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Buying a Used Audi
Guest
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 Posted:
Fri Nov 12, 2004 7:49 am Post subject:
2001 change timing belt or not? |
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Do you guys still recommend changing the timing belt at 60K miles. My
car is a 2001 A4 with 83K miles on it, driven by a girl with care, and
serviced at very regular intervals. Should I still change the timing
belt now or let it past 100K? as it is a 2001 is it still falling
under the notorious belt breaking? what do you suggest? Please advise
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Ronny
Guest
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| Posted:
Fri Nov 12, 2004 1:20 pm Post subject:
Re: 2001 change timing belt or not? |
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"Buying a Used Audi" <qazimo@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a3f98bd2.0411111849.460dcd75@posting.google.com...
| Quote: | driven by a girl with care,
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:) |
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Pete
Guest
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| Posted:
Fri Nov 12, 2004 1:45 pm Post subject:
Re: 2001 change timing belt or not? |
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"Buying a Used Audi" wrpte
| Quote: | Do you guys still recommend changing the timing belt at 60K miles. My
car is a 2001 A4 with 83K miles on it, driven by a girl with care, and
serviced at very regular intervals.
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Are you saying the TB should be in good shape because she drove the car with
care? :-)
There have been a few cases of premature TB tensioner failures on 2001s as
well, so I wouldn't take a chance. Audi of America has actually reduced the
change interval to 75K miles on the newer 1.8Ts (although you didn't say
what engine your A4 has).
So, change it NOW (and all the other items I mentioned to you in another
post)! You're way overdue.
I'm gonna change it on my '01 A4 next year, even though I won't be near 60K
miles yet (36K right now). Time is a factor as well. And the cost of
replacement is still much less than the cost of fixing the damages if it
fails.
Anyway, that's just my opinion. I'm rather risk-averse. :-)
Cheers,
Pete
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Iain Miller
Guest
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| Posted:
Fri Nov 12, 2004 3:44 pm Post subject:
Re: 2001 change timing belt or not? |
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"Buying a Used Audi" <qazimo@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a3f98bd2.0411111849.460dcd75@posting.google.com...
| Quote: | Do you guys still recommend changing the timing belt at 60K miles. My
car is a 2001 A4 with 83K miles on it, driven by a girl with care, and
serviced at very regular intervals. Should I still change the timing
belt now or let it past 100K? as it is a 2001 is it still falling
under the notorious belt breaking? what do you suggest? Please advise
|
As I understand it if you are not the original owner the 10 yr/100K warranty
goes out the window. If you are buying it from a dealer then you should get
at least a year's warranty on the thing (and you could ask for the TB to be
expressly included in the paperwork). If its a private sale/purchase then
I'd get it done ASAP - in fact I'd ask the vendor to get it done and
negotiate over the price of the thing.
I. |
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Steve Sears
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 13, 2004 12:27 am Post subject:
Re: 2001 change timing belt or not? |
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qazimo,
Why not try for a record - see if it reaches 300K!!! The belt cares not
about the driver's gender, and if it was "serviced at _VERY_ regular
intervals" dontcha think the belt would have been replaced already?
Seriously, you're being penny-wise and pound foolish if you think you're
saving money by running a timing belt twice as long as is the common
replacement interval. Just because it ran this morning doesn't mean that it
won't break on the highway tonight - unless you've got x-ray vision you
won't be able to predict when it'll go, and belt replacement is waaaaaaay
cheaper than putting a new engine in after the belt breaks and ingests some
of the valves.
Cheers!
Steve Sears - if I wanted to save money on maintenance I wouldn't own:
1987 Audi 5kTQ
1980 Audi 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes ( - ok, DKW's are cheap to
maintain...but still....)
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)
"Buying a Used Audi" <qazimo@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a3f98bd2.0411111849.460dcd75@posting.google.com...
| Quote: | Do you guys still recommend changing the timing belt at 60K miles. My
car is a 2001 A4 with 83K miles on it, driven by a girl with care, and
serviced at very regular intervals. Should I still change the timing
belt now or let it past 100K? as it is a 2001 is it still falling
under the notorious belt breaking? what do you suggest? Please advise |
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Jesper Giovanni
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 13, 2004 4:30 pm Post subject:
Re: 2001 change timing belt or not? |
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"Buying a Used Audi" <qazimo@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a3f98bd2.0411111849.460dcd75@posting.google.com...
<snip>
| Quote: | My car is a 2001 A4 with 83K miles on it, driven by a girl with care...
snip |
Ok...BEWARE! The timingbelt in Audi´s tend to get bored, if girls are
driving them. So it might commit harakiri, instead of breaking as a result
of tear and wear. Also, you´d have to be carefull not to let the timingbelt
hear words such as "60.000 miles", "tb-tensioner" and so on! You´ll have to
whisper these words, when you are close to the engine...otherwise it might
put 2 and 2 together - and actually start making trouble, ´cause it would
know something were supposed to be wrong at its present mileage.
