That road trip didn't happen quite right...

[Seano]

Just got back from a road trip up through North eastern NSW.

Unfortunately, the DOKA let us down. Although on all occasions it would appear to be human error was the culprit rather than any fail of the machine itself. To recap, it's a 2001 T4 dual cab syncro with the ACV (2.5L TDi) engine.

First drama came about almost immediately upon hitting the open road - the air filter was clogged. Punting around town was fine but there wasn't enough air to get much over 100km/h. The mechanic in Euston was kind enough to let me use his air compressor to try and blow the worst of the dust out and this opened the filter up enough to get over 110km/h but overtaking trucks was still a fraught exercise. The overnight stop in West Wyalong saw me cutting the foam cover off the front of the filter and checking that the dealer in Dubbo had a filter in stock. The modification opened up a little more airflow for the run to Dubbo where the dealer had a filter for me. Fitting that made the rest of the journey north much easier.

Drama two came the following week. Punting along the back roads between Byron Bay and Nimbin, enjoying the climbs and curves. Just wandered through a village called The Channon and was heading across Tuntable Creek when...[nothing]. The engine just stopped. An attempt at restart got plenty of turn but no start...and there was the strong smell of diesel. We got the thing onto the side of the road, called the NRMA (we were in Lismore's area) and had a look around. Figured it had to be fuel - fuel filter wouldn't just stop it like that though and there was tension on the injector belt so the belt wasn't broken. Fuel filter didn't have water in it. Perhaps the fuel pump? 'Biro' from the Nimbin NRMA happened to wander past and she had a squiz and a yarn but chose to leave it for the Lismore bloke but agreed with my suspicions. Bloke from NRMA Lismore rocked up and couldn't find anything different (but also couldn't figure why there was no power on either side of the fuel pump fuse) and couldn't manage a restart. So we all agreed that the T4 was going to Lismore on a tilt tray to see what the VW dealer could sort out.

After a night in Lismore (courtesy of the RACV) and a couple of hours at Northern Rivers VW...we were back on the road. The injector belt had apparently somehow slipped a tooth and the injector pump timing was off...but there was still seemingly proper tension on the belt. So the service mechanic re-timed it and took it for a decent spin around the area...and it checked out. So they gave it back to us and sent us on our way.

We made it 60 km. Whilst trying to punt our way up the range to the west of Casino...[stall]. And it was a prick of a spot. Eventually, the people from Casino NRMA recovered us (though they had to bring out another car on the tilt tray to do it) from our precarious spot and took the family back to Casino and myself back to the VW dealer in Lismore. The service manager then gave me a Polo loan car to go back to Casino to get the family. And the RACV organised us a couple more nights accommodation.

It was (of course) the same problem. Injector belt had jumped. Close inspection of the belt tensioning mechanism by the mechanic turned up a tiny mismatch in the positioning of the two tensioners which suggested that the spring tension on the tensioning pulleys was 'out'. This time he pulled the belt entirely, retimed the pump, refitted the belt and reset the tensioners. The suggestion was that the nut that holds the spring tension in the first place had slipped slightly due to being incorrectly torqued at the last belt swap. This had allowed the tension to come off just enough to allow the belt to jump under the right (or wrong) conditions. This was apparently a new and never before seen fault for all involved. Regardless, it didn't take more than an hour to fix on the second go either but they hung onto it for another 24 hours to give it a few test drives just to make sure they felt it was OK - they put on another 90 odd kilometres punting it up hill and down dale around Lismore (the mechanic apparently was impressed with the old bus).

So we got it back...and promptly put 1,500 km on it over the next three days to get us home without incident. Problem solved...

So thanks must go to the NRMA agents from Lismore and Casino (plus 'Biro' from Nimbin), the customer care lasses from the RACV and the service manager and mechanics from Northern Rivers Volkswagen in Lismore. I can't pretend it all worked to Gold Standards of Service but all involved were as helpful as they could be and we got back on the road easily enough and only $330 out of pocket ($286 to VW and the rest for extra tow and accommodation expenses that RACV wouldn't cover).

Oh and I strongly suggest that anyone with roadside assistance check their conditions very carefully as the basic level of service would have got us nowhere without significant financial pain. Even the mid level I have gave us some touch and go moments...

[sports racer]

It's instances like these that make me glad I have a MK2 GTI (and a 13mm spanner to fix anything that could go wrong).

Glad to hear it all worked well. When I was a teenager my little Austin Lancer broke down in a small country town and we slept in the car (3 of us including my grandmother). How times have changed.

Cheers

Paul

[Sunny43.5]

Lucky it only jumped one notch I guess this belt is also timing so contact with pistons and valves would have been disastrous . Have done that drive for work many times plus a few trips across to Tenterfield and Stanthorpe via the Bruxner Hy and the Corakai Casino Rd that one is really twisty and quite remote at times .

[jets]

Lucky it only jumped one notch I guess this belt is also timing so contact with pistons and valves would have been disastrous .

There are two timing belts on the TDI engine. The one that Seano had slip, only drives the pump. Even if these break or fall off, no damage is done. Early last year I bought a new laptop that I now take with me on holidays. I have just made a mental note to take my new Ross Tech VCDS dongle with me as well. I normally take a tool kit with me, but in addition to a 13mm spanner that sports racer referred to, I would also need a breaker bar & a piece of tube + torque wrench to reset the timing on the side of the road. It would be good if we knew what breakdown we are likely to have so that we could take those tools.

[jets]

Seano, I think you came through all this very well. Just as well this didn't happen to you out north west in some remote location. You were fortunate that some of those mechanics were familiar with your engine & were able to find the problem quickly & sort it. It reinforces what I have always thought that the changing of belts & subsequent timing is a critical operation & needs to be done with extreme care, using a torque wrench & replacing any screws or nuts that are disturbed.

[Seano]

I reckon we came out of it well too. Yes it could've been a roadside fix if we had all the gear that you have (and the knowledge to use them) but even the tech who did the fix said that this wasn't a drama he'd ever come across before and there's apparently quite a few of these T4's in the area.

The tech also said that the process of doing the routine timing belts & tensioners swap was actually only complicated by this particular injection belt...the rest of it was (in his words) a doddle. This attitude is making me seriously consider a 3,000km round trip every 90,000km to get a belt swap done in Lismore...

I've had a timing belt go before (Landrover 200TDi) and I knew instantly on both occasions that that wasn't the problem here - the stop was too sudden and there was no 'whuffing' of the valves or other noises that imply mechanical destruction. But I also knew that this engine has two belts

If we'd have been in a more remote location then we'd have been just as OK but the fix would be longer coming. The deal is that if the local road service tech can't fix it within three days then it'll be transported (along with your good self) to someone who can at no charge. All you'd have to do is (potentially) pay for the time taken for a local tech to give their opinion.

[jets]

The tech also said that the process of doing the routine timing belts & tensioners swap was actually only complicated by this particular injection belt...the rest of it was (in his words) a doddle.

I follow the timing belt posts on the T4 Forum & every couple of days there is a post about a broken belt, tensioner problem & the belt running offset to the pulleys. Some of these problems occur just after a cambelt change by the local garage. The most frequent problem is the timing is not set properly with starting & running problems. I would agree that the cambelt end is a doddle but only if you know what you are doing & work carefully. That said, I would still rather change the pump belt & set the timing, Quicker & less awkward.
I agree, if you have found someone that you have faith in, it's probably worth travelling to get him to do it & combine with another holiday. While travelling back from Brisbane through NSW last Oct. we both really enjoyed that part of the world.