Fuel injection pump belt change

Pump is not timed to the engine.

Brendanm said:

Pump is not timed to the engine.

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This is my first TDI, and I might have read something wrong... So, remove the belt and replace it? Sounds good to me.

Correct. Common rail pumps aren't timed, all they do is create the high pressures. The ecu controls the timing by telling the injector when to open.

Awesome, thank you!

This has me curious as to what sort of conditions this car was subjected to that the belts are bad like this

volkswagens-for-life said:

This has me curious as to what sort of conditions this car was subjected to that the belts are bad like this

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10 years and 130,000M of high heat will do that.

This is the only reference I can find to changing the V6 or V8 TDI HPFP belt and tensioner. These are not listed as a service item by VW but they clearly have a finite life due to belt wear and aging and the bearing in the tensioner pulley wearing out. What experience do people have of these failing and needing to change these apart from this single post ?

cheers
Rohan

rgh0 said:

This is the only reference I can find to changing the V6 or V8 TDI HPFP belt and tensioner. These are not listed as a service item by VW but they clearly have a finite life due to belt wear and aging and the bearing in the tensioner pulley wearing out. What experience do people have of these failing and needing to change these apart from this single post ? cheers Rohan

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2012 Touareg CATA 192k,. Im fixing to change the timing belt on the pump myself before 200k .. I ordered the lockout tools off amazon which included Im assuming some others for different models.. Still trying to find a procedure on locking the system and changing the belt and tensioners.

erWin has all the service information you need. If you don't want to pay, use the search function and find gifts from others, both on here and many other (typically russian) sites.

SaVAGeSoot said:

erWin has all the service information you need. If you don't want to pay, use the search function and find gifts from others, both on here and many other (typically russian) sites.

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Yes I have the Erwin download and unfortunately there is no data in either the engine or fuel system or maintenance sections on the HPFP tooth belt drive life and recommended maintenance. There is also apart from this one thread nothing I can find on peoples experience with any HPFP drive belt failures and maintenance. Fortunately my Treg has only done 100k kms but it is now 10 years old. I am trying to put together the maintenance plan for the next 10 years and i am struggling to find information I can rely on around this item.

The lack of data suggests the belt and tensioners have a very long life normally and that failures despite no maintenance are very rare

If the pump and belt system was easily accessible I would just replace the belt and tensioner pulley now but its buried up against the firewall at the rear of the engine on the V8 TDI and under a lot of Air Con system piping so it not a trvial exercise to do the job

Well, if it were mine, I'd treat it just like a timing belt. It is essentially the equivalent of one, and if it goes to crap, it does significant damage. Remember that belt degrade, and over down under you probably have lots of heat and stuff so you may want to bite the bullet and do it as PM instead of waiting for the big bang.

SaVAGeSoot said:

Well, if it were mine, I'd treat it just like a timing belt. It is essentially the equivalent of one, and if it goes to crap, it does significant damage. Remember that belt degrade, and over down under you probably have lots of heat and stuff so you may want to bite the bullet and do it as PM instead of waiting for the big bang.

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Significant damage?

Guess not. Just wait till it lets go and simply replace it.

FWIW, I'm on my second 2008 3.0 TDI, and I have replaced the toothed belt on both.

The first one I purchased in 2010 (@53K) and replaced the toothed belt at 106K kms / 5 years of age, purchased the second one in 2018 (@90K) and replaced belt at 138K kms both as preventative maintenance.

I really look at a belt the same way as SaVAGeSoot, a belt is a belt....

TonyB

SaVAGeSoot said:

Guess not. Just wait till it lets go and simply replace it.

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Just curious what damage there would be? It would simply stop running.

Not saying I wouldn't replace it, just that it isn't going to cause catastrophic damage, and it is a lot harder than on an old V6, as it's on the back of the engine.

Because you've called me out on it, I would actually have to look into how it's driven and what it can get tangled up in and such. (but honestly, I don't care that much to argue about it) We don't have that engine here, so I know roughly where it is from seeing an SSP on the engine, but I don't know what is all around it and all that. There have been many examples on various engines where simple belts, anything from accessory or whatever have been ignored and when they let go, they tear up other stuff, get tangled, rip wires, lines, sensors or whatever.....

Lastly, I don't know the OPs use patterns or what a tow cost would be to retrieve his rig if it leaves him stranded 5min or 5hrs from his home, so there's a lot to factor in if one wants to minimize the potential risk.

At the end of the day it's up to the owner to decide what headaches he wants.

There is nothing to get tangled. You guys have them over there in boats 😉. Generally when a toothed belt like a timing belt fails, the teeth are ripped off the belt, the belt doesn't flail around wildly like a failing ribbed belt can, there is also a guard over the whole lot. You normally.enjoy a good argument 😔

I promise we can argue about anything in the near future... I was having a day with other life junk and couldn't get in the mood 😜

I discovered the fp belt while doing my recent intake de carb and was surprised to know it existed. I did ask my concierge Porsche tech and IIRC there is a process involved that was more technical than I expected. That and the $8x cost of the belt made it a PASS til later. The good news is it's very accessible (once you know where it is).