dontfearthetuba

Howdy,

Dropped my '02 A4 1.8TQM off at the dealership this morning for scheduled maintenance. I've done all of them and have kept the car in as brand new condition as possible for six years. No mods of any sort.

The service consultant suggested that I should replace my timing belt soon. The car is six years old next month and has only 58k miles on it. Over the last four years I've averaged about 8k per year and most of it is surface streets around town, with the occasional long highway trip.

Should I get the TB replaced or can I squeeze out more mileage? He quoted me US$1250 for the job, not sure where else in Charlotte, NC to take it other than the dealer, so suggestions on that would be helpful too if anyone has them.

Thanks,

tuba

FLACO X3

If you can do it now, do it. But i didnt change mine('01 A4 1.8TQ Tip.) until 106k. You can go to an indy shop for a cheaper price. mine cost $650.

Broker

Time is a factor for rubber belts too. I'd change it.

dontfearthetuba

Yeah that seems to be the consensus. Thanks for the advice guys.

kluge9

do it for a fraction of the cost. kit will run you about 300 for everything..including waterpump and all the belts.

dontfearthetuba

Actually did that and someone offered, but my wife (always the smart one) mentioned that wasn't such a great idea. We're moving out of state in a couple of weeks and she was freaked out about not having a warranty should something go wrong.

I've found a shop in our new city that will take care of it.

dontfearthetuba

Okay so I got it replaced. But the car drives differently now. The mechanic asked me if anyone had ever replaced the serpentine belt as it was far too tight and he had to struggle to remove it.

Now there seems to be turbo lag when I shift from 1st to 2nd and I'm accelerating aggressively. More so if I'm making a turn than straight line driving. Could this be caused by the serpentine being looser or is it possible that the TB was installed incorrectly?

Also when I'm driving in 3rd gear at 30-35mph and I accelerate to pass someone; I hit the gas and the RPMs jump from 2800 to 3400-3800 and there's no power behind it, they drop back down and I feel the boost of my acceleration. Seems like odd behavior, no? I noticed these big RPM jumps with dropbacks on the highway at higher speeds too. Not quite as dramatic an increase in RPM, but it was there.

Out of 58k miles, my wife has put on only a couple thousand herself (she drives very infrequently) and even she commented on something being different. I plan on taking it back to the shop that did the work, but was hoping for some opinions here.