The Volkswagen Jetta has been around for more than 40 years now. If you’re the proud owner of one, you should make sure that you do everything it takes to keep your VW Jetta humming along for many years to come. One of the ways in which you can do this is by taking good care of your engine. You should look out for any potential problems with parts like your VW Jetta timing belt and replace them accordingly to keep them working the way they’re supposed to. It’ll extend the life of your engine and ensure your VW Jetta stays out on the road for the foreseeable future. Find out more about what your VW Jetta timing belt does and what it’ll cost you to replace it below.
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What Is a VW Jetta Timing Belt?
There are several different belts under the hood of the average VW Jetta. But the VW Jetta timing belt is arguably the most important one. It plays a key role in the overall well-being of your VW Jetta’s engine and keeps your car purring when you start it up. The timing belt is connected to both the camshaft and the crankshaft in your engine, and it’s designed to keep your engine running every bit as smoothly as it should at all times. As its name would suggest, a VW Jetta timing belt helps maintain the right timing when your engine is on.
There are also a bunch of other important parts that sit in the general vicinity of your VW Jetta timing belt. This includes both your camshaft and crankshaft, of course, as well as your timing belt pulley, your timing belt tensioner, and your timing belt idler. Each of these parts need to be in good working condition in order for your VW Jetta timing belt to do its job. They may all need to be replaced when you put a new VW Jetta timing belt into your car to keep everything working together in that area of your car.
How Does a VW Jetta Timing Belt Work?
Although the VW Jetta timing belt in your car is super important to its operations, it’s not exactly the most complicated part in the world. It’s actually pretty easy for almost anyone to understand how it works. There are teeth on your VW Jetta timing belt that connect to your camshaft timing gear and your crankshaft timing gear and a tensioner that pulls everything tight. The timing belt then spins around two pulleys and continues moving around it for as long as you have your car turned on.
If your VW Jetta timing belt keeps on spinning around and around, you shouldn’t ever encounter any issues with it. But the second that it starts to wear down on you and isn’t able to spin the way it should, it’s going to be time to bite the bullet and pay the VW Jetta timing belt replacement cost. You could find yourself in a world of trouble if you don’t do anything about a bad VW Jetta timing belt.
How Long Should a VW Jetta Timing Belt Last?
The good news for VW Jetta owners is that a timing belt isn’t a part that’s going to need to be replaced very often. You could very well get away with not ever having to replace a VW Jetta under certain circumstances. But more often than not, you will need to do VW Jetta timing belt replacement sooner or later. Timing belts in VW Jettas aren’t built to last forever and will give out on you eventually.
In general, a VW Jetta timing belt will usually hang around for somewhere between 60,000 and 100,000 miles before needing to be replaced. But there are some VW Jetta timing belts that will go bad sooner than that based on the conditions in your part of the country. It’s why you should make it a point to have your mechanic check out your VW Jetta timing belt on a regular basis. They’ll be able to let you know whether or not you’ll need to consider replacing your timing belt anytime soon.
How Can You Tell When a VW Jetta Timing Belt Is Going Bad?
There are some parts in your car’s engine that will wear down on you without you necessarily noticing right away. You might drive around with these worn-down parts for weeks on end without them presenting any problems. But a bad VW Jetta timing belt is not going to be one of these parts. As soon as your VW Jetta timing belt starts to give out on you, you’re likely going to notice it.
One of the first signs that you have a bad VW Jetta is going to be your check engine light coming out. You should investigate the source of a check engine light anytime it appears and see if you might have something like a bad VW Jetta timing belt on your hands. Replacing your VW Jetta timing belt will make the light go off and get your car back to normal again.
Another sign of a bad VW Jetta timing belt is going to be your engine running poorly. Your engine might make a lot of noise when you’re driving it with a bad VW Jetta timing belt, and it might also sputter when you’re idling in it. If you see these problems appear, you’ll want to have your VW Jetta checked out by a mechanic sooner or later.
And in a worst-case scenario, your VW Jetta timing belt will break altogether and make it painfully obvious that you’ll have no choice but to replace it. A broken VW Jetta timing belt will make your car stall out and prevent you from driving it. It can also do further damage to your VW Jetta’s engine if you’re not careful. That could cause your repair bills to skyrocket and potentially even put you into a position where you can’t afford to fix your car.
Should You Continue to Drive With a Bad VW Jetta Timing Belt?
