[V6-12v] Just bought a 96 A6A

[Tom Christiansen]

Ron,

> > Timing belts are designed to last well over 100k,
> > but
> > to be safe changing them between 60k and 75k is
> > prudent.  The issue is more the waterpump bearing
> > freezing then the belt it self.
>
>   Are there any seals or anything like that,
>  that should be changed as well?

Get a timing belt kit. It'll tell you what to replace. On my car (1994 
90S), the following items are normally replaced during the T-belt job:

* Accessory belt
* Timing belt (duh!)
* Timing belt tensioner
* Timing belt idler roller
* Water pump
* Thermostat
* Coolant

Audi switched from the blue long-life stuff to the red/pink long-life 
stuff. There's been several long discussions about if you should use the 
Audi brand coolant or if you could go with a different brand of long-life 
coolant. The Audi stuff is roughly twice the price of the non-Audi stuff. 
But then you don't need all that much of it anyway. It's up to you what you 
want to do.

If your car has blue or green coolant in it, you need to thoroughly flush 
the coolant system before putting any red/pink coolant in there!! The 
procedure is as follows:
* Drain coolant from cock on radiator and pull the drain plug at the rear 
of the engine.
* Apply compressed air to the expansion tank to blow out any remaining coolant.
* Fill cooling system with distilled water. Bleed system.
* Run engine for a minimum of two minutes.
* Drain and apply compressed air as before.
* Replace rubber seal on the drain plug on the engine. Reinstall plug.
* Fill with the appropriate mix of red/pink Audi coolant (G012 A8D A1).

I don't have access to compressed air, so I just ran water through the 
engine until the output no longer looked green. Then I flushed with 
distilled water and filled with coolant.

Tom