[200q20v] dubious distinction?

[Phil Rose]

Last  November, I parked our new  red '91 200 in our  garage and made
an appointment with a distant (170 miles) shop for t-belt service.
But a lister ("Wolff") urged me to consider getting the  t-belt
replaced before ever again starting up the engine. You see--although
it had a mere 57 Kmiles on the odo--it was still running with the
original t-belt!!! After taking a peek under the cover, I spotted
numerous cracks in the belt and decided that instead of driving (or
flat-bedding) to a repair shop, I would do the t-belt service myself.
No problems encountered; the t-belt indeed had many, many cracks as
well as having lost quite a bit of flexibility, as might be expected
from an 11 yr-old piece of rubber.

Wolff ventured a guess that my car might qualify for a dubious
distinction--something like "Oldest Living '91 200q T-belt". The car
has a fairly early build date, and the PO took delivery in Sept.
1990. The belt was replaced by me in December 2001, having been in
service for 11 yrs and 2 months. Anyone know of a "worse case" for a
'91 200q?

Phil
(still counting my blessings)
--

Phil Rose				Rochester, NY
'91 200q	(130 Kmiles, Lago blue)
'91 200q   (57 Kmiles, Tornado red)
	mailto:pjrose at frontiernet.net