Not updated this in the past month as the car has been away at Birchdown.
My aux belt was never sat on the pulley 100%, was just off the edge of the pully by one rib. Didn't think much of it as I knew I'd be replacing it ASAP. However I went for a drive on day and long story short, it got caught in the sound deadening next to the pulleys causing it to fray. As it wasn't snapped and I was only 2 miles from home I risked it by nursing the car all the way. Got home fine, parked up on the drive and went to check it while it was running. Bad idea, as soon as I opening the bonnet the engine started sounding rough so went to turn it off. Before I could get there the engine cut out, tried to start it once and did nothing.
Had Jonff round to have a look, we cut the aux belt off, checked the cambelt (which was fine) and tried to turn it over by hand which we couldn't do. Quickly arrange to get it transported to Birchdown as this was the only place I wanted it to be looked at. Due to them being very busy it took a while to figure out what the extent of the damage was. By the looks of it, the aux belt had slapped the cambelt and knocked the timing out, causing 16 bent valves. Happy days.
Either way, I wanted it fixed so we arrange what was going to be done and they got the head sent off and repaired. I had the attitude of "replace everything that was niggling me and just bite the bullet" so with that in mind, here is a list of work carried out:
- Cylinder head skimmed
- Valves replaced
- New headgasked set and bolts
- Dephaser replaced
- Type D coolant
- 5w40 oil + Filter
- Cam belt kit
- Aux belt kit
- PAS Pump + New flange
- Spark Plugs
Andy and steve also cleaned up my engine bay a by giving the head, engine top mount, fuel rail guard and alternator brace a lick of paint which was a nice surprise. Looks really clean and like new now.
Couple of pictures of bits I picked up from the aux belt:
Looking sorry for herself before going to Birchdown:
Unfortunately, the 'mint' original splitter that was on it got snagged on the transporter, causing it to crack. So I've ordered a Skoda replacement as they are much more flexible.
Picture of the crack:
While it was away, I managed to grab these too:
Which are bloody awesome! They look and feel amazing. They fit over the current thumb grips without bonding which is great too!
All in all, its been a pretty expensive month but I'm really happy that the car is pretty much mint now.
When the weather gets better it's in for a proper good clean as when I picked it up it had bird crap all over it! I'll also get some pictures of the thumb grips and the engine bay.
