timing belt age as a sole replacement indicator

[Cody Forbes]

It varies a little chassis to chassis due to space and ease of access, but on my 5000's the timing belt is easy and quick. The bumper comes off with two bolts and two electrical plugs, one bolt and two hose clamps to get the intercooler out of the way, then a grand total of 4 bolts removes all of the timing belt covers. Removing the crank bolt is with a socket with an extension, then set engine on TDC, loosen belt tension, swap belt, and reassemble. It's a lazy afternoon. Book time is 2.3 hours.

-Cody Forbes (mobile)

On Apr 22, 2014, at 11:15 PM, "mboucher70 hotmail.com" <mboucher70 at hotmail.com> wrote:

> This has been an interesting thread.
> 
> One comment that surprised me a bit was that changing the timing belt on the I5's was relatively easy.  Everything I've read about the job made it sound challenging (removing front bumper and the rest of the front end, loosening crank pulley bolt and the cam pulley bolt, etc.).  If you get the job done by an Audi shop, any idea what the job typically goes for, either in dollars or in hours?
> 
> Another surprising comment was from the original poster...only one to two hundred miles in ten years?  Ten to twenty miles per year, so the car's been essentially parked for ten years?  Was it maintained?
> 
> Finally, full confession: I bought my 1990 Audi 100 when it was ten years old.  I've now had it for 14 years, without changing the belt.  So best case, the belt is 14 years old, and worst case, its 24.  That being said, I only drive it about 1000 miles per year for the past ten years.  Its well maintained in terms of safety (brakes, tires), and it fact it runs great with even the original air conditioner working.  If I knew the timing belt was a few hundred to change I'd jump at it, but given the work involved, I expected it would be closer to $1000.  Given the car's age, and the fact that its not a particularly interesting collectible (non-turbo, non-quattro), I'd likely balk at any single repair cost over 500.  It would be interesting to hear how other thread owners do the calculus of when its time to retire their car.
> MC
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Richard van der Hoff
> Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2014 8:28 AM
> To: quattro at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: timing belt age as a sole replacement indicator
> 
> Interesting that this should come up. My B5 S4 was in for a service a
> few weeks ago, and the shop owner pointed out that the recommended
> timing belt replacement interval was 60 months, or (I think) 60k miles.
> It was last done over 6 years ago, so I figured I would take a couple of
> weekends to do the job myself and replace some seals and gaskets while I
> was in there.
> 
> Perhaps I'm being over-cautious. Really didn't fancy having to get 30
> valves repaired though ;)
> 
> 
> 
> On 22/04/14 12:40, Grant Lenahan wrote:
>> Rubber dry rots.  So yes, age is a determinant as well.
>> 
>> But i’m fairly convinced that the belt itself is rarely the issue in our cars.  More often it is a tensioner or water pump that is failing, placing more drag not he belt, and then poof.
>> 
>> That said, after 8-9 years, although i will only have  50-55k on my belt, I’ll do another nose job on my C5
>> 
>> Grant
>> On Apr 21, 2014, at 10:14 PM, DeWitt Harrison <dewitt635 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> Some time ago, in fact quite a long time ago, a veteran, very active
>>> q-lister by the name of Phil Payne expressed the idea that timing belts can
>>> become dangerously damaged by the simple passage of time, mileage
>>> notwithstanding. The belt on my venerable 5ktq is in that situation now
>>> with maybe one or two hundred miles of use but several years -- I hate to
>>> think how many: ten? -- on the clock.
>>> 
>>> I would be very interested to learn what this group thinks about (the
>>> late?) Mr. Payne's opinion on this matter.
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> 
>>> DeWitt Harrison
>>> 1988 5000CS
> 
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