VW Jetta 2011 - 2016 mk6 2.0 gas - Timing Belt Replacement DIY video

If you find this video useful, please donate $1 here: paypal.me/Tim733
This video goes inside each step it takes to replace the timing belt in the 2.0 L gas engine on the vw jetta MK6. I couldn't find a video before I performed this service on my own car that was specific to the MK6 2.0L gas engine, so I documented the process in an effort to make these steps available to other people trying to change their timing belts. At the time of posting this video, I had already put over 100 miles on my car since changing the timing belt. So happy I didn't pay VW $1,300 to do this for me.
* DISCLAIMER! I am not a trained mechanic! You follow the steps in this youtube video at your own risk. Though this video looks fairly simple and straightforward, it was not an easy job. The portion of the video that says "just slip on your new timing belt" WILL be challenging. New timing belts are TIGHT (I boiled mine in hot water to get it on). Only undertake this challenge if you know what you're doing and feel relatively comfortable working engines and timing components.

[@pacdude11]

Hey man, thanks for this video it was super helpful! I just finished the job Here are a couple things for others who see this video that aren't mentioned: 1. Make sure you have some fresh coolant on hand to refill the cooling system when you're done, you lose about half a litre or so of coolant when you pull the water pump. 2. Here are torque specs you'll need: Coolant pump: 15 Nm Timing tensioner nut: 20 Nm Lower mount - engine: 45 Nm Stretch bolts that must be replaced: Upper mount - lower mount: 2 large bolts: 60 Nm + 90° Upper mount - frame: 2 medium bolts: 40 Nm + 90° Upper mount - frame: 2 small bolts: 20 Nm + 90° Make sure youve got those stretch bolts, apparently they can snap and you'll have a bad day if you don't replace

[@djled1013]

Hey Tim: This was a great video. I recently purchased a 2013 VW Jetta with the same motor. I ran a Carfax report and the car was well serviced, but then I realized the timing belt was never done and it has 113000 miles on it. I have done timing belt changes on several Japanese cars before, but never a German car. A great sigh of relief knowing that this will be an easy job. Putting a mark on the crankshaft was a great piece of advice to give to your audience. I highly recommend three other things. Use a magnetic tray for the bolts. If you have multi-colored markers...mark the bolts. Use your smartphone and take pictures before you take it apart. Take care my friend

[@AndroidDevTim]

That’s great advice. Thanks for the input and good luck!

[@x-man4702]

This video has the BEST footage and camera angles for this job, thanks for posting!!

[@jumpinjoe75]

I had to change the water pump due to it leaking, so I went ahead and change the timing belt. I have 69000 on the car and the belt looked great. I changed it anyway, I sent you 5 bucks. Thank you.

[@chewyalba9824]

don't ever take this video down!!!! thanks bro.

[@Born_Stellar]

Pliers to set the tensioner! thanks you just saved me buying another useless tool.

[@4162395910]

Thanks for posting. You taught me that I definitely do have what it takes to do this job by myself!

[@squidvis]

There's actually a trick to that hard to reach bolt on the serpentine belt tensioner. I'll try my best to explain this. If you notice on the top of the tensioner there's a metal tube piece that stops the tensioner when the belt is off. When you pull back the tensioner to max there's a little hole that lines up with that tube so if you can get a pocket screwdriver/small punch/metal pin in there you can keep that tensioner pulley out of the way while you remove the bolt. Also you're gonna wanna get that bolt out first that way you can max out tension again and get whatever tool you used to hold it in place then do the other 2 bolts otherwise you're gonna be fighting the tensioner off the car trying to get your tool out.

[@AndroidDevTim]

Omg, wish I'd have known that ahead of time!

[@jumpinjoe75]

Thank you worked and it wasn't to bad. Dealer wanted 1100 with a water pump change.

[@IllSh00ter]

alright, I'll look into getting one before I change it. thanks!

