annavt98

i have a 2001 a4, 1.8T manual. my timing belt broke at 80700. the breakage in timing belt busted 3 valves and.. still waiting to find out if my engine has collapsed as well. sorry, up until Sunday when my car broke down, i had no knowledge of timing belt, nor it's maintenance. someone recommended me to check out this site, only to find this is a common problem. Audi will not take responsibility claiming it is a wear and tear problem that needs to be addressed by the mechanic.

Here is what i found out.. the customer representative from audi clearly said to me "it is recommended for change every 90K for your model car" and i asked if it was written on the manual as 90K and she said it was. i did not even make it to their "recommended" milage point. i checked my manual inside and out, and it only has 1 paragraph on 2001 audi manual, on page 222. It states:

Timing belt: Your engine is equipped with a long lasting Toothed belt. The belt will be inspected and replaced during a scheduled Maintenance Service.

I looked at my 2001 Audi Maintenance schedule and only place it states timing belt is on page 8:

At every 105,000 miles: Timing belt: Replace (V6 5-valve and V8 engines only.

So there is no recommended time to change for the V4 engine as the customer representative stated.

I have hired a lawyer and will be submitting a letter to them regarding this matter. Timing belt is a major factor that can turn a perfectly good car into a crappy one. If i had followed their 2001 maintenance schedule booklet, the timing belt would never have been fixed, considering it was never written for me to know.

I would love to receive emails from everyone who has had this problem before their "recommended" time of 90k. The recommended time should always be sooner, not later. I would also like your contact info and the year, make, model, and VIN number. I promise your information will be kept confidential unless I get 25 or more emails regarding this matter. I would like to threaten Audi with a class action law suit. I will send copies of the emails along with my letter when my lawyer submits the letter to them. I would like for them to see up front how many people have had this problem. Hopefully, by threatening, some of you guys can get reinburstments and a recall for current owners who has not yet had this problem. My email address is annavt98@yahoo.com

Thanks!

Mat Indukts Lambos

STFA. You're not the first to try this.

qfrog Ti20

you should consider yourself lucky that it lasted that long.

actually this forum has a typical consensus of a 60K interval for the timing belt and all related components.

Kris Hansen

with no sucessful bid at getting Audi to even admit that there is any sort of problem..

qfrog Ti20

this is a total joke when it comes to certain intervals....<ul><li><a href="http://www.bentleypublishers.com/images//tech/audi/audi.2001.maintenance.sched.pdf">http://www.bentleypublishers.com/images//tech/audi/audi.2001.maintenance.sched.pdf</a</li></ul>

annavt98

audi called today to tell me to take it to an authorized dealer before they even consider looking at it. of course "no guarantee" on their part. I refused because everything that should be under the hood is currently sitting on the floor of the shop. i requested to speak with a manager so i should be getting a call back within 24 to 48 hours. so they say.. who knows? it may really be nothing and it may never go anywhere.. so what harm is there in trying? so people have actually hired lawyers and nothing came about? i am new to this forum.. so any information would be helpful

OldManTan

I doubt a wear item like that will get very far in litigation. How do you verify how the engine was used during those 80K miles?

I bought a car with 102K miles on it and no record of a t/b change - so I changed it immediately. So, why do some belts make it 20K miles farther than others?

Keep the list informed of your progress. I know there are lots of members who've gotten the short end of the belt mileage stick.

qfrog Ti20

help you in getting audi to provide coverage for it.

RKA

Eventually someone will crack this nut...

MyaLover

And there's been worse cases. I remember reading a guys story of how his tb failed at 52K. It happens, and it shouldn't. Let us ALL know how everything goes, and good luck!