</end of joke>
Really...are you kidding us!? *ROFL*
--
Gio |
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Robert
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 13, 2004 9:22 pm Post subject:
Re: 2001 change timing belt or not? |
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Steve Sears wrote:
| Quote: | qazimo,
Why not try for a record - see if it reaches 300K!!! The belt cares not
about the driver's gender, and if it was "serviced at _VERY_ regular
intervals" dontcha think the belt would have been replaced already?
|
----8<---and original post was:
| Quote: | "Buying a Used Audi" <qazimo@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a3f98bd2.0411111849.460dcd75@posting.google.com...
Do you guys still recommend changing the timing belt at 60K miles. My
car is a 2001 A4 with 83K miles on it, driven by a girl with care, and
serviced at very regular intervals. Should I still change the timing
belt now or let it past 100K? as it is a 2001 is it still falling
under the notorious belt breaking? what do you suggest? Please advise
|
Steve, your posting begs the question about what kind of driving causes
the belt to fail, regardless of when it it should be changed:
I'm convinced that someone driving nice and easy, seldom over 3000 rpm,
never over 3500 rpm, should get much more life out of their timing belt,
compared to someone regularly running their engine over 5000 rpm, often
redlining.
I'd like to know how many of the "nice 'n easy" drivers here have broken
timing belts (assuming that their son or daughter isn't redlining it on
weekends).
/Robert |
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Peter Bell
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 13, 2004 9:40 pm Post subject:
Re: 2001 change timing belt or not? |
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In message <Owqld.8654$d5.73658@newsb.telia.net>
Robert <rxobert.bxrown@txripnet.se> wrote:
| Quote: | Steve, your posting begs the question about what kind of driving
causes the belt to fail, regardless of when it it should be changed:
|
There are likely to be many factors involved in detemining the service
life of the timing belt - yes, style of driving will almost certainly
have some bearing, but I would guess that pure age and number/degree of
temperature cycles will be just as significant.
--
Peter Bell (Note Spamtrap - To reply, replace 'invalid' with 'bellfamily') |
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KLS
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 13, 2004 10:09 pm Post subject:
Re: 2001 change timing belt or not? |
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On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 16:22:06 GMT, Robert <rxobert.bxrown@txripnet.se>
wrote:
| Quote: | I'd like to know how many of the "nice 'n easy" drivers here have broken
timing belts (assuming that their son or daughter isn't redlining it on
weekends).
|
I'm not always a "nice 'n easy" driver, and neither is/was my sister,
from whom I bought this Audi, but for the most part we are just
regular drivers who know how to shift the gears correctly and enjoy
the power of the car. We don't/didn't race the car, but we did do
highway mileage at 75-80 MPH, well within the car's performance
capabilities and not exactly abuse. I've never broken a timing belt
(and I used to drive a Dodge Colt, which had a Mitsubishi interference
engine).
I replaced the TB/water pump/etc. on this 1998.5 A4 2.8 at 67k miles
and am now at 82k miles, with plans to inspect the serpentine belt at
90k miles for possible replacement. |
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Buying a Used Audi
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 15, 2004 5:40 am Post subject:
Re: 2001 change timing belt or not? |
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I reason I am saying driven by girl with care is that I think the way
an engine is driven may have an effect over the suggested interval of
timing belt change. You see if you rev the engine most of the time, it
will make the belt do more rounds, ultimately more prone to breakage.
You see its like, if you abuse an engine it might last for 100K
while there are drivers that may run a similar engine for 200K?
Does it make any sense to you guys? |
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Pete
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 15, 2004 1:10 pm Post subject:
Re: 2001 change timing belt or not? |
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Uzytkownik "Buying a Used Audi" wrote
| Quote: | I reason I am saying driven by girl with care is that I think the way
an engine is driven may have an effect over the suggested interval of
timing belt change. You see if you rev the engine most of the time, it
will make the belt do more rounds, ultimately more prone to breakage.
You see its like, if you abuse an engine it might last for 100K
while there are drivers that may run a similar engine for 200K?
Does it make any sense to you guys?
|
Bare in mind, it's usually the tensioner that fails, not the belt itself.
As far as whether it's a good thing that the car's been driven by a girl and
serviced at regular intervals - well, this probably means the oil was only
changed every 10K miles and the oil was mineral (that's what the dealer
uses). If you have a turbo, I'd say that's a bad thing.
If you have the Audi Assured warranty up to 100K miles, then I guess you're
fine. If the TB/tensioner goes before that mileage, Audi will fix all the
damages under warranty. If you don't have Audi Assured, then you're taking
a big risk, IMO.
Cheers,
Pete |
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Iain Miller
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 15, 2004 2:59 pm Post subject:
Re: 2001 change timing belt or not? |
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| Quote: | If you have the Audi Assured warranty up to 100K miles, then I guess
you're
fine. If the TB/tensioner goes before that mileage, Audi will fix all the
damages under warranty. If you don't have Audi Assured, then you're
taking
a big risk, IMO.
