Reviews of Gates parts For Business

It's a great belt. Do it. As to noise, it's no more noiser than stock (aka not much noise at all)

So, a bit more longevity that actually holds up to the OE change interval with the conti belts is a plus.

Well guys.... Heres a little update. It was a bad water pump. Real bad. The car just rolled over on 145k. The original owner never had the original timing belt and water pump replaced. After taking everything apart, I realized how lucky I was that the pump was the only thing to go. The belt was severely cracking.

It is still a really great product that will last longer than an ordinary belt.

Never heard of them before, but I just installed a Gates Racing (blue) timing belt on my 2.8L Passat.

Well to clarify. I just bought a belt from the dealer and it is a gates. So if your belt looks pretty beat up then its stock. I would change it asap as others sugested. Its cheaper in the long run.

Once I removed the thermostat, I felt in the port and although the impeller felt ok, it spun freely; not smooth like a bearing but rough like it was dragging. Since I was able to freely turn the impeller through the thermostat hole, I have to assume my water pump is failed.

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.

From my experience I have never had good luck with the metal impeller ones. The impellers won't break but the weight is too heavy for the shaft and the shaft ends up breaking and just free spinning. I've used 2-3 metal ones before (I am almost positive at least one of them was a gates brand) and they have all failed within 30k or less miles.

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...