General advice on Timing Belt Service
 

Hi all, thanks for taking the time to read my post.

I just got a 2002 A6 C5 3.0L from an auction with 91K miles. The big question for me is when/if timing belt service was done.

I pulled the car fax and even contacted the old dealerships listed, but nobody has a record of it being done.

I took it to an independent Audi guy and he said the timing belt looked new, but the accessory belt looked pretty old. Then I took it to Audi dealer and they took a deeper dive for me b/c they were doing the ignition coil packs as part of the recall and replacing a seal where the transmission ties into the driveshaft b/c it was leaking pretty good.

Anyway, the tech at the dealer took the covers off the timing belt and said it looked newer. He said its certainly not the original b/c he said the belt will usually wear on the top when it rubs against water pump and this one wasn't worn, and the teeth were in excellent shape and overall the thickness of the belt was very good relative to an old one. I definitely trust the opinion, but I'm still unsure.

So my question for all of you then...If this was your car would you trust that and drive the car and keep an eye on it? Is there anything else I should consider? I want to avoid the dreaded broken timing belt.

Visual inspection of a rubber timing belt isn't worth much. Written receipts and services records are.

FWIW, Continental recommends a 6yr (MAX) change interval.

"Sure, the timing has been changed" is right up there with "I promise I'll pull out"...

Is that engine an interference design?

Welcome aboard, Number 1 !!

Much appreciate the quick reply and the welcome.

I don't know if its is the interference design, but some quick research suggests that it is. I know its the AVK engine and if the belt snaps, its very very expensive. How can I tell if its interference?

Justin

Well, if the repair is very costly when the belt breaks, it's likely an indicator that this is an interference design, as are many VAG products.

Change it. Visual inspection is useless. Belts rarely fail; rollers and waterpumps do.

Thanks for confirming. That's what I figured.

It's cheaper to do it too often than not often enough.

Well said.

You wanna ask your self how long are you going to keep this Audi?
It's already 10 year old.

I would say you can almost sure get another 10K without changing TB, even if the belt has never been changed. Just drive it gentlely.

if the belt is relative new, I would say you may probably get another 30K, possibly 50K.

But if you wanna keep this car for another 70k-100k, change it now, you will eventually need to do that. No reason for take the risk for delaying.

While I agree that the decision of when/if to do a belt service is a risk/value analysis that is different for everyone (I do my belts at 90k), the idea that "driving gently" can prolong life is nonsense. Most belts break on start up or at idle.