[@TheStarchild99]

Great car great engine I just hit 150,000 0n my 2012 Jetta s changed bellt 2 times already , awesome video! Thank u

[@yani5865]

Hi I have 2013 Jetta 2.0L when I do have to change time bellt ?

[@jeremysanchez9049]

It should be every 60K double check your service manual that came with the car.

[@oXyContin592]

I’ve done a coolant flush on my mk6 2.slow before so to prevent having that much coolant pour out of the block you might as well drain the whole system and replace it with new coolant. I used G13 which is recommended for these engines from German auto parts. To drain the system remove the lower radiator hose then the oil cooler hose. Either hose will work from where the oil filter is. Let it drain then just put the hoses and clamps back on then take the water pump out. To prevent having to bleed/burp the system use a coolant vacuum lift tool. It makes coolant flushes so easy! Pinch the hose off the top of the expansion tank with needle nose vice grips. Put the vacuum lift in the top of the expansion tank and keep pressure on it to not let air leak out. Hook the air hose up and keep the hose from the tool into a bucket filled with the 50/50 coolant water mixture. Suck the air out of the system. You’ll see the upper radiator hose collapse. Once you’ve gotten into the green on the gauge stop sucking out the air. Have a second person keep the hose at the bottom of the bucket with coolant and slowly open the valve. Let the coolant flow into the system till all the vacuum has been released. Take the tool out of the expansion tank and take the vice grip off the return hose to the tank. Start the car after the belt and everything has been put back and checked and turn the heat on full and let the engine warm up. Top off the expansion tank till you reach the max mark. This is an amazing video and it helped a lot with exactly what to take off and where. Just thought I’d give a little extra info for putting the coolant into the engine without worrying about air in the system after the water bump has been removed. Great video!

[@emotionalintelligence776]

Thanks for the great video. I will add the timing marks are on the harmonic balancer and the timing belt cover behind it it's just a little notch. Lastly you can always set the timing without the timing belt especially if you're doing the headgasket. Simply make sure both halves of the engine is at their timing marks by rotating each clockwise independently before putting on the timing belt. Check the marks then put on your belt dbl rotate entire assembly, recheck your marks again and you're set.

[@verticalmuscle5695]

how do you know where to set the bottom crankshaft at? the top cam is easy it has a mark on it and the plastic behind it has an arrow that an idiot can set that but the bottom crank how do we know wjere to set that to independantly?

[@eugenemarais6721]

Very well presented.

[@edisonrui]

Thank you so much Tim! I have the exact same car , you convince me to DIY TB change.

[@AndroidDevTim]

awesome! so glad you found it helpful! Goodluck! let me know how it goes.

[@new-knowledge8040]

With an older Jetta model, tightening the tension wheel dramatically offset the timing markers. So you had to make note how much they shifted, say 3 belt notches for instance, then you offset the wheel timing markers by -3 notches such that when you tighten the tension wheel, the timing markers would be right back to exactly where they should be. What a pain it was.

[@lukakovac9817]

Thank you ,Thank you , Thank You !

[@jjhemp5713]

Excellent video my dude.

[@TommyG11814]

Great video, super information

[@raptor9926]

Great video 👍🏻👍🏻👏🏼

[@harpreetsinghkailey7040]

Great work 👍

[@grahammees]

Very helpful!! Pretty sure my girlfriends cars timing belt met it’s maker!

[@linbai2005]

Great Video, Timothy Miller! what kit did you buy??? that come with a water pump as well?

[@user-zf2uh4zt8y]

Thank you !

[@actionman67]

Great video! Thank you! Do you have the torque measures?

[@fossilfuels101]

Thank you! There is suck little information on mk6 2.0 NA engines.

[@cameronhiggins5040]

Are you going to do videos for the transmission fluid or fuel filter?

[@josemontano7767]

Dude you made that job look EZ.

