstick ,but problems started ages ago,kept having to put water in it,changed stat water pump eletric water pump cleaned out radiator ,and even though the water pipes were getting hot the bottom hose stayed cold and the hose was also very hard as though it was pressurised

 

[sheltonj]

not sure what engine code is at moment

 

[Seatmann]

There should either be a sticker on top of the timing belt cover or in the boot somewhere, although in an alhambra that's a big place to check

 

[sheltonj]

iron man

Hi have looked for number on top of timing belt cover but the writing is wore off,checked in boot but cant find anything,the car has gradually been getting worse,first of all there was a bit of oil in water,but now there is lots and i mean lots,have tried to avoid taking head off,as i put new turbo on last year and getting that off was no mean feit.so i had an idea that if i did have to do head gasket turbo would have to come off again.

 

[Seatmann]

Just take the manifold off and leave the turbo where it is but disconnect the oil pipes so you can push the manifold back if need be. I'll see if I can find out where the sticker is in the alhambra.

 

[Kilimanjaro]

Hey Sheltonj, how much distance had your belt covered? They usually do not just break (despite what we are told) Maybe yours was fouled/contaminated by leaking oil.

 

[Seatmann]

Who told you they do just break?

 

[Muttley]

Kilimanjaro, the toothed timing belt has severe intermittent loads from the cams and has to maintain very precise synchronisation between the cams, the crank and the diesel injection pump, and they have a definite wear limit. The change interval (60,000 miles or five years) is dictated by worst-case wear, so many belts have a lot of life in when changed out. However the consequences of a failed belt are severe (bent valves at the very least, piston damage or even bent conrods at worst) so it makes sense to change them at a relatively low interval.

A chain would be better, and would not need changing, but would be noisier.

 

[Kilimanjaro]

Funny enough my 24 year-old Toyota Corolla 1.3GL has never had a cambelt change since new. It has done 58000miles. That's twenty-four years. I looked at it the other day and it shows no signs of wear!

 

[Seatmann]

I had an old carina and the timing belt slipped on it so it cut out, I rolled it home seeing as I wasn't far and put it all back in the right place, ran fine til it was scrapped lol.

 

[sheltonj]

Hi i asked a question a couple of weeks ago about my seat alhambra, i was doing the head gasket and you gave me some useful information. i did the job succesfully, and thankyou for the help, it made things a lot easier, but i have a new problem. There is a leak and it is coming from the bulk head ,ther is a tube that comes out it is about 12 mm diameter,it is open at the end,nothing connects to it,i was wondering if this is an over flow from the matrix in case the matrix is blocked somehow.underneath the glove box compartement there is like a underlay that is used for under the carpets,that seems to be a bit wet,i was wondering if the matrix could be gone, with water coming out of that little pipe i was talking about .i hope i have made sense