Hello.
Thanks for your answers.
I've decided to not worry too much about the matter with the tensioner for now. In maybe 1 month time, when the next oil/filter change is scheduled I will check on the position of the tensioner, according the the insanitybeard's instructions as well as check the condition of the water pump/timing belt/idler pulley.
I would like to thank Insanitybeard for the excellent instructions for timing belt change, posted on this site. It was my main source of detailed information, particularly with Galaxy/Sharan/Alhambra.
Below I will add my particular observations with my timing belt change.
The timing belt kit I bought was from Ruville. Ruville is a part of the Schaeffler Group which owns INA, FAG, Ruville and I believe a part of Continental AG. Everything I read about Ruville parts suggested that it was a quality kit, most probably using pulleys from INA/FAG and Contitech timing belt, at least that was what I expected. I bought the kit, which included the belt, tensioner pulley, idler pulley, water pump, 2 pcs ot studs for the pulleys and two nuts for approx. 95.92 Euros incl shipping. In the end this was included in the kit:
- timing belt, which wore Ruville logo on it and was made in England. After searching the net it became clear the timing belt was Gates (Gates have a factory in England), which is absolutely OK with me.
- tensioner pulley Litens. This is the standard item in every kit whether it is a Contitech, Gates, SKF or Dayco. I think the bearing of the tensioner wasn't branded as in INA, FAG or SKF, which is a little letdown.
- idler pulley with a bearing branded GMB. Apparently GMB is a Korean bearing company, which makes the pulleys for a lot of Japanese/Korean car makes. This was another letdown as I expected INA/FAG idler pulley in this kit. The opinions on the GMB brand on the internet forums wasn't so favourable... so we will see if it lasts.
- water pump, branded Ruville. It appeared a quality piece, I think two or three Italian firms make the water pumps - Bugatti, FAI etc.. The impeller was a plastic one. Apparently there are two types of water pumps in circulation - with plastic.composite and with metal impeller. There are negative opinions on both types of water pumps. All I k now is the old one (original VW) was with a plastic impeller.
- studs and nuts for the tensioners.
If I knew all that information beforehand I would've probaly purchased a INA kit, which was ar. 10 Euros more, but probably contained INA pulleys with FAG bearings. Another nice option with no negative reviews is SKF kit and of course Contitech kit. Dayco is another option although some complain about whinning timing belts after timing belt change.
Now for the tools...
You WILL NEED at least the locking tools for the crankshaft and the camshaft.
It is advisable to use a torque wrench on at least the tensioner pulley, idler pulley and the camshaft bolts.
I used a stud extractor to replace the idler and tensoiner pulleys studs.
It is best if you have access to a good set of 1/2" and 1/4" ratchet sets and also ring spanners etc.
Observations about the actual change of the timing belt:
- in the end I had to do the timing belt change twice (with all the dismantling etc.) as I was not happy with the results the first time - i.e. I had a 3.9 degrees delay on the TDC, according to VagCom and decided to do it again. The first time it took me 2 days - approx 8-10 hours in all, with careful reading of the instructions on this site and change of the water pump. The second time it took me about 3.5 hours (without water pump change).
- in my opinion the timing belt change can be made without lowering/jacking up of the engine. I discovered that jacking up of the engine interfered with the scuttle drain. The lowering of the engine might have interfered with the exhaust pipes. I disconnected the intercooler pipe and the coolant radiator pipe as indicated on this site. Despite this if one has all the needed tools, my opinion is that jackingup/lowering of the engine is needed only when extracting the cast iron engine mounting.
- I had particular difficulties dismantling the two most inaccessible bolts of the cast iron engine mounting. My brother helped me with this one by using a hammer, pipe and a ring spanner.
- the locking tool for the crancshaft is inserted only in direction to the engine, i.e. it slides onto the crankshaft pulley. I couldn't place the locking tool onto the crankshaft pulley from above.
- even when everything with the crankshaft and camshaft locking tools was OK, after several revolutions of the engine by hand and reinserting the locking tools, the end result, using VagCom was -3.9 degrees to TDC. I've done the locking/turning the engine by hand/reinserting the locking tools twice with success, but in the end VagCom showed exactly -3.9 degrees. After that I corrected the above by using this method -
. In the end I had 0 degrees exactly by using this method.
- When replacing the water pump I used a silicone grease to hold the O-ring in place while positioning the new water pump.
- It took about 6.5 litres of antifreeze to fill the system - I have an Alhambra with a radiator/heater in the back.
- I used Loctite 243 on the nuts for the idler pulley and tensioner pulley and also for the bolts for the crankshaft pulley and timing belt covers.
- For the peace of mind I used torque wrenches on all the bolts/nuts listed in the article of Insanitybeard, except for the most inaccessible on the cast iron engine mount.
- I changed the studs for the tensioner and the idler pulley. Extracting them was pretty easy, at least not so scarry as I was expecting. When installing the new studs one should be warry about inserting them to the end of the thread. I used Loctite for the studs also.
- One should be aware that the above studs are screwed in an aluminium, so the torque for tensioning the pulleys is critical - too much and the aluminium threads will pull, too little and the tensioner will slip.
Thanks.