[@whynotnowthenbelieve]

Thank you so much for this video! It convinced me to do this myself. Have put about 1000 miles on it since changing the timing belt. I was wondering if you have had to make any adjustment to your tensioner since it was completed? I have taken the top cover off a few times to check things and have noticed the tensioner is not set like it was when installed with the 2 tabs aligned. Before I took the old tensioner off that was from the factory, I also noticed that the tabs on it were not aligned. I am not that familiar with exactly how the tensioner works and was wondering do those tabs stay aligned or does it move to keep the tension on the belt? Last time I took the top cover off to do a quick inspection, it felt to me that the belt was a little loose and that is when I noticed that the tabs were not aligned like they were when I installed the tensioner. The bolt on the tensioner is still tight. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[@AndroidDevTim]

If the tension gets too slack, then the belt could slip off the teeth and get shredded, or worse, some seriously bad stuff can happen to your engine. The arrows and notch should remain aligned to maintain the proper tension. If it is moving, you should readjust the tensioner and make sure it's tight. My understanding of it is that they should remain aligned. But as I stated in the video, I'm not a mechanic, specialist, or anything like that. I'm just a DIY-er. So don't take my word as competent knowledge or expertise. But if I was in your situation, that's what I'd do.

[@whynotnowthenbelieve]

That's what I was thinking also. I had 135000 on it when I changed it and glad that I did, definitely needed it. It had never been changed before and I was surprised that the tabs were not aligned when I took the old one off. Thanks again for the video.

[@DrDre001]

Good video man! Should post on some Volkswagen forums

[@AndroidDevTim]

thanks 423! I never even considered that. I might have to go digging around some jetta forums and post.

[@nickpritchard7130]

Hi . I have a VW JETTA 1.4l 2013 Petrol, and i can see a belt that is not moving when the vehicle is running. I think it maybe an Air Conditioning belt, but when i put the air conditioning on it still does not move. My vehicle runs rough, ie, misfire No. 4 . Code P0304 and P0300. I have changed the plugs and coils, but it is still the same..I also found oil in the plastic Air Inlet manifold. Could this motionless 2nd belt be the problem? thanks Ozzy Nick.. Great vid by the way.!

[@kylesfunworld3968]

Great video. But I have a shield in between serpentine and camshaft belt. The metal piece. Not the plastic with with clips on top location one. I tried to move the tensioner to move the shield and no go.

[@SF004]

Changing the timing belt and water pump for the first time. Close to 255,000 km. Decided to stop pushing my luck.

[@ahill007ny]

Thanks!!!!!

[@edisonrui]

Great show! This is the first clip for MKVI 2.0L timing belt . For water pump, did you ever apply gasket glue for sealing? For big bolts, do you use power gun or hand wrench?

[@AndroidDevTim]

i didn't have any problems out of the big bolts. i used a large 1/2 in drive ratchet to break them loose. the water pump comes with an o ring gasket in the kit. that's all you need. Pretty convenient.

[@wiqqedd]

you should make a video about removing the crankshaft timing gear cause thats what im stumped on

[@strikeraj]

Hi Tim, thanks for the awesome video! just one quick question, what is the proper torque value for all the bolts and nuts? Also, did you replace any bolt in the process as I recall VW like to use one time stretch bolt on a lot of places?

[@AndroidDevTim]

Thanks! When I did the video I didn't have access to a Haynes manual (they weren't available). You can probably find the specs on a Haynes manual now. And no, I just reused the bolts.. didn't think ahead on getting replacements.

[@Sneakerama17]

Which parts did you buy? Was it a kit?

[@husseymangtv]

is the timing belt right next to the Accessory Belt Drive? or is it the same thing lol

[@jordancarter44]

Just found a 2011 jetta for 1500 and they say all it needs is a timing belt so if I end up getting it, I'll be sure to use this video as reference

[@otrookie]

Jordan Carter yea unless timing belt broke then you’ll have much more problems than just the timing belt. Which is probably what happened otherwise they wouldn’t be selling it

[@kirby-leegarbett3181]

Install timing belt onto water pump as the last pulley. Set on cam, crank, tensioner then on pump.

[@ihopedreamscometrue]

Hi, I have a Volkswagen 2011 Golf R TSI, are the procedures of replacing the Timing Belt and Water Pump the same as yours?

