Timing Belt on a 3.0

[Dan DiBiase]

Ok, makes sense. On another forum I belong to, someone claimed that you can maintain a timing belt to extend it's life but after
being totally flamed, I think he quit the group so we never got an answer! I always understood that you just had to replace 'em, you
couldn't ever really examine them to see if they were okay or do much to extend the life. Although I am definitely of the 'a clean car
is a happy car is a good-running car' school of thought!

 Dan D
'04 A4 1.8Tq MT-6
Central NJ USA





________________________________
From: Mark R <speedracer.mark at gmail.com>
To: Dan DiBiase <d_dibiase at yahoo.com>
Cc: quattro list <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 8:11:35 AM
Subject: Re: Timing Belt on a 3.0


Sounds like the 3.0L spec went downward from before.  That said, in GENERIC terms I've seen timing belts fail for a variety of reasons:
 
Extended oil changes, or improper oil.  Sludge causes drag and/or bearing failure.
Incorrect coolant being used/mixed.. taking out the water pump, then the belt.
Overheating, causing damage to the belt.
Not keeping the engine bay clean... causing debris to find it's way to a timing belt.  Fortunately, most timing belts are well protected today.
 
Generally speaking, a well maintained car has less frequent failures... maybe it's because the owner doesn't do a lot of driving which shock loads the engine.  Hard to say.  But it seems to me that it's always the dirty engine compartments or the owners who don't do the frequent synthetic oil changes whose timing belts "mysteriously" fail.  Mostly it's anecdotal because I personally don't see a lot of failures.  Bottom line- maintain all aspects of the engine and follow the replacement spec.  If you shock load the engine often, change it more frequently.
 
Mark Rosenkrantz


On Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 7:19 AM, Dan DiBiase <d_dibiase at yahoo.com> wrote:

Mark, what sort of maintenance extends the life of a timing belt?

 Dan D
'04 A4 1.8Tq MT-6
Central NJ USA