Clintrinity

Hey guys. I love my A8! Best car I've ever owned, this coming from a die hard Mercedes guy! I currently have 82,000 miles and going strong. Recently moved to a new city and my old dealership told me that I needed to have my timing belt replaced at 80,000 miles. They were always trying to get me to spend money! I called Audi USA and they said 70,000! This has to be a mistake right? I called my new local dealer and they said that they NEVER see them break and not to worry about it till 100,000! Who is right? How much risk do I have here if I wait till 100,000? It's just a daily driver, not an autocrosser. Please help! -Clint

ryoung

<ul><li><a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/a8/msgs/111225.phtml">Timing Belt Worries</a></li></ul>

GrrrA8

Much info here. Try a search. Consensus is before 90K.

I have 62.5K now on my 97 and I'm planning to do my TB in May or June.<ul><li><a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/a8/msgs/107948.phtml">Opinions</a></li></ul>

ivans A8

It should be done every 90k I believe, but according to recent poll on timing belt replacement among members of this board, 100k is a safe margin on average. I had my done @ 102k and belt looked like it could last for another 20-30k.

JimR

I noticed today that in ETKA, there's a part number for a sticker that says that.

I'll be at around 96k when I do mine, shortly.

wisconsin_quat

the pump or idler goes before the belt... same on the 4.2?

Mister Bally

My comments I added to the timing belt discussion offer another take on this subject:

My 1987 5000CS Quattro (turbo engine) had 220,000 on the engine when the original water pump started to leak. Since I had spent $250 on tools at Zelenda to hold the crank pulley and to loosen that big bolt, I figured I may as well replace the timing belt since a new one was $15. Otherwise, I would not have replaced it since the owners, maintenance and service manual did not specify it as a maintenance item. It looked good to when I removed it. I recently donated the car in running condition with 278,000 miles on it.

I had a 1981 Audi 4000 5+5 and I never replaced the belt for the reasons above. I did replace two water pumps on it. One at 105,000 and the 2nd at 210,000. Ironically, with 225,000 on it, a CV Joint blew apart and I decided to abandon it.

A better story: My wife's 1992 VW Passat with the 4 cyl 16 valve engine had an interesting thing happen. I actually paid a dealer $375 to replace the belt at 70,000 miles even though I felt it was unnecessary. At 92,000 miles the engine coasted to a stop and no compression. Most of the timing belt's teeth were all in a nice pile in the belt protective plastic cover below the lowest pulley. Of course, all 8 exhaust valves were ruined. I replaced all 16 valves and the timing belt. Then, I discovered what really happened; The "woodruff key" for the camshaft on that engine is really part of the camshaft pulley; It snapped off, causing me pain &amp; misery. The VW dealer that replaced the belt said it wasn't their fault. They would not even pay for the valves, new pulley or belt. Not to mention my 20 hours spread out over three weeks! I say their technician did not torque the bolt correctly. He left it too loose. The 'woodruff key' is more to index and the bolt is to hold.

I have never returned to that dealer after that.

JimR

I trust me. I can't say the same for a random dealership tech. That said, our Posche experience has been great, and I know some excellent individual Audi dealership techs.

JimR

I don't think we've seen enough failures here, to have a sense of what goes, the belt or a bearing.

ivans A8

Some of the rollers I was replacing during procedure wouldn't lasted much longer. Bearing on one of them was loose. I'd say that would be enough to make a disaster. Pump however was in decent shape.