[@AndroidDevTim]

Your guess is as good as mine. I've only worked on my engine. I've never seen the engine of a 2011 golf R TSI. My assumption is no.

[@IllSh00ter]

I'm doing mine this weekend. but I only ordered the timing belt, and tensioner. Is that a major problem?

[@AndroidDevTim]

Here's the thing. 9 times out of 10, when an engine breaks down due to the "timing belt breaking", it's often caused by a component NOT related to the timing belt and tensioner. Often times a water pump fails (bc it wasn't changed with the timing belt), and when it fails, it breaks the timing belt. (this actually happened to me once. Cost $1200 to get fixed, would've been $4k if I had bent the valves when it broke). If you've got enough miles on your car that you NEED to change your timing belt, then you have enough miles on your car to where you NEED to change your water pump. Besides, to change the water pump, it'll add MAYBE 10 minutes to your timing belt job. Trust me on this one. Water pumps are cheap too. I would never, ever, ever change a timing belt and not change the water pump. It's an inexpensive part which can cost you a LOT of money if you don't change it.

[@salmanza5568]

I think I'll just drop a rack for someone to do it 😂💸

[@yiranjack]

$600+

[@samgonzalez4438]

Hey Tim. Do you know how different this engine is from an AEG?

[@AndroidDevTim]

Hey Sam, I did a few google searches. From the images I've seen (and remember I'm not an expert), the timing configuration looks the same as mine... It might be the same... but there's no guarantee that is true and I've never worked on that engine specifically.. good luck man. I hope that helps..

[@dylanduncan6502]

How to you put the timing back if u turned the cam gear???

[@AndroidDevTim]

You should have made markings on the gear in relation to the engine block so if you turn the shaft, you know where to turn it back to.

[@ihopedreamscometrue]

Hi again, is there a Repair Manual or a Workshop Manual I can buy to do things myself?

[@AndroidDevTim]

that's what made this job so challenging.. there is no repair manual for this car available.

[@BaconMist3000]

Wenting Choong there is a good website you can use that shows repair manuals and information for all cars. it's Url is www.alldatadiy.com. It helped me with this exact job and shows all torque settings for each bolt. You have to pay subscription for each individual car but it is well worth it

[@Mrtomgoose]

Thanks for the video! My 2015 Jetta is about 110k. Owner manual says timing belt replacement at 90k，Dealer said 150k. I want to know when is better and safe to do the replacement?

[@DonaldZiems]

FWIW, there's an inspection port to determine how much the belt has stretched, and indirectly how much life is left. At 113k miles, the dealer is getting pretty nervous about the belt on mine. Or trying to push a $1,800 sale, one of the two.

[@josepharmstrong4182]

I know it’s been over 4 years but after that week You mentioned, did you encounter any problems or did it run smooth for a good while?

[@AndroidDevTim]

I had the car for about a year after this video. The car ran smoothly the entire time.

[@maxmoq8423]

wow thanks I waited so long for that video! How long did the job take you?

[@AndroidDevTim]

Hey max, I'm glad the video was useful to you! That was my hope. I'd say around 2 hours to take all the miscellaneous parts off, roughly 3 hours to put those parts back on. Getting the new timing belt ON took about 5 hours. It was so tight! In the end I boiled the belt in large pot of water. That gave me just enough slack to get the belt re-installed (If I had done this first, it would have been maybe 30 minutes to install the new belt). FYI, I've put 5000 miles on the car since then. No problems. Best of luck if you do the job yourself!

[@maxmoq8423]

I think I might tackle the job soon, I live in Canada and my 2013 Jetta has 67000 km so about 41000 miles and the replacement interval is (90000km/56000miles). Is it the same replacement interval in the state as here?

[@AndroidDevTim]

max moq, my manual actually never says change it, just check it and change it when necessary... I waited until 100k miles to change mine.

[@jeremysanchez9049]

I have a 2015 and my service manual states 60k here in the states.

