Timing belt ?

[John Larson]

You said:  "I dont believe so. I believe it is gear driven off the crankshaft. It 
goes into the block, nto the head."

Grant

If you're speaking of an Audi I5, you're mistaken.  The distributor is 
driven off the camshaft, which in turn is driven by the timing belt, 
which is driven by a sprocket on the crankshaft. 

Frankly, this whole thread is outta hand.  An Otto Cycle engine will NOT 
run on its own once the camshaft has stopped turning, distributor or no 
distributor.  In the case of any VAG OHC engine, that means if the belt 
breaks, the distributor stops as well as the camshaft.  On the 4 
cylinder engines of the same "family" as our 5s, the belt drives a shaft 
which runs the oil pump and the distributor (except for the 4 pot 
diesels, where it drives the oil pump alone, and there's another 
sprocket for the injection pump, also driven by the timing belt).  On 
the 5 cylinder diesels, the injection pump is driven by a sprocket at 
the aft end of the camshaft.  Anyone who says otherwise is smoking 
something interesting.  John