2001 VW New Beetle 2.0L Gas Timing Belt
Steve L
timing belt recommendation is? The owners manual says "Check Timing belt for
each maintenance starting at 60K miles through 100K, but never says Replace.
The car has 75K gentle miles on it, and I'm looking at buying her either a
new Accord, Malibu or Camry this coming August. ...in about 8k more miles
from now.
Is this car a "non-interference" engine, and that's why the "check" as
opposed to "replace"?
hls
"Steve L" <srl...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:hf1nhv$t95$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
http://www.independentvwaudiservice.com/fyi.shtml
and
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3828/is_200308/ai_n9294692/
Both these sources indicate your engine IS an interference engine.
Steve L
"hls" <h...@nospam.nix> wrote in message
news:fpCdnddBOOD5jIjW...@giganews.com...
Thanks for the link. Pretty much says "time to get a new car."
I don't want to spend the money on this one, and I don't want to chance
losing the engine.
hls
>
> I don't want to spend the money on this one, and I don't want to chance
> losing the engine.
>
>
>
Is the car so bad that it is not worth spending a few maintenance bucks on
it?
It IS about 8 going on 9 years old, but that is not a lot on some cars.
Steve L
"hls" <h...@nospam.nix> wrote in message
This car has been a pain since we bought it. It needs front end work, tires,
it's got a oil leak from where mama ran over a piece of angle iron that
bounced off a truck in front of her. it maybe needs about $1K to $2K of work
and then we'll feel like we need to keep it.
Time to pick out a new car for Mama. She likes the Malibu's, I like the
Accords and the Camry's.
Thanks for the info.
hls
The reason I ask is that a friend had one of the new Beetles. She liked it
at first,
but there were niggling little repairs which finally became frequent and
expensive
repairs. She got rid of it last year. It sounds like you have had a
similar experience.
Steve L
"hls" <h...@nospam.nix> wrote in message
>
> "Steve L" <srl...@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:hf74lj$h66$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>>
>> "hls" <h...@nospam.nix> wrote in message
>> news:1qednclv9Ju1fIvW...@giganews.com...
>>>
>>> "Steve L" <srl...@comcast.net> wrote in message
>>> news:hf4l3u$i42$1...@news.eternal-
>>>>
snip
>
> The reason I ask is that a friend had one of the new Beetles. She liked
> it at first,
> but there were niggling little repairs which finally became frequent and
> expensive
> repairs. She got rid of it last year. It sounds like you have had a
> similar experience.
Constant "niggling" repairs.. and plenty of BIG niggling repairs, like a new
radiator, ECM, alternator, just lots of stuff
I'd never buy another VW. My daughter had a 99 and it was even worse. POS
Harry Face
harryface
91 Bonneville 320,747
05 Park Avenue 92,656
AZ Nomad
>snip
My father suffered with a 76 vw rabbit. It burned a quart of oil a
week and the dealer's solution was to put a sticker around the filler
hole "check oil". Any time it was below about 25 degrees, it wouldn't
start. I remember ski trips where he'd be outside in the morning with
a tea kettle of boiling water and rags that he'd soak to try to
unfreeze the injectors.
I had a '71 superbeetle that was the worst piece of shit I've ever
known. There wasn't a single system on that car that didn't have
multiple failures. For example, front suspension: wheel bearings,
idler arm (5" play in steering), steering u-joint; engine
accessories: generator blew to pieces as bearings failed, carb with
bearing around throtttle leaking enouh to reduce mileage to 16mpg,
exhaust welds came apart; distributor bearings wore out; heat
exchangers rusted through...
Father later bought an audi and got rid of it after two years when it
started requiring monthly trips for service. I gave him a hard time
"I can't believe you bought another VW!" and he's learned his lesson.
hls
"Harry Face" <Harryf...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:13334-4B1...@storefull-3112.bay.webtv.net...
There wont be any Malibu around this house.
I have owned two Passats and both were fine cars, no trouble. But I really
dont
like the level of customer care that Volkswagen has given some of my friends
and
acquaintances.
Steve L
"hls" <h...@nospam.nix> wrote in message
As a follow-up on this, my local private mechanic searched his service
database and found documentation that says 2001-2003 2.0L "Manufacturer
suggests replacement at 105K miles"
Don Byrer
wrote:
>
>"hls" <h...@nospam.nix> wrote in message
>news:fpCdnddBOOD5jIjW...@giganews.com...
>>
>> "Steve L" <srl...@comcast.net> wrote in message
>> news:hf1nhv$t95$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
<snip>
>
>Thanks for the link. Pretty much says "time to get a new car."
>
>I don't want to spend the money on this one, and I don't want to chance
>losing the engine.
It's not that hard to inspect the timing belt...just remove the upper
timing cover. The belt on my '05 Jetta 2.0 with 60K miles looked
pristine.
I would just inspect it for now...then if you really want to spend the
$$ on a new car next year...
Belts usually start to show obvious signs of wear and don't just fail
spontaneously. Check the belt tension too. You're more likely to
find the tensioner worn (or needs adjusted) at that age than a bad
belt. Inspecting this should be a 30 minute job if you pay someone
to do it....could be more if there are clearance issues with the
beetle or if tensioner needs adjusted or replaced.
As far as "time to get a new car"...the new car may have an
interference engine too.
Don Byrer KJ5KB
Power & Glider Pilot Guy
kj5kb-at-hotmail.com
"I have slipped the surly bonds of earth; now if I can just land without bending the gear..."
"Watch out for those doves...<smack-smack-smack-smack...>"
E. Meyer
"Don Byrer" <kj...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Dec 2009 21:58:03 -0500, "Steve L" <srl...@comcast.net>
> wrote:
>
>>
>> "hls" <h...@nospam.nix> wrote in message
>> news:fpCdnddBOOD5jIjW...@giganews.com...
>>>
>>> "Steve L" <srl...@comcast.net> wrote in message
>>> news:hf1nhv$t95$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
> <snip>
>>
>> Thanks for the link. Pretty much says "time to get a new car."
>>
>> I don't want to spend the money on this one, and I don't want to chance
>> losing the engine.
>
> It's not that hard to inspect the timing belt...just remove the upper
> timing cover. The belt on my '05 Jetta 2.0 with 60K miles looked
> pristine.
>
> I would just inspect it for now...then if you really want to spend the
> $$ on a new car next year...
>
> Belts usually start to show obvious signs of wear and don't just fail
> spontaneously.
Fan belts - yes. Timing belt? Catastrophic failure is the norm & a belt
that is about to fail can look just like a new one right out of the box.
The only safe thing is to adhere to the mileage and age spec in the
maintenance schedule for the car.