ZR Quality Differences?

Hello, I'm starting a poll with the question of whether damage to the ZR (or engine) components could be related to the quality of different manufacturers. This is also because Conti is often mentioned in this forum. Of course, every baker praises their own bread (my Dayco belts last...), but with so many professional users, a trend should become visible.
Have you noticed particularly short lifespans with certain belt brands?
Best regards,
derteileklaus

P.S. If so few people have experience with defective ZRs (presumably referring to a specific component), then perhaps it's not a problem anymore?

For example, I always use only original parts for things that are so important.

I don't really see a problem with manufacturers like Conti, Gates, or Dayco.
provided it is ensured that the content is not plagiarized.

I usually buy tensioner pulleys from Litens for VAG vehicles, and I use Ina pulleys for idler pulleys, and I prefer genuine Wapu pulleys.

With the ContiKit, the bearing in a guiding roller disintegrated at 60,000 km out of a total of 90,000 km.

Interesting, what brand was the reel?

I haven't had any bad experiences with Conti belts so far.
I probably never bought them as a set, as they are sometimes cheaper when purchased individually.

The belts and kits from Gates are quite cheap at my parts supplier.

And I always clean those.

I've owned many (2 Passat 35I 1.6 TD, 2 Passat 35I 1.9 TD, 1 undergoing modifications, these are just the ones I've owned) and haven't had any problems with them so far.

Two weeks ago, I changed the belt on my renovation project again.
The problem wasn't the belt after 65,000 km, but rather a tensioner pulley and an idler pulley. When cold, until the engine temperature reached a certain point, they made quite a noise, and I woke up the entire neighborhood every morning .

My service interval is every 60,000 km (still one of the first engine types).
My parts supplier said that the new belts should normally last up to 90,000 km (for vehicles or engines of the first production run), and I wanted to try it out, but it didn't work out because, as I said, the pulleys failed first .

Best regards,

Hi!

I had a timing belt replaced about 3 years ago.
It was a 90 horsepower Caddy TDI, manufactured in 1999.
After 2 weeks, the plastic running surface of the tensioner pulley cracked, causing a timing belt failure and severe valve damage.
The tensioner was sourced from a local parts supplier, and the brand name was Ruville.


After some trouble and a lot of tedious work, I ultimately ended up breaking even on the deal, give or take.
They were aware of the problem, and it seemed I wasn't the first one to encounter it, as I later found out.

Since then, I've never bought anything from Ruville or that dealer again, because I had already had enough problems with their low-quality products before.

And regarding Dayco:
The timing belt I recently replaced looked strange after only 2 years.
Specifically, some thin metal wires were protruding between some of the teeth.
"Well, we at least saw one. It was an old VW diesel engine, the kind where you have to manually adjust the belt tension."
I happened to notice it during the annual maintenance, and of course, I quietly replaced the belt myself, just to be on the safe side.
Because the vehicle owner is a local craftsman who always has me service all of his company vehicles.

Hello.
Thank you for the very interesting emails. ''

At first, I thought I wasn't interested, but now I'm getting into it. Please post more.
"Pull yourselves together."
"dereinhändigeklaus" is not a valid word in German. It's possible it's a typo or a made-up word. Without more context, it's impossible to provide an accurate translation.

hi,
My experience has been that, with low mileage after a timing belt replacement, I had to replace it again very soon after.
The reason was that the Z-rotor (pump side) was damaged by friction against one of the gears.
The cause is unclear to me, as I have already replaced all the relevant parts (the Z-axis rod and the rollers).

Best regards, Leo.

P.S.: I'll try to find out which manufacturers produced the ZR and the rollers.
"If I still have the parts!"

Hi,

Quote:

Interestingly, what brand was the reel?

Unfortunately, I've forgotten. I was just very lucky that I noticed it before the balls distributed themselves within the timing belt drive.

Best regards, Rainer.

So, in my case, the timing belt had to be replaced recently. It was an original part, and it already had cracks running perpendicular to the direction of rotation after only 55,000 km (the recommended interval is actually 90,000 km).

It was a Contitech belt.

Quote:

Since then, I have never bought anything from Ruville or that dealer again, because I had already had enough problems with their inferior products.

And this is what an OE timing belt from an Audi A4 (AWX) looks like after 91,000 kilometers and 4.5 years of use.
I couldn't identify the manufacturer.

http://mitglied.lycos.de/gshonline/ZR1.jpg
http://mitglied.lycos.de/gshonline/ZR2.jpg

The tooth segments also suffered significantly from advanced periodontitis, so that the valve mechanism would soon have compressed the internal workings of the motor due to tooth loss .

"Thank you."
I would have been interested to see the inside; is it also as porous?

I'm replacing the Contitech belt, which is about to reach 90,000 km, with a Gates belt. I'm also replacing the tensioner and idler pulleys with Litens parts, and the water pump again. (I've noticed that the Litens tensioner has a Korean-made bearing, but hopefully that doesn't mean anything). I'm curious to see if everything looks as good as the inspection suggests.

I don't think there's anything wrong with Gates, right?

Interesting! So you're mixing parts? How do you handle the water pump replacement? After a timing belt change, the different pre-tensioning can cause the water pump shaft seal to leak.

1. For this case, I would be very interested in any practical experience! Should the WaPu (water pump) be replaced always, or only when it is "too old" or has damage?

2. What do you use? WaPu systems with metal or plastic pump wheels?

Okay, I always replace the water pump at the same time as the timing belt, regardless of its age, because if the water pump fails, it's much more problematic.