Volkswagen Passat Timing Belt and Waterpump
Service Warning
The late-model VW and Audi V6 cars have a somewhat tricky timing belt removal
procedure. According to the manufacturer, the entire nose of the car must be
removed to access the front of the engine. Unfortunately, they are correct.
There is absolutely no clearance between the radiator and the front of the
engine. Even a simple drive belt replacement can be an arm-scraping ordeal.
Perhaps there is some secret trick to doing this timing belt with the front end
on, but it doesn't seem like it would save much time and would probably result
in a come-back, considering that a mirror and flashlight would have to be used
to line up all of the timing marks and clean the gasket surfaces. This article
will guide you through the task of removing the front bumper and related
components.
Disassembly
The first step is to evacuate the air conditioning system.
The lines will have to be separated from the condenser later, and you can
continue to work while the A/C system is emptied.
Next, remove the rubber seal that runs across the radiator
support and the plastic cover over the hood latch. Now release the metal clip
(1) (picture above), then spread the plastic tabs (2) apart and remove the hood
latch release arm. Remove the upper 3 torx-headed screws that retain the front
bumper to the radiator support and the Phillips head screws that go through the
rubber bumpers.
Inside both fenderwells, remove the three visible torx
screws and the one semi-hidden screw (arrow).
Remove the marker light housing by pulling on the white ring
and releasing it from it's attachment and sliding the housing forwards. Part of
the air intake ducting will have to be removed to access the passenger side
ring.
Now remove the bolts that were underneath the marker light
Note: This job is much easier and faster with the use of a cordless impact gun
or a drill with a bit driver attachment.
Remove the bumper by pulling outwards on the corners, then
pull forwards from the front. This is much easier with a helper.
It should take approximately 10 minutes to get to this
point.
(Picture Below)
Now remove the headlight assemblies and the braces
underneath them. The headlights are retained by three torx screws, two in the
top (underneath plastic covers) and one in the outboard side at the bottom. The
braces have several torx screws pointing to the rear of the vehicle and one
Allen bolt pointing upwards at the rear of the brace.
Remove the two bolts retaining the bumper assembly and set
it aside. Now drain the coolant with the petcock on the bottom right of the
radiator.
Remove the upper radiator hose by pulling up on this clip,
then wiggling it gently back and forth as you pull backwards. This can take a
few minutes, as the o-ring that seals the connection tends to get stuck. If,
however, the hose is stubborn and will not release, insert a flat head
screwdriver through the radiator support, placing the tip on the end of the
hose. With a partner helping, simultaneously pull on the hose and tap on the
screwdriver with a small hammer. This should be enough to break the connection.
This procedure is not found in any VW shop manual, so be very careful (the hose
costs about $70).
Remove the A/C hoses from the condenser, making sure to hold
both sides of the connection with a wrench. Also, unclip the two horn
electrical connectors and the A/C switch connector in this area.
Remove the transmission cooler lines at the threaded fittings near the engine oil pan as shown in the picture above.
If the line fittings are difficult to remove due to rust and corrosion they can also be disconnected at the radiator, however, this method is a little more time consuming.
Now remove the two torx bolts at the top of the radiator
support on both sides and all but one of the bolts retaining the bumper bracket
on each side. This last bolt needs to be loosened half way to allow movement of
the radiator support and access to the backside. Remove the lower radiator hose
from the engine. There is a bracket on the backside of the radiator support
that run vertically, remove the bolt at the bottom end of this bracket. Next,
remove the electrical wires from their clips on the backside of the support and
feed them out the bottom, between the bracket and radiator support. The only
things holding the radiator support to the car should now be the two partially
loosened torx bolts and the hood release cable. It would be more trouble than it
would be worth to remove the hood latch (it would have to be re-aligned when
installed), so leave it on. When the support is removed, pull it over to the
side as far as the cable will allow. This will give you plenty of room to work
on the engine.
Remove the last two bolts holding the support to the body
while a partner holds it up. Slowly start to pull the support away from the
car, making sure nothing else is attached.
You did it!!! Now the actual engine work can be done. It
should only take about 45 minutes
reach this point.
Engine work
Start by removing the three engine covers, drive belt and
belt tensioner.
Next, remove the black tube that runs up the passenger side
of the front of the engine, and the three pieces of timing cover. The fan
clutch is rather tricky to get off, as it is usually too tight to break loose
by applying extra tension to the belt and turning the nut with a wrench. Unless
you work at a WV dealership, you probably don't have the special spanner wrench
needed to hold the pulley while turning the nut. The easiest way to do this is
to insert an Allen wrench into one of the slots on the front of the pulley and
turn the pulley until the wrench wedges up against part of the housing or one
or the retaining bolts. Now you can apply pressure to the fan clutch nut
(left-hand threads!) and break it loose.
In the picture above you can see, with the fan clutch removed for clarity, how
to hold the pulley. Next, remove the Allen bolts holding the crank pulley on
(not the large 12 point bolt), the crank pulley and the cover behind it. Also
remove the three Allen bolts holding the power steering pulley on. Now you have
full access to the timing belt and all related components.
This is the thermostat housing. As you can see, it was
leaking from a crack on the right side. Even if this job is being performed just
because the timing belt is due by vehicle mileage, always replace the
thermostat housing. There is an updated housing made from cast aluminum that is
much stronger than the original plastic. This will prevent you from having to
do the job again in two weeks for free.
WARNING:
If you are removing the
camshaft drive pulley for any reason be aware that the camshaft is NOT keyed to
the cam pulley. The camshaft is instead keyed to the small flange with two
holes (A) located between the camshaft retaining bolt washer and the cam
pulley. If you have to remove the camshaft pulley (i.e. to replace camshaft oil
seals) the pulley will free spin on the camshaft. You will need to have the
special tool used to align the camshafts. Some technicians have reported
success by carefully marking the relationship between the retaining flange (A)
and the camshaft pulley. If you choose this option, be aware that a misaligning
the pulley by 3 degrees is likely to result in a check engine light after
a day or so. If you choose to mark the flange/ pulley relation, you should
record a cam/crank sensor relationship with a scope to insure that you
correctly reassemble the engine.
Aside from disassembling half of the car to access the
timing belt, there is nothing different about this job than from any other
timing belt. Follow the manufacturer procedures for aligning the timing marks
and tensioning the belt, and then start the assembly process, going in reverse
order of disassembly.
Conclusion
Manufacturer labor is slightly off on this job. To R&R water pump, it pays
5 hours. To R&R the thermostat, it pays three hours. To R&R the timing
belt, it pays 4.6 hours. Any of these components are just as hard to get to as
the others. If the engine is exceptionally dirty or you can forsee any additional problems or repair work needed such as hose replacement, sell this job for 6 hours. This will compensate
you for any unforeseen setbacks and allow for any extra time
needed during the clean-up phase. If everything goes smoothly, then discount the labor back to normal. For your first time, expect to spend at least
6 hours on this job, but once you have performed this repair once, the
following ones will be much quicker repairs.
Adam Riggs
ASE Certified Master Technician