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I thought the 10/100 warranty only applied to the original owner & that as
soon as the car changed hands it expires......(?)
rgds
I. |
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Pete
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 15, 2004 3:18 pm Post subject:
Re: 2001 change timing belt or not? |
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"Iain Miller" wrote
| Quote: |
I thought the 10/100 warranty only applied to the original owner & that as
soon as the car changed hands it expires......(?)
|
Well, the way it works in the US (if that's where the OP is), the original
warranty is 4 years/50K miles, and is fully transferrable to the new owner.
However, if the used car is sold as an "Audi Assured" certified vehicle by
the dealer, it comes with a 10 year/100K mile warranty to the new owner.
That's just an incentive for people scared of high repair costs to get them
to buy a used Audi. Now, a certified Audi is more expensive, and we don't
know if the OP bought one like that or not. If he bought it directly from
that girl, then it's definitely not a certified vehicle and his warranty is
long gone.
Regards,
Pete |
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Steve Sears
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 15, 2004 5:40 pm Post subject:
Re: 2001 change timing belt or not? |
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Robert,
I agree that the style of driving may affect the _actual_ lifespan of the
belt, like, say, a belt in an engine that never sees more than 2000 rpm
(driving like my next-door neighbour, she just turned 90) versus the belt in
a modified car that is raced on the track and often sees redline (say, drag
racing like Shirley Muldowney) - but any other factors come in to play as
well - rubber ages with heat (rubber also shrinks but steel expands with
heat...go fig), and it also does not like to be dormant for long periods
(hence you should be changing a belt after 5 years or so regardless of
mileage). As some have posted, it's often the tensioner that siezes and
takes out the belt as well, and so the effects of the environment (dust,
etc.) and manufacturing (quality of bearings, alignment of bearing with
rotation, etc.) come into play with the bearings of the tensioner. I'm sure
if you looked enough on the net you would find a site that would get into
the stats of belt breakage, showing (I'm guessing) a normal distribution of
belt failures, of which, with a confidence interval, of (a guess, again) 95%
that belt breakage will be, say, 75,000 miles. The probablility of a belt
failure at 20,000 miles with such a distribution is not zero, nor is it at
150,000 miles. The problem is that belts are changed more often than they
break (because the consequence of neglect in this case can be engine
destruction), so you'd probably never get a large enough sample size to
prove any hypothesis. (whooooaaa...flashbacks to stats....)
I agree that the stats would be interesting, but qazimo should be shopping
around for a belt change.
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ
1980 Audi 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)
"Robert" <rxobert.bxrown@txripnet.se> wrote in message
news:Owqld.8654$d5.73658@newsb.telia.net...
| Quote: | Steve Sears wrote:
qazimo,
Why not try for a record - see if it reaches 300K!!! The belt cares not
about the driver's gender, and if it was "serviced at _VERY_ regular
intervals" dontcha think the belt would have been replaced already?
----8<---and original post was:
"Buying a Used Audi" <qazimo@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a3f98bd2.0411111849.460dcd75@posting.google.com...
Do you guys still recommend changing the timing belt at 60K miles. My
car is a 2001 A4 with 83K miles on it, driven by a girl with care, and
serviced at very regular intervals. Should I still change the timing
belt now or let it past 100K? as it is a 2001 is it still falling
under the notorious belt breaking? what do you suggest? Please advise
Steve, your posting begs the question about what kind of driving causes
the belt to fail, regardless of when it it should be changed:
I'm convinced that someone driving nice and easy, seldom over 3000 rpm,
never over 3500 rpm, should get much more life out of their timing belt,
compared to someone regularly running their engine over 5000 rpm, often
redlining.
I'd like to know how many of the "nice 'n easy" drivers here have broken
timing belts (assuming that their son or daughter isn't redlining it on
weekends).
/Robert
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Steve Sears
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 15, 2004 5:40 pm Post subject:
Re: 2001 change timing belt or not? |
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qazimo,
Although the belt is probably more stressed from acceleration and
deceleration, rather than from straight rpm itself, that will have _NO_
effect on the _SUGGESTED_ interval. (Ref: my reply to Robert's posting)
The standing suggestion is 60k miles - if you go over that, you're on your
own.
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ
1980 Audi 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)
"Buying a Used Audi" <qazimo@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a3f98bd2.0411141806.52f5e76f@posting.google.com...
| Quote: | I reason I am saying driven by girl with care is that I think the way
an engine is driven may have an effect over the suggested interval of
timing belt change. You see if you rev the engine most of the time, it
will make the belt do more rounds, ultimately more prone to breakage.
You see its like, if you abuse an engine it might last for 100K
while there are drivers that may run a similar engine for 200K?
Does it make any sense to you guys? |
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