Epic timing belt fail...

[LiamM45]

Today was a bad day.

I was happily tootling along the A1M on my way to Elsecar and a Mk5 R32 Golf came flying up behind me. So we had a bit of a play and I made him look a tad silly. Good times...

So I slow down and start hearing a slight rattly noise, like a loose bit of trim or a loose bracket...

I approach the bit where the A1M and M1 seperate and hear a 'pshhhhhht'... hmm. Car shuts down and I throw it onto the hard shouler, almost getting wiped out by my compatriots mk3 Polo at the same time!

Pop the bonnet... ah. I am now minus one supercharger belt. So, having a spare belt in the car I called the RAC to help fit it...

RAC starts taking my car apart and the belt is stuck fast. He takes the timing belt cover off and umm... one snapped timing belt. Oh cock.

What I am curious to know is, I've heard VW produced 'non-contact' engines, which didn't kill the valves and valvetrain when the timing belt snaps, is the PY engine one of those engines?

Lastly, worst comes to worst, what sort of wallet damage am I looking at to replace the valves, etc?

Thanks... Liam

[scotsjohn]

You're not going to know till the head comes off, but "etc" could be pistons and head damage. PY is a "contact" engine so good luck, but not every days a fishing day!

 

[LiamM45]

We were thinking, firstly, to just chuck another timing belt on and see what happens. Not sure if this is the best idea though...?

I imagine a new head will not be easy to come across.

Already thinking of more modern, yet still supercharged, running gear... worst come to worst! 

[breadman]

Damn Liam, that is a shit day
The good news is the cylinder head isn't specific to the G40. Any 1.3i hydraulic head will do the job. What is specific to the G40 head is the exhaust valves which are sodium filled. A set of G40 exhaust valves can be fitted to a "normal" head. However, I wouldn't think they'd be cheap as they're VW dealer only jobbies.
GWerks or a similar specialist may be able to help getting an equivilent or go the whole hog and get a big valve conversion done.

Until the head is removed, you won't know the full extent of the damage. However, I doubt it'll be cheap.

Good luck mate,
Richard.   

[Robin]

Liam the chances of you not smashing the valves are very very slim, get the head off and inspect the damage.

[hayesey]

yeah I wouldn't just chuck a belt on and see if it works.  You could end up causing even more damage if valves are already bent and to be honest you'll be bloody lucky to not have bent any!  Out of interest, when was the belt last changed?

[LiamM45]

Roughly 15-20k ago 

Guess when funds allow I'll take it over to my mates unit and strip it down, again.

Since I work off the theory of build it bigger/harder/faster when it breaks, have you got any more info on these big valve conversions?

I'm tempted to just start fresh with the engine and rebuild the whole lot.

[hayesey]

just sounds like a bit of bad luck then 

Get the head off before you get carried away, if it just needs a couple of valves it shouldn't cost much.

[LiamM45]

I'm putting it down to bad luck and some over enthusiastic driving.

If the damage is minimal then I suppose just replacing the valves would be sensible, but I think the time is right to loan money to buy a nice daily and restore the G40. It needs paint as well as this now, so it might be worth taking it off the road for a while and do it properly, rather than rush it.

[PeteG40]

could be a seized water pump = -check that as well!

[vwmk3jon]

http://www.polog40.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,1770.0.html

G40 head for sale.

[LiamM45]

Some slight progress here...

Car is going over to my mates unit at the weekend, he's gonna chuck a cambelt on and time it up, try and turn it over by hand and see what the crack is.

In the meantime I priced up some parts. 

8 new valves - 125 pounds. Not too bad I suppose.

Now this is where it gets worse. The guy doing it (a very highly spoken of VW specialist) seems pretty much convinced the pistons will be damaged, personally, I'm not convinced. Obviously if they are chipped then they will need replacing, can't argue that, but he says if they are scratched on the top they'll need replacing? Now oily bits are not my forte, especially the insides of an engine, I'm very tempted to get a second opinion if this is the case. Would it be worth getting pics of any so-called damage for the second opinion of people on here? I'm just doing all I can to not get ripped off 

I priced up 4 pistons, which comes to 400 quid (well 96 each). I just think it's pointless getting stock pistons though, I might as well step up to forged internals if I'm changing them, obviously with a view to more power in the future.

Can anyone offer any opinions/advice upon the situation?

I'm finding it very hard to justify another 1k+ in repairs on this car. I've had the car since July 2008 and it's ran for 4-6 weeks in total. 

[PeteG40]

could jsut buy another g40 bottom end?

[LiamM45]

I was thinking just buy a whole new engine and start again! Just means yet another Summer off the road. If I buy a new engine to build up I might as well get a subframe conversion and LSD while it's all out. After reading Yoof's advice I think it's time to concentrate on making the car handle better and put the power down better, and given a whole Summer and Winter I'll have saved up plenty of cash.

I'll know for sure what will be happening over the next week. Surely my luck is about to turn with this car! For all I know it could be a couple of bent valves. *touches a very large bit of wood*

[Robin]

if you do just change the valves then make sure you lap them in.

if the pistons are dead then this is a good time to go to 1341cc.