i bought my 97 a4 2.8 quattro recently unfortunetly my car was maintaned poorly it has 77,000 miles on it and the radiator fluid or trans fluid was never changed niether was the air filter, fuel filter,i did these after i purchaed it im just wondering around what mileage do you recoment me changing the timing belt and is there any other maintenence that i over looked thanks

just change all the fluids for kicks :)

This is because some people have had early failures, not so much because the belt fails but the Water Pump or one of the pulleys lock up and breaks the belt. Make sure you replace those, too.

I did mine at 83k but plan on doing them every 75k. If the belt breaks, plan on some bent valves and a hefty repair bill. To me doing the maintenance 15k early is worth it to having to go through that.

Good luck with the car.

the water pump is leaking. The car is also 7 years old, so the belt does have some age already. I will also replace the the t-stat, TB roller and tensioner, and possibly an oil seal on the crank this weekend-oh yeah and the crankshaft bolt if it is removed!

There have been posts about different coolant options in these forums, if you decide to change it. I did not know it was possible to use something other than Audi's coolant before going to the dealer and buying it there.

If you have green coolant stick with G-11, if you have the red kind, get G-12, either the VW/Audi or Pentosin stuff. Don't use anything else.

The orange stuff. So long as it amine-free and phosphate-free it is fine. Just be sure to flush out ALL the old stuff before changing to something different.

<i>So long as it amine-free and phosphate-free it is fine. </i>

Did Audi sign and seal that statement, or is that your opinion? ;-)

The amount of corrosion in your cooling system depends on alkalinity of the coolant (the more acidic the more corrosive), the minerals in the water (use destilled demineralized) and the metals the coolant comes into contact with. Heat, dissolved oxygen, and minerals will over time make the coolant more acidic, the coolant exhausts. G11 and G12 were designed for our engines. G11 was probably inferior due to diminished corrosion protection, and in '97 Audi and VW introduced G12. Sure, if you know Prestone's composition makes it suitable, use it. I choose to stick with G12.

Aluminum is most often cited as the reason for the special (expensive as hell) coolant. Aluminum is a common material in radiators, heads and blocks from many manufacturers. Prestone claims compliance with Audi's standards. What am I missing?

No need to be sorry, this kind of thing is what this place is for. ;)

These are the Prestone coolant approvals I found:

# AS/NZS 2108 - 97Chrysler MS7170
# Type AFord ESE M97B44-A
# ASTM D3306GM 1825M
# SAE J1034 and many other
# BS6580 international
# JIS 2234 standards

I don't see VW/Audi listed.

Since the coolant needs to be replaced only once every 4 years or so, I don't find it necessary to find a cheaper alternative. Actually, the Pentosin G12 is less expensive than the dealer-bought sauce.

The requirements for coolant differ from the ones in Europe. There are environmental concerns and issues with water composition. I'm not even sure that the Audi fluid that is made by Zerex for Audi in the US is exactly the same as the one in Europe.

There were possibly issues with G11 not protecting sufficiently against corrosion, but it's never been admitted by VAG. However, I am sure that VW/Audi has made a great effort to insure their newer G12 performs well.

Next time I go to Kragen or AutoZone I'll take a look at the Prestone fluid. I'm not crazy about Prestone. In my Buick, it left sediment stains in the reservoir.