HotRod Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Bought a 300 Tdi 90 which has been well maintained but service records are sketchy... 'Best practice' says get the timing belt replaced, but is there any way to inspect the belt condition without stripping everything down? What's the recommended mileage interval and roughly how much might a independant LR garage charge to replace it? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyManLuke Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 is there any way to inspect the belt condition without stripping everything down? Nope, and once you've stripped it down, you'd be a fool not to just replace it and be done with the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8bertha Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Bought a 300 Tdi 90 which has been well maintained but service records are sketchy... 'Best practice' says get the timing belt replaced, but is there any way to inspect the belt condition without stripping everything down? What's the recommended mileage interval and roughly how much might a independant LR garage charge to replace it? thanks You can have a peek-a-boo up the wading plug hole, but it doesn't reveal much. The hole is in the bottom of the timing cover case, so you'll have to get down on the floor... Get used to it now, you're gonna spend a lot of time there!! You can get all the bits from your local merchant for not-too-much... I think the kit is STC4096L. This includes the belt, new tensioner, idler and gaskets. It doesn't include the new oil seals for the crank tho. I vageuly remember the kit costing around £70? It's not too much of a bad job to do, just take your time and pay attention to what you are doing. I seem to recall there being a tech article about doing the job. IIRC it should be done every 60K miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gromit Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 As luke says. No idea how much a garage charges, but a belt, tensioner and gasket are about 40 quid from the online places. Be well to replace the cam, crank and injection pump oil seals too, while you're in there. They are a few quid each. Not a difficult job if you want to do it yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8bertha Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 300TDi Cambelt Tech archive article is here Its very good... some bedtime reading for ya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 There are some ways to determine that a timing belt has replaced recently. The white writing on it disappears after some time, it may have excessive slack on it, and older belts tend to have what looks like a corrugated look to the outer surface. Any sign of oil, diesel, or other damage to it and it should be replaced as oil and diesel seriously weaken the belt. To check it properly you really need to take the timing cover off, and as you have got that far you might as well play it safe and replace it. There's also the possibility that the tensioner'idler wheels weren't replaced if the belt has and the only way to check them is to remove the belt and free spin them to listen for a dry rushing noise and/or play (there should be none in any direction) Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white90 Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Better still get Les to do it and you get to visit lovely Swindon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bull Bar Cowboy Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 The biggest cause of failure is from age / stress cracks on the inside of the belt (the toothed side) you cant see these without taking the belt off ………….. Compared to belt replacement on a lot of other vehicles the 300tdi is very cheap ……….. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discojmz Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 paddocks do a kit including everything you need bar the oil and dust seals for about 40 quid plus vat. then the seals cost a couple of quid each. i've got two to do next week. a 200 and 300 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotRod Posted December 19, 2007 Author Share Posted December 19, 2007 That's all helpful thanks. Not shy of getting the spanners out, but how long would it take someone in the know to replace the bits recommended above? cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Neale Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 That's all helpful thanks. Not shy of getting the spanners out, but how long would it take someone in the know to replace the bits recommended above?cheers No more than a couple of hours I would think. I can do a 200 tdi in about that time, and a 300 is slightly less involved. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Well the crank bolt and removal of the damper is what dictates the length of time it takes to do. If you have no problems, then 3-4hrs perhaps. I would say allow yourself a day in case things get awkward. The new belt is a tight fit and some cursing/fiddling to get it right is needed. It's not uncommon to get the belt on and then notice that the cam/crank timing has gone one tooth out. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyManLuke Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 I've just done my 200tdi, literally fired it up an hour ago. The hardest part will be getting the bolt and damper off as mentioned. charged battery and 6 flicks of the starter against a breaker bar sorted mine. impact wrench didn't touch it. first time I've done it, replaced belt, tensioner, all gaskets, and a few timing case bolts i wasn't happy with as they came out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimAttrill Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 It's not uncommon to get the belt on and then notice that the cam/crank timing has gone one tooth out.Les. I have learnt to put the belt on, tension it and then start the engine. Just to get it to fire, that's all. If it doesn't fire, the belt is a tooth out on the crank. Saves hours of wasted time putting the case back on, putting the pulley on, tightening the pulley, then having to take it all off again. Not that this is in the manual, of course I also have a milled hole in my timing case with a filler to stop the crud getting in. 10 secs with a 10mm spanner and I can see my timing belt - well the edge of it anyway. A useful modification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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