If your VW Jetta has a timing belt in it that’s only slightly worn down, driving around in it might not be the worst thing in the world. There’s a good chance that you’ll still have a little bit of life left in your timing belt. But if you know for a fact that your VW Jetta is on the verge of breaking down on you at any second, that’s going to be a much different story. In this case, you shouldn’t even think about driving around in your car.
You could do an immense amount of damage to your car by driving in it when it has a bad VW Jetta timing belt. You could also end up getting stranded somewhere when your car won’t start because of your bad timing belt. You should even put yourself and others into danger if you happen to be driving when your VW Jetta timing belt snaps. With these risks in mind, the only real option that you’ll have when you experience a bad timing belt in a VW Jetta is getting it replaced right away.
Should You Replace a VW Jetta Timing Belt on Your Own?
Because a VW Jetta timing belt appears to be such a simple and straightforward part, it’s not uncommon for people to consider replacing it on their own. They think that they’ll be able to save themselves a lot of money by doing a VW Jetta timing belt replacement themselves rather than relying on a professional for help.
If you know your way around a car, you might be able to do VW Jetta timing belt replacement yourself. But it’s worth noting that, while VW Jetta timing belts might seem simple enough, replacing one can be a tall task. It can take you a long time to get an old VW Jetta timing belt out of a car so that you can replace it. It can also be complicated trying to figure out how to put a new one into place.
You would be much better off calling on a professional to assist you with VW Jetta timing belt replacement. They’ll help you pick out a high-quality timing belt that is going to stand the test of time. They’ll also make sure that it gets installed in your car properly so that you don’t have to worry about replacing it again anytime soon or replacing any of the other parts that sit around it.
Who Should Replace Your VW Jetta Timing Belt for You?
Now that you know the dangers of trying to install a new VW Jetta on your own, you might be thinking about who you should hire to get the job done. Your only option should be going with an experienced ASE-certified mechanic who knows their way around a VW Jetta engine. Taking your car to a shop that specializes in working on VW vehicles would not be a bad idea at all.
Don’t be afraid to call around to a few different auto repair shops to see what the VW Jetta timing belt replacement cost will be through them. You can earn yourself a much better deal than you might otherwise by asking around for quotes.
How Much Will a New VW Jetta Timing Belt Cost?
Each auto repair shop that you call on for a quote for VW Jetta timing belt replacement is going to give you a slightly different price. The price that you pay to replace the timing belt in a VW Jetta is going to change based on a number of different factors. But overall, you should know that VW Jetta timing belt replacement is a fairly expensive job in the grand scheme of things.
On average, VW Jetta owners tend to pay anywhere from just under $700 to more than $800 to replace the timing belts in their cars. The parts only cost right around $250, but it’s the labor that will get you. Most mechanics will charge between $450 and $550 to replace the timing belt in your VW Jetta.
Additionally, many mechanics will also recommend that you do more than just replace your VW Jetta timing belt while you’re doing it. They’ll also often tell you that it would be a good time to replace many of the smaller parts that sit around your timing belt. This can add to your total costs and increase the amount of time that your VW Jetta timing belt replacement will take.
Is the VW Jetta Timing Belt Replacement Cost Worth It?
Do you have a VW Jetta from back in the 1980s, the 1990s, or even the 2000s? Then you might be wondering whether it’s even going to be worth it to replace the timing belt in your car. And you might find that it’s not worth paying $700 or $800 to take this step, especially if your car isn’t even worth that much money anymore.
But if you have a VW Jetta that’s still on the newer side, the exact opposite might be true. If you have a VW Jetta from the 2010s that is still in good shape, you should be able to get a lot more life out of it. But you’re not going to be able to do it if you don’t replace the VW Jetta timing belt in it. You’ll need to get around to doing that soon if you plan to keep your car out on the road.
What Should You Do If You Don’t Want to Pay for a New VW Jetta Timing Belt?
Selling a used VW Jetta with a bad timing belt in it might not sound like it’s going to work out too well for you. And rest assured, it’s not if you try to sell it to a private buyer. But you should know that you can get rid of a VW Jetta with a bad timing belt and collect cash for it as long as you go about doing it in the right way.
Junk car buyers like Cash Cars Buyer would love to make you a strong offer for your car, even if you have a bad VW Jetta timing belt that needs to be replaced. We routinely pay top dollars for these types of cars and don’t mind that they have things like bad timing belts in them. It’s why you should strongly consider selling your VW Jetta to us if you don’t plan on fixing the bad timing belt in it. Get in contact with us now for more information on selling your old car to us.