[@verticalmuscle5695]

how do u you know if the bottom is set to tdc independantly like say your timing belt snapped. obviously setting the camshaft on top is easy becouse it has a grove and an arrow but what about the bottom??? how do you know where to line up the bottom independantly. the white mark u made. the crankshaft doesnt come with no white mark. no videos show how to line up the bottom crankshaft. can u explain this??? thank you

[@AndroidDevTim]

Ohh man, sorry to hear about your belt snapping.. that's rough.. I wish I could help you out, but I don't have the answer to your problem... I feel like someone had posted something about that in the comments here about there being a lock hole on the bottom cog you can use to lock it in place at tdc.... Good luck man..

[@verticalmuscle5695]

@@AndroidDevTim thank you tim no problem. luckily no piston damage or valve damage

[@zachgamble9452]

What if the water pump was changed recently? Should I change it again or no

[@AndroidDevTim]

I probably wouldn't. Lol. Idk if that's the "recommended" decision, but that's what I'd do. But if a water pump was replaced recently, I'm really surprised that the timing belt wasn't changed out too.. typically if you take off a timing belt, you never put it back on the car. Good luck!

[@nullnull2128]

Really great video! Quick question, my 2011 2.5L SE Jetta has 75k miles and the water pump has a Stage 2 leak (Stage 2 is oozing, Stage 3 is dripping on the ground) and so my dealership recommended I replace it in the next 5k miles... Will this video work for my 2.5L?

[@AndroidDevTim]

Null Null this video will not work. the 2.5L is a different engine than mine... it might be similar.. but I can't guarantee it...

[@nullnull2128]

thanks for reply bro, great work again

[@stoicsigma34]

How can you reset your timing properly if your belt came off before you aligned the marks? My belt was completely stripped and not reliable for positioning because my waterpump seized.

[@AndroidDevTim]

Dewald Kruger, resetting the timing is more complicated.. I've never done that. You might need the dealership to do that one for you. You could try searching on KZbin to see if there's a guide.. good luck.

[@jamiecato8831]

Were you ever able to find an answer? I am having the same issue, what happened to yours?

[@maxmax5913]

@@jamiecato8831 your tdc is when your number #1 and #4 piston is all the way at top which you can do by take your spark plugs off the pit a long screw driver in through the spa Rd k plug hole keep rotating crank pulley until you see screw driver hit highest point plus there is little play back and forth where it don't do nothing gets complicated for it to get exact position but if there's no Mark's your best bet maybe some Mark's on flywheel

[@bekimveliju3321]

Does anybody know how to set crank timing if timing jumped a couple of teeth?

[@hassammushtaq6481]

Hey Timothy I had a question

[@JH-in5oq]

I love my 88 Camaro with 18 inches of space between the belt drive and radiator lol

[@dannytha4105]

Hi, I got a question for this engine, is it interference or non-interference engine?

[@dnlmachine4287]

It is interference. This is from AutoData book "Timing Belts" 19th edition September 2014 I have right in front of me. Very few modern vehicles are non interference. If youre not sure when working on a vehicle, always assume it is an interference engine. Stay gold.

[@Zero67891]

Is this engine non interference or interference? I just got one with 124k miles and I don't know if it's been changed.

[@medoutube1]

Hodgy VW 2.0L engines are non-interference, but there has been instances where the valves get bent due to timing failure and pistons impact on the valve. Usually when they are replaced the person leaves a mark of the mileage somewhere, if it is not there, its better to spend money replacing it than crossing fingers and perhaps rebuilding an engine.

[@Ape76]

So you didn’t change the shafts seals and the thermostat? What about torque settings? For everyone using this video I would advise two extra marks on the belt itself, transferred to the new belt will save you a lot of headaches! 😉

[@luimobilefixes5279]

What timing brand do you recommend?

[@Michael-uo4jj]

timing belt and tensioner wise probably Gates it's oem (this is what you want Gates TCKWP296) just make sure it doesn't have the black sprocket it was recalled

[@luimobilefixes5279]

@@Michael-uo4jj thanks for info. 😊

[@anthonyvaladez6097]

can you explain how to flush and refill the engine coolant please. I have a 2014 vw jetta 1.8t se .

[@AndroidDevTim]

I've honestly never flushed a radiator (so you probably don't want my advice on that one ;) ).. Is that called for in the maintenance manual?? Hmm.. I'll have to look...

[@anthonyvaladez6097]

Timothy Miller I know that it's recommended that every 30k to 60k for a flush/refill. my jetta is a 2014 1.8t and noticed that the coolant resouviour has a light mixture meaning it's not all solid pink fluid. There's a dark pink fluid only at the bottom at the resouviour and the rest look like water. but my car doesn't over heat or smell hot ever.

[@LordApoca]

Ok but does anybody at all have an accurate picture for the timing marks for crankshaft?

[@davontillman2711]

Think I’ll just trade my shit in...

[@RKELLY79]

The timing mark is on the cover of the belt

[@atx-cvpi_99]

Is it interference or not?

[@AltruisticWarrior]

Interference.

[@MrDannyLaRusso]

I like VWs but I will never buy one again due to the timing belt. Why not just use a timing chain like other car manufacturers so you never need to change it? Am I missing something here Volkswagen?

[@oXyContin592]

So I used this video to do my timing belt and water pump on my 2012 Jetta s. From using this video and doing it myself I noticed there are flaws with using your method. The bolts on the water pump are actually 5mm allen. You dont need to remove or loosen the 2 bolts on the alternator cause the 3 bolts holding the serpentine belt tensioner is all you need to take off to remove that tensioner. The tensioner will slide out under that power steering reservoir bracket. Also the harmonic balancer does need to come off to remove the lower timing cover, but there is 1 timing mark on the harmonic balancer and one on the lower timing cover. Marking the gear for the crankshaft the way you did is the wrong way. I did this and my timing on my camshaft was 180 degrees OFF! I had a code for a P0016. How the car ran and I didnt ruin my engine is beyond me. I drove it for about 2 weeks. The car was sluggish and idled rough at times. The correct way to time this engine is to put the lower timing cover back on and then the harmonic balancer back on and mark both the timing cover and balancer when both are removed. The balancer will only go on 1 way so you cant put it on wrong. Take white out and mark the camshaft and TDC mark for the cam. Then put the cover and balancer back on after everything else like the water pump, tensioner, and belt have been installed and the tension set. There is a special tool for the tensioner that I got from ECS tuning to adjust the tensioner much easier and allows you to tighten the nut easier while you hold the tensioner till the nut is tight. I got all the parts from ECS tuning. OEM remaned water pump, OEM tensioner, and the belt. Make sure all marks are on TDC and spin the crankshaft 2 times. The metric size for the crankshaft is a 12 point 19mm. After it's been spun twice check all the marks to make sure they all line back up correctly. Because the crankshaft gear where the timing belt rides on is smaller than the harmonic balancer it will actually spin farther than it should because the actual timing marks for the crankshaft is on the balancer and lower timing cover.

[@oXyContin592]

@@codyfi6515 yes it has to be removed in order to take the middle and lower timing covers off. If you're doing the water pump and tensioner it has to come off. And it's easier to mark them with some white out on the notches for TDC when it's off the car. Theres the 3 or 4 torx screws behind the harmonic balancer. So it has to come off to get those 2 timing covers off.

[@oXyContin592]

@@codyfi6515 what are the codes?

[@saulomorales5841]

Awesome , thanks a lot to everybody for your experiences & comments .

[@DavidPerez-oj2dv]

? i have a 2.0 VW JETTA WITH 140000 MILES NEVER REPLACE THE TIMMING BELT

[@cristianmedel1696]

Before you take the belt off and put on death center do you turn it counter or clocks wise? And after you put it back you do it same way 2 times ?

[@fossilfuels101]

Thank you! There is suck little information on mk6 2.0 NA engines.