I recently bought a 2004 VW Touareg V8 with maintenance history for only the previous two years. I was concerned about the timing belt since the vehicle has 87,000+ miles. I examined the belt and saw a list of numbers next to the ContiTech label. The numbers read as follows: 03541710200928. I contacted ContiTech with the numbers to see if they could tell me when the belt was manufactured. Since my truck is a 2004, I figured that a later date of manufacture would indicate that the timing belt had been changed. And since I have the Carfax with a lot of date and mileage entries I could estimate the approximate mileage when the belt was changed based on the mfg. date. ContiTech responded promptly and said that the belt was manufactured on October 17, 2009. Now look at the numbers. Do you see 17102009. Amazing ! That is the mfg. date. So now I know the belt was replaced in the 45K to 50K mile range so I have another 40,000+ miles before I have to worry about changing the belt. I hope this help information another new member. I also attached a picture of the belt.
How to date ContiTech Timing Belt
reubengeg
1 - 5 of 5 Posts
I recently bought a 2004 VW Touareg V8 with maintenance history for only the previous two years. I was concerned about the timing belt since the vehicle has 87,000+ miles. I examined the belt and saw a list of numbers next to the ContiTech label. The numbers read as follows: 03541710200928. I contacted ContiTech with the numbers to see if they could tell me when the belt was manufactured. Since my truck is a 2004, I figured that a later date of manufacture would indicate that the timing belt had been changed. And since I have the Carfax with a lot of date and mileage entries I could estimate the approximate mileage when the belt was changed based on the mfg. date. ContiTech responded promptly and said that the belt was manufactured on October 17, 2009. Now look at the numbers. Do you see 17102009. Amazing ! That is the mfg. date. So now I know the belt was replaced in the 45K to 50K mile range so I have another 40,000+ miles before I have to worry about changing the belt. I hope this help information another new member. I also attached a picture of the belt.
Attachments
Joined
·
1,569 Posts
Nice piece of detective work Sherlock.
Joined
·
20,262 Posts
Good detective work indeed BUT . . .
Best practice on the earlier cambelt V8s now says you change the belt plus the water pump, thermostat and tensioners at 80,000 miles or 5 years, whichever comes first, as the belts have a time life as well as a mileage life.
So if that belt was made in October 2009 and installed, say, a year later in 2010, it's already overdue for a change . . .
The good news is that you have a much later belt than the year of car manufacture so the possibility is that a previous owner might have changed the belt [and, hopefully, the water pump, thermostat and tensioners too] in a timely manner which could indicate your car has had a careful previous owner who looked after it.
However, without actual service records, your problem is that you don't actually know that for certain though and, as I always post, if the belt lets go your engine is toast.
So although you know when the belt was made [and that's something no one else has posted to date so it's very useful information] you still don't actually know when it was fitted as it could have been a stock item sitting on a warehouse shelf for several years. Indeed it may have been fitted far more recently than you think by someone who ignored best practice, took a risk on the belt's time life, and simply waited for the 80,000 miles to come up!
It would be very helpful to other cambelt V8 owners if you can go back to your Conti contact and ask them for advice on the belt's lifespan in terms of miles AND time once in use,.
The other question is whether that life is further limited if the belt is in long term storage first before being fitted as, according to Conti's own website, shelf lifespan for timing belts is 5 years.
Best practice on the earlier cambelt V8s now says you change the belt plus the water pump, thermostat and tensioners at 80,000 miles or 5 years, whichever comes first, as the belts have a time life as well as a mileage life.
So if that belt was made in October 2009 and installed, say, a year later in 2010, it's already overdue for a change . . .
The good news is that you have a much later belt than the year of car manufacture so the possibility is that a previous owner might have changed the belt [and, hopefully, the water pump, thermostat and tensioners too] in a timely manner which could indicate your car has had a careful previous owner who looked after it.
However, without actual service records, your problem is that you don't actually know that for certain though and, as I always post, if the belt lets go your engine is toast.
So although you know when the belt was made [and that's something no one else has posted to date so it's very useful information] you still don't actually know when it was fitted as it could have been a stock item sitting on a warehouse shelf for several years. Indeed it may have been fitted far more recently than you think by someone who ignored best practice, took a risk on the belt's time life, and simply waited for the 80,000 miles to come up!
It would be very helpful to other cambelt V8 owners if you can go back to your Conti contact and ask them for advice on the belt's lifespan in terms of miles AND time once in use,.
The other question is whether that life is further limited if the belt is in long term storage first before being fitted as, according to Conti's own website, shelf lifespan for timing belts is 5 years.
Joined
·
19 Posts
Personally, I would like to thank reubengeg for this (literally) hidden gem of advice.
I purchased my 05 v8 about three weeks ago and under noobytoogy's advice, have been trying to track down service records to definitively learn whether the timing belt had been changed prior to it's now 157,000km (97,555m).
I learned after being leased in California for two years (full service records listed in manual), it was sold at auction and shipped to Alberta, Canada. The second owner completed all servicing, oil changes, maintenance (with the exception of the timing belt), at a licensed VW dealership.
The dealership would not provide me with copies, due to the previous owners personal information being affixed to it. The dealership further looked at it and claimed they had no means of determining whe, if at all, it had been changed. I was subsequently provided a quote of $2,600 for the job.
Today I found this post and checked my timing belt, finding it to be stamped with a corresponding date of 03072012. Given the mileage and year of my treg, i'm going to assume it was replaced only ever once in 2012/2013 (unlikely to have been twice within 8/9 years with so few kms).
Therefore, I believe it reasonable and within it's limits to wait until fall 2017/spring 2018 for its next replacement. I understand that the lifespan of the belt is akin to a vehicles warranty (eg.10 years or 100,000km - being whichever comes first), which is why I won't wait until 257,000km (160,000m).
I do think that the information on how to find the manufacture date of a timing belt should be pinned in the forum, to help owners of the previously owned treg make informed decisions/calculated estimates as to if and when it should be replaced.
Chris.
I purchased my 05 v8 about three weeks ago and under noobytoogy's advice, have been trying to track down service records to definitively learn whether the timing belt had been changed prior to it's now 157,000km (97,555m).
I learned after being leased in California for two years (full service records listed in manual), it was sold at auction and shipped to Alberta, Canada. The second owner completed all servicing, oil changes, maintenance (with the exception of the timing belt), at a licensed VW dealership.
The dealership would not provide me with copies, due to the previous owners personal information being affixed to it. The dealership further looked at it and claimed they had no means of determining whe, if at all, it had been changed. I was subsequently provided a quote of $2,600 for the job.
Today I found this post and checked my timing belt, finding it to be stamped with a corresponding date of 03072012. Given the mileage and year of my treg, i'm going to assume it was replaced only ever once in 2012/2013 (unlikely to have been twice within 8/9 years with so few kms).
Therefore, I believe it reasonable and within it's limits to wait until fall 2017/spring 2018 for its next replacement. I understand that the lifespan of the belt is akin to a vehicles warranty (eg.10 years or 100,000km - being whichever comes first), which is why I won't wait until 257,000km (160,000m).
I do think that the information on how to find the manufacture date of a timing belt should be pinned in the forum, to help owners of the previously owned treg make informed decisions/calculated estimates as to if and when it should be replaced.
Chris.
1 - 5 of 5 Posts
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
