1968 Volkswagen Kombi Pricing and Specs

It sounds like there’s not much left to change in terms of belts and pulleys on your vehicle. But did you change the relevant tensioners at the same time? Tensioners run on bearings which can start to seize up over time and kilometres, often contributing a squealing noise that is easily confused with belt-squeal. Also, simply changing the pulley on, say the alternator or the air-con compressor, will not cure the noise if it’s being caused by the alternator or compressor itself.

Other things to check include the correct belt tension and the alignment of the belt (is it running truly between the pulleys, or attempting to run slightly sideways?) Don’t rule out a coolant leak that is getting on to the rubber belt and causing it to squeal.

The VW 1.4 TSI engine uses a cam-chain rather than a rubber toothed belt which needs periodic replacement. As such, the cam-chain should last the life of the engine (and the rest of the car) but experience with this engine suggests that is not always the case and some early versions of this engine have required cam-chain replacement. The incidence of this seems a bit random, with no real pattern emerging with some cars going on to record normal mileages with no cam-chain problems.

The car you’re looking at, however, is a later version, so should be less prone to this. But even so, make sure the car has a perfect service record as poor maintenance can shorten the life of the cam-chain.

You need to get this vehicle to a transmission specialist right away. There’s clearly something not right either mechanically or electronically with the gearbox, and continuing to drive it in its wounded state is a big chance to cause more damage than has already been done.

Any vibration in an automatic transmissions suggests either torque converter or internal problems. It may already be too late for your vehicle, and the damage may already be done. But the sooner you get to a specialist, the less expensive, permanent damage will be done.