I would highly recommend replacing the oem hydrolic tensioner and pulley with a conversion kit to the older style manual mk3 tensioner. The kit provides an idler pulley. Very nice kit from integrated engineering. This is a sure way to avoid another possible failure and i would also recommend going with a gates timing belt. I just did this job on my1.8t and am very happy with it and can sleep peacefully at night knowing i won't have a failure.
If you happen to need the timing belt, tensioner, water pump, oil cooler, thermostat housing, thermostat etc i have literally all of it brand new including the gates racing timing belt, all has literally 0 miles.
I have the gates racing Kevlar belt and I has given me no issues, there is no uneven belt wear or signs of damage and its been about 20k since I changed it
Gates T306rb for 16v aba or abf
I'm sold on the Gates Racing kevlar belts, seems like cheap insurance for $30-40 extra.
Part of the reason I run a Gates racing belt with the manual tensioner (dynamics of the belt). I'm a good 30K miles deep with this set up and the belt hasn't needed a single adjustment. I trust it just fine.
It's a great belt. Do it. As to noise, it's no more noiser than stock (aka not much noise at all)
i got the gates racing timing belt. have had no complaints about the belt. other than it squeaking at first and making me think something was wrong.
I've had some problems with Gates for timing belts. I've had 2 instances when the timing belt was making noise after installing it, hard noise to describe, basically the belt being very hard. Threw on an OEM belt and it was fine.
Bumping this necro-thread to add my review for anyone searching the archives. Bought the ultimate plus with Gates belt kit. Car started rattling like a diesel last night. Quick inspection shows a loose timing belt, hydraulic fluid everywhere and a dead tensioner. Total mileage since install 28,225 and less than two years (21 months). I was lucky to have caught it before it jumped teeth and pistons met valve train. Just wanted to caution people to pay attention to the warning signs. If your car sounds like a diesel or a spray bomb being shaken, take a quick look under the timing belt cover and replace what you need to before driving any further...
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