[Vwdiesel] Some good news on my BEW Timing Belt change this last Saturday, lessons learned.

[Bryan Belman]

Hey all, I know this is TDI, but I like this forum more, so posting my experiences here for those of you that also have TDI PD (BEW) motors
Remember, NO injection pump, so how the heck do you re-time this thing.....
100K change interval, I was at 98,100
I did want to take pictures but time did not allow, I can take the upper belt cover off sometime to better explain the story later this spring.


It went pretty well, 2 big hang-ups that cost us an extra 1.5 hours.  5 hours, we were done.  Had a lift and heat in the Amoco garage I was working in with my friend that works there daily.  He did this job with me after hours for cash.

1. Finding the hole in the head casting for locking the cam sprocket in place at TDC.  The pictures we had did not show clearing what orientation the gear would be in and which of the 3 slots it goes in.  It is hard to explain without pictures, sorry.  The sprocket has 3 slots where you could possibly put the big pin.  We found TDC on the flywheel, not a big deal, just a tough angle to see it.  OK, got that, but the pin will not go in anywhere.???
The most obvious is the slot at the top where the timing gear has teeth to fine tune the timing if needed.  Will not go in there.  There are 2 other slots where the pin can go in.  but these are slots, how could the pin hold the gear in place even if we could find the hold BEHIND the slot.
Well, behind the cam sprocket is a round plate with timing marks on it.  The hole is in this and blocks your vision to see the hole in the casting of the PD head.  We took the valve cover off, something I was sure I did not have to do, but we did anyway, NO Help.  Do not take the Valve Cover off to do this job.  The hole was nowhere to be found.  But hey, got to see what makes this motor run, the PD electronically fired mechanical injectors in the head.  Pretty cool.  I also had to take out the MAF to get the valve cover off, it was gunky, but not as bad as some stories I have read, so just cleaned it up a bit and put in back in.  At 150K I am going to remove the intake manifold and clean it 100%, but it will be OK till then I think.
Ok, we finally found a picture that showed the proper slot and hole it goes in on the PD motor, it is the slot on the lower left of the cam sprocket when you are at TDC.



2.  The timing belt tensioner pulley I received with the timing belt change kit had the pin out.  I did not think this was a big deal.  This is a pre-loaded spring and the pin is in there to hold it all in place.  If it is out when you buy it, SEND IT BACK and get a new one that has the pin in it.  It was not possible to pre-load it in the vise and get the pin in, we couldn't figure it out anyway.  We had to mess with it on the head bolt post and use long screw drivers to get the thing in place behind the new timing belt.  Very time consuming and it messed up the plastic backing plate a bit behind the timing belt getting the holder tab for the spring loaded tensioner in the correct spot with all that tension on it.  Use a 6mm allen wrench to move it around and adjust the tension to the markers line up, this is quite a little Rubik's cube device when the pin it out, need I say more.
But, in the end we got it as no local shops had this part in stock and if they did it would have cost me $95 for something I paid $35 for.  OUCH.


Other things:
* Having the engine suspended from an "A" frame motor host with a come-along was very helpful opposed to blocking the motor on the floor, as you must raise and lower the motor a good 6-10 inches to allow clearance to get one of the 3 motor mount pieces that make up the left motor mount out of the way.
You could do it with a cherry picker lift as well but that would get in the way much more for sure.
* I did not have to remove the pass. side head light assembly as stated in the book, it did not want to come out anyway.
* Serpentine belt was tight to get on for sure, I have a feeling you can drop down the alternator on an A4 motor, but we just stretched it over the alt. hub in the end.  The other guy wanted to get the job done and did not want to spend more time on it.
*  We rotated the motor 2 times clockwise, positioned to TDC on flywheel and the pin went in the hole in the cam sprocket so we did NOT have to adjust timing, but that was not that hard from what the book showed.  To adjust timing you just move the cam sprocket in the slots after loosing 3 bolts, arrows tell you where it has to sit.  But, we did not have to move anything.

It motor started right up, no spitting at all even after having all the fuel lines off, No engine code, all went very well.

I am a happy camper now that I have learned how to do this job and will offer my help to others if needed for sure.






 Bryan Belman, Pt. Pleasant, NJ
04 Jetta Wagon TDI PD, 100hp, 5sp -- running :)
82 Diesel Westy 1.9NA -- running :)
92 Jetta 1.6 Eco-Turbo Diesel -- running :)
70 Type 1 stock Beetle